Can kfl say "Je suis une sorciere lesbienne"?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Okay so I only have eight days left. Eight days to pack up the rest of my stuff. Eight days to try all the dishes I haven’t got around to ordering yet at all my favourite restaurants. Eight days to hang out with my best friends, the ones I’ve had since high school who are all growing up so fast (Getting married! Graduating University!). Eight days to launder and return those three awful tan uniforms to my soul-destroying job at Tim Horton’s. Eight days.

And then… I’ll be moving to the swingin’est city in all of Canadialand… Montreal.

So, Montreal Dopers, can you tell me what I need to know?

How easy is it to learn the Metro? Which streets should I acquaint myself with first? Where can I get the best of the following:

  • a good slice of pizza?
  • Lebanese food?
  • Hello Kitty products?
  • yoga classes?
  • obscure films for rental?
  • dried herbs?
  • S/M gear?

Your help is appreciated.

Amour,

~kfl

2

For some of these question we would need to know in which area of the city you’re moving into, i.e. if you’re moving into Rivière-des-Prairies, it would be pointless to mention stuff that is in Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue.

For the pizza part, we don’t have many major chains of pizza here, it’s more neighbourhood based. In my case, I live in the southwest of the island and I usually order from pizza Sylvana on Monk blvd.

As for the obscure films for rental, I would suggest La Boîte Noirre on St-Denis street, near Mt-Royal.

3

I’ll be living on Sherbrooke West, but really, anything you can tell me is great, I love traveling through big cities, like going on little adventures.
Honestly, I used to go on 45-minute bus rides through Ottawa just to go to this Shawarma place, because the Shawarma were so good that some Middle Eastern singer had written a song about it, and sent a copy to the owner. He would play it for you any time you asked.

4

Which Shawarma place is that? There’s this one that I’m addicted to right now (Marroush); fantastic atmosphere. It’d be nice to try different ones, though.

5

Ok, so, to get around in the city, if you don’t know how, a good trick is to remember A-U-T-O-B-U-S (288-6287) the phone number of the STM, they will tell you the best way to reach your destination by using public transit. And a monthly bus pass is $54.

As for getting acquainted with the Metro,matt_mcl should be the one to answer. But I will do what I can. There are 4 metro lines :1 (east-west), 2 (north-south), 4 (south) and 5 (east-west). It’s not as complicated as it sounds. Line 1 or Green line is basically east-west at the downtown level, while line 5 or Blue line is east-west at about the middle of the island. Line 4 or Yellow line goes across the St-Laurent river, you use it to go to the Casino, La Ronde or Longueuil. Line 2 or Orange line goes from Ahuntsic (north-east) to downtown (Bonaventure station also the train stations are located there), to Côte-Vertu (ville St-Laurent, north-west). There are also three transfer stations, if you want to change line : Berri-UQAM (transfer to the green, orange and yellow lines), Lionel-Groulx (transfer green and orange lines) and Snowdon (transfer orange and blue lines).

As for interesting location, You might want to check the Atwater market for fresh foods.

scott evil and matt_mcl would probably be your best guides for the Gay village.

If you’re a party girl, Bishop or Crescent street, St-Laurent boul. (above Sherbrooke) or St-Denis street would probably be your best bets. Also, remember, in Québec, beer and wine are available in grocery store and dépanneurs (convenience stores) and they deliver.

St-Laurent boul. is also more than bars. Nicknamed the Main, it is the dividing street in Montréal, between east and west, it also contains an almost infinite quantities of small, ethnic, mom and pop stores.

For more mainstream shopping, Ste-Catherine is the street for it.

For more exotic shopping, St-Denis street, above Sherbrooke, is the one to go for.

For upscale shopping, Laurier, west of Park is recommended.

I hope these infos will provide useful.

Oh, one more thing, here are a few useful maps including one for the metro system.

6

How easy is it to learn the Metro?
Easy as pie.

Which streets should I acquaint myself with first?
Ste Catherine, throbbing artery of downtown nightlife.
St Laurent, division between east and west.

** Where can I get the best of the following:

  • a good slice of pizza? **
    Well, in NDG, you can order from Pizza 88. The pizza is pretty damn good, but be warned: Ordering from them by phone is an exercise in patience. The woman who takes orders is dumb as a brick. (I lived literally 100 feet away from them for a year, and we ordered from them about once a week, and she still couldn’t figure out my cross street the last time I ordered, despite it being the same street they’re on. And I spelled it and everything.)

