As our December visit to Montreal comes to an end, I ventured forth with my trusty camera for photographic evidence of the holidays…but then was distracted by the past and an old friend.    

Walking along the waterfront in Old Montreal, I came upon a new exhibit entitled In the footsteps of Agatha Christie at Pointe-à-Callière museum.  Très excitant!

Agatha Christie has always been one of my favorite authors and earlier just this spring I read The Grand Tour: Around the World with the Queen of Mystery.   This particular book is a travelogue of her yearlong trip around the British Empire in 1922 with her first husband, and contains letters and photos from her travels.  Interesting side note, Agatha Christie is the most widely published author of all time, outsold only by the Bible and Shakespeare.

The Pointe-à-Callière Museum is the only major archeology museum in Canada, and caters to interest children as well as adults. There is much more to see here than this one exhibit, but time was limited, so I concentrated on digging into my favorite mystery writer’s life.

The Pointe-à-Callière exhibition is presented in French and English and runs through April 2016. Photos were not allowed except in the gift shop, but that was good for me, as I then took my time to drink it all in.

If you are familiar with Agatha Christie, you know of her interest in archeology as well of her archeological adventures with her second husband, Sir Max Mallowan. Max was a prominent British archaeologist specialising in ancient Middle Eastern history. At least half of this exhibit highlights this part of Agatha’s life in previously unshared artifacts, black and white films, audio recordings, notebooks and photos, from the Christie Archive Trust and her grandson. The other half of the exhibit shows the writer and her personal life, and also has many personal artifacts and huge larger than life photos of Agatha.

The exhibit presents how she incorporated her travel and experiences, and even her favorite dog into some of her novels. It was all terribly interesting darling, and makes me wish I could curl up in front of the fire with one of her books and a cup of tea. I do love Miss Marple and Hercule Poirot, and wish I could have met the Agatha in person. Sometimes living in the past seems wonderful…in the meantime, it will have to be books, photographs and movies that take me there.

Looking into the past in Montreal…C’est tout.

The weeks leading up to Christmas are a fantastic time to explore downtown Montreal. Having recently spent three months living near Old Montreal, I was excited to travel back this week to visit the Christmas markets, or Marché de Noël as they are known in Quebec.

Today while walking over to Rue Ste-Catherine for a little retail therapy, I came across a pop up Marché de Noël in the square above Place Ville Marie, complete with Christmas trees, ice sculpture, and scattered comfortable Adirondack chairs covered in cozy (faux) fur throws.

Place Ville Marie is an underground shopping mall connected to the underground city, located across the street from the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth hotel. The Fairmont is the site of the Beaver Club, and many famous celebrity guests have stayed there.  Probably the most celebrated of all, John Lennon, held his ‘bed-in’ here in 1969, where the song Give Peace a Chance was written and recorded. As well, the Fairmont has a unique gift shop worth exploring and the BEST high tea, but that’s another story.

Back to the Marché…one of my favorite pâtisserie/boulangeries – bar à beurre, has a booth with samples of their yummy cookies and candies, and mason jars of the same for sale as gifts, and their signature shopping bags.  bar à beurre literally translates to butter bar…hmmm, no wonder their cupcakes and cookies are so wonderful.

There is a artisanal bread booth, and a cheese and sausages booth, perfect for gift baskets…walk faster you little weight watcher!

But alas, I was caught up at the chocolate booth, Les Chocolats de Chloé.  I met lovely Chloé herself, luring in customers with her wonderful cocoa treats.  I guess a few bars for stocking stuffers would be okay…if I just can forget they are packed in the suitcase.

Raplapla sells handmade dolls and animals to cuddle…so soft, and they have a doll hospital to repair your treasures.

Boucle & Papier  papeterie boutique had many fun gifts…. artisan stationary and labels and soft little handmade zipper bags…oh my. So many cute things.

I love that the Christmas markets boast artisanal wares and unique gifts from boutiques, and am looking forward to treasure hunting tomorrow.

Joyeux Noël!  C’est tout!