Montreal Journal III: Cinema L'Amour

Photograph by Hallie Cohen

Climb to the top of Mont-Royal, where in the winter you'll find snow shoers, skiers, runners and even mountain bikers. At the top, on the Kondiaronk Belvedere, you can relax in front of a roaring fire in what looks like an enormous medieval styled banquet hall. Squirrel sculptures are nestled into the eaves. Descend down to the campus of McGill University and the onto Saint-Laurent where you’ll come to Schwartz’s Montreal famed Jewish delicatessen ("La Charcuterie Herbraique de Montreal") which serves no pastrami or corned beef, but a sublime smoked brisket that distills the best qualities of both. There one customer was recently seen eating a hot dog draped decadently over a sizzling rib steak.Then move along Saint-Laurent to what can only be described as a family style porn theater called Cinema L’Amour (“Gratuit Pour Couples Les Lundis et Mardis”). Cinema L”Amour is  opposite the site of Les Bains Schubert. Joseph Schubert, the politician and short lived mayor of Montreal, who lived from l889-1952, was the impetus behind a bathhouse, which serviced the impoverished immigrant population and which is now the site of a pubic pool. Take a right on the Rue Rachel and if you still have any room left in your stomach sample one of Montreal’s most famous dishes, Poutine at La Banquise. Poutine, is very much like the Chilian choriano, whose essence is French fries covered with gravy. It tastes better than it sounds and while you ogle an alluring waitress whose one bit of imperfection, a crooked front tooth, only adds to her charm, you will gaze upon a signed poster for C.R.A.Z.Y. , a film by the Jean-Marc Vallee, the esteemed Montreal born director.