By the title of this post, you'd probably think I've had a very busy month. To be honest, I just had a really busy weekend!
If you know me well, I don't need to tell you that I'm a huge fan of foreign movies. I also happen to never be disappointed by most movies made here in Québec — which is why I went to see Funkytown (2011) yesterday, starring (my absolute fave) Patrick Huard, among others. If any of us had been living under a rock for the past 40 years, Funkytown would definitely be a great way to get to know what went down during the disco era. I'm no movie critic, so I won't dive into what was good about it & what was bad about it, but I did appreciate it on many levels. I finally understand the importance of Le Lime Light, a club my parents always refer to when they reminisce on their good old disco party days. I definitely recommend it to every person out there who can handle 2 hours of loud disco tunes, coke (not the drinkable kind, kids), sex, violence, repressed sexuality, moral obligations and strong emotions. There was a scene in particular that I just couldn't watch; it broke my heart. I'm sure that if you see it/have seen it, you'd know what I'm talking about.
Onto another topic of my liking: food. To all my burger-loving friends out there who know about La Paryse and never told me about it, shame on you. I am shocked that it has taken me this long to be taken to this restaurant! You know I love burgers, why wouldn't you share this gem with me before?! I'll forgive you this once, but only because my experience at this joint was truly lovely. My cheeseburger with bacon was enormous and super yummy. I definitely enjoyed the simple retro/family feel of the decor. Being able to doodle away on my (nicely designed) paper placemat with a tiny supply of wax crayons was fun, too! Our waitress was sweet, kind and quick. Again, I'm no critic but I do know how to enjoy a good restaurant. I'll definitely be going back.
Post-burger, a craving for beer (of all things!) came straight outta left field.
So I was then whisked off to another spot I'd never been to before: L'Amère à Boire. You're probably getting a sense of which area I spent most of my Saturday night in, huh... Dude, this place is 3 floors high. I have to say, it was a little loud on the 3rd floor (which is where we sat), and sort of difficult to talk, but who goes out for beer to have a heart to heart anyway, right? I'm not a huge beer drinker to begin with, but it was definitely nice to find a simple, no fuss bar where I could just grab a pint because I felt like it. The only down side: some guy with an Iron Maiden t-shirt threw the remnants of his "empty" glass behind him, which is where we sat...and I got leftover beer on my boots. But that was taken care of. :)
Finally, as most of you are probably aware, our beautiful city's streets have been flooded with folks partaking in the activities created for the Montreal High Lights Festival this month. I am confident that good times were had by all, given the wide range of events. This year's was the 12th edition of this original amalgam of Montreal culture, and I was happy that fate brought me to it for the first time last night during the Nuit Blanche. Thanks to the (not so shitty after all, huh) smartphone app for the event, and some sweeeeeet connections (thanks so much Frank & Caro! I would have never known about this without you), I got to experience DJ XL5's whacky 2-hour-long video montage of hilariously bad Bollywood moments. Surprisingly, I left the room with the desire to actually watch Bollywood movies, despite the "OMG THIS IS SOOOO TERRIBLE!" screams & laughs that came out of my mouth. I managed to get home at 3am, a rare feat for me, and was super satisfied with my amazing night.
Happy Jessica is happy! More adventures soon, hopefully.
Funkytown (2011) starring Patrick Huard, Justin Chatwin & Geneviève Brouillette - see theatres & showtimes
La Paryse, 302 rue Ontario Est - click here for more info
Brasserie artisanale L'Amère à Boire, 2049 Saint-Denis - click here for more info
Montreal High Lights Festival ends tonight, February 27; catch the last festivities if you can!