*** Lebanese food?**
Not a fan. I am clueless. :frowning:

*** Hello Kitty products?**
There’s a store on Ste Catherine st (see, I told you it was important! :smiley: ), just west of Atwater. Across the street from the Alexis Nihon shopping mall (Atwater metro station). I can’t remember the name of it, but it’s got a big window full of japanese fluffy stuff.

*** yoga classes?**
The YMCA of your choice. The one most convenient to downtown (and possibly the biggest, though I wouldn’t quote me on that), is at Peel Metro.

*** obscure films for rental?**
There’s a little place in Verdun. And I can’t remember the name. At all. DAMMIT.

*** dried herbs?**
Melange Magique, Ste Catherine Street, between Fort and St Mathieu.

*** S/M gear?**
Anywhere! Just be creative! :smiley: (translation: I am, once again, clueless :stuck_out_tongue: )

7

Hmm… an Ottadope sendoff? to be followed by a Dopereal II welcoming?

8

Sorry, Canuck, but I moved away from Ottawa around Christmastime, when I was accused of being a prostitute by my supervisor at work and escorted out by some police officers. At the mo, I am living at home with my parents in Lakefield, near Peterborough.
I wish I’d known some OttaDopers when I was living there. You might have been able to save me from the hell-hole I was living in.

9

We wouldn’t mind if you came down to Ottawa though, we’re always looking for an opportunity for an OttaDope!

10

well in any case, you can always come back and visit… we can walk into your old office arm in arm with me dressed as a pimp!
And if you are planning on going to Dopereal II (and yes, you are), then stop by here first, I’ll give you a ride if you need one!)

11

Hunh, CuriousCanuck. she’s moving to Montreal in 8 days or so. Why should she go back up to Ottawa to get a ride back to Montreal ? (besides for basking in your magnificience :wink: )

12

oh. I screwed up twice. But yes, basking in my magnificence is always recommended :wink:

13

Been a while since I lived in Montreal, but I’ll try to help.

  • a good slice of pizza?

Montrealais seem to go for cheap pizza rather than good pizza. Lots of places to get a 99 cent slice. You can get nice wood-oven pizzas though on Parc street or Saint Denis at the same chain, Pizzadelic. I’d call this the best.

  • Lebanese food?

All over the place, especially on Saint-Laurent (north of Sherbrooke), or Saint Catherine.

  • Hello Kitty products?

I wouldn’t know where to get these, probably on Saint Denis or inthe small Chinatown.

  • yoga classes?

These are widespread, any college, CEGEP or YWCA.

  • obscure films for rental?

Le Boite Noire is good, at Saint Denis and Mont Royal.

  • dried herbs?

Lots of markets have oregano and the like. Lesbian witches are probably into more exotic stuff. Montreal has lots of off-beat organic stores and I don’t think you’d have a problem finding stuff.

  • S/M gear?

A lot of stores like “Seduction” are located near hooker Harvey’s around Saint Catherine east of Saint Denis. Can I watch?

14

Hey Doc, are you sure you don’t mean the Harvey’s located at the corner of St-Laurent and Ste-Catherine, west of St-Denis ? Or alternatively, she can watch the commercials on TV to find a location.

15

The city is litterally sprawling with (very) cheap Lebanese fast food joints. It’s great to pick up a shish-taouk pita for next to nothing but quality-wise, you get what you pay for. The place that actual Lebanese folks go to when they want to have good, authentic food is Daou. Lebanese love fish and seafood, which are usually lacking from the cheaper joints, but La Sirène serves some of the best Lebanese-style fish cuisine in town.

There are a few stores in Chinatown, the best being on the second floor of a building and not terribly easy to find. I’m having a blank and I can’t remember exactly which street it was on, by it’s not St-Laurent or La Gauchetière.

Not that I would know, but ahem, I hear that “those in the know” frequent Il Bolero for their specialty needs. (Note to mods: I’m almost completely sure this link is okay, but in the advent that it is not, please delete it.)

16

Oh, and I forgot about dried herbs. There’s this health food store in Outremont, on Bernard, right next to the Cinq Saisons supermarket that has a very extensive collection of dried stuff I wouldn’t know what to do with.

17

Guess I did. I usually get my Harvey’s fixes elsewhere.

18

Sorry, Dr_paprika, you can’t watch. My girlfriend is the shy type, I’m afraid.

Thanks to everyone for their responses.

Now I just need to find out where the GOOD yoga classes are. I also forgot to ask, is there a Kabbalah study group? I know The Kabbalah Centre is located in (grrrrr) Toronto, but Montreal would be big enough to have a gathering of Kabbalists, right?