We checked into our hotel rooms in Montreal and promptly took a nap.
But just what were we going to do for the rest of the day? A bit of googling provided an answer which I proposed to Trudy and Khadija and Dad: dinner followed by fire.
1. Dinner
When in Montreal it seemed right to do as they do rather than eating at some fancy place with white table cloths and clinking classes and shining silverware. So we didn’t consult the brochures in the lobby or ask the consierge at the desk. Rather I had consulted the Oracle of Google.
Google maps showed a string of restaurants a block away, just up Avenue du Parc. Zoom in. Zoom out. Click. Drag. Read. Repeat. It didn’t take long. I proposed Ristorante Alto.
It was easy to imagine being a McGill college student as we sat near the window that looked out on the sidewalk.
Indeed, near us there were a couple girls discussing their lives in hushed French. And next to them were two boys punching at their phones and periodically glancing over at the girls and discussing some way to get a friend to return a computer or to fix a computer or deliver a computer or something like that.
It was a fine place, although frankly I don’t remember what we ate. Sandwiches I think. Maybe salads. Regardless, we left happy.
2. Fire
The next item on the proposed agenda was La Joute, a kinetic sculpture by Jean-Paul Riopelle, whom I confess I had never heard of, but there’s a good story behind his work in general and this sculpture in particular. I had stumbled upon it by accident when surfing the net at the hotel, and it seemed the perfect off-beat thing to do (even if it was a bit of a hike).
When we got there, the place was mostly empty and the fountain was barely dribbling.
I had expected a crowd, and there was only one couple standing looking at the statues in the water and a few people sitting on benches in the back of the surrounding park. Weren’t there shows every hour on the half-hour? Wasn’t this a summer attraction? I thought I had double checked my work. How had I messed up?
But then a few other people arrived. And then the fountain sprayed into the air. And then we noticed that there was a foggy mist coming out of the ground back in the park from grates beside the benches. And now there was a crowd gathered around us watching looking at the sculpture and watching the fountain and the foggy mist.
With dusk rapidly disappearing and the western sky growing dark, the mist grew thicker and advanced toward the fountain, blowing in wisps whenever the wind kicked up. And then it spread across the water, surrounding the statues.
And then a ring of bubbles formed in the center of the foggy water, and the bubbles burst into flame.
Gradually the fog dissipated, and eventually the fountain kicked up a spray that extinguished the flames as it splashed into the pool. And then the show was over.
The fountain returned to its bare dribble. The crowd dispersed. And within minutes the park was empty again.