a quick one after a full day...

As part of our countdown to departing this grand city, we visited the Montreal Holocaust Memorial Museum. It was an essential visit for both Dianne and myself for reasons too deep for words. Let's just say it was part act of commitment, part embodied prayer and part bearing witness - and a whole lot more, too
.
From the museum we walked over to l'Oratoire Saint-Joseph du Mont-Royal, the city's largest Sanctuary and a stunning Roman Catholic house of worship. It is nestled into the side of the mountain and was the setting for the film, "Jesus of Montreal." We grabbed some really tasty Lebanese treats, too - their pickles and hummus are the BEST in the whole Middle Eastern world - and then checked out a Québécois bookstore. (I couldn't help myself and had to take this picture from the dispenser in the men's room of the eatery. Here's everything a healthy boy needs for a good date in Montreal:  a condom, cologne and breath mints!)

Then it was a ride on the Metro back to Mont-Royal and a schlep back to our flat through the city's largest street fair, a stop at our local grocer and a light supper of fresh veggies, hummus, cheese and cucumbers. Today is filled with nostalgia and not a little grief as our sabbatical really is coming to a close. Tomorrow we'll pack and clean - a LOT - and have a late dinner at one of our favorite places: the Rumi (where out kids purchased for us what turned out to be the first gift certificate for an English-speaking person three years ago: we were mini-celebrities
when we redeemed it on my 60th birthday!) 

The next two days will be full of sacred memories and probably our fair share of tears. We'll see what I feel like posting, yes? And I likely won't get to any work on my spirituality of tenderness series until we get settled for a week in the Eastern Township countryside. And then, who knows? We may not have access to the internet or the phone. Here are a few other pictures from a grand day.