Montreal Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport (YUL), 25 August
We disembark into the domestic area. I used to fly into Trudeau often when I was in consulting, and it was strange how familiar it still felt. I walked past the “Rapidair” gate area, and recalled all the times I used to wait by those gates to hop a flight back to Toronto. That was years ago now, but it didn’t feel very long ago.
I stop to check the monitors on my flight. I had originally had a 4 and a half hour layover in Montreal, and now see my flight is delayed an hour, meaning I now have over 5 hours to kill here in Montreal. I flirt briefly with the idea of heading into Montreal to grab a smoked meat sandwich, but decide instead to take it easy in the lounge.
I walk to the international departures area.. The last time I flew into Montreal, this area was still under construction. The international area is very nice. It is small, but hip feel and some unusual stores. It can feel quite crowded, though.
The Maple Leaf Lounge for international departures is by gate 52. It is quite small, and was very crowded when I arrived. The lounge is long and thin, but has good views of the airfield to watch planes landing. There is a small children's play area on one end, the bar / food area in the middle, and a business centre with computers, printers and fax at the other.
I grab myself a vodka and soda, and settle into the rest of the Globe and Mail. Snacks are out, with soup, nachos, veggies and dip and cookies.
Later in the afternoon, I’ve finished the paper and am amusing myself with surfing the internet on my mobile. The lounge attendant brings out dinner. On offer is salad and ravioli with meat or sausage with white or red sauce.
I had the sausage ravioli. It was nice, the sausage was spicy, but it was offset well by the white sauce.
Finally, getting onto eight o’clock in the evening, the lounge has mostly empty out, and the flight is called. Off to the plane and my overnight flight to London.
(Air France A380 in the background)