Early this morning, I kept hearing a noise that sounded like wind coming through the windows. At first, I couldn’t figure out what it was but when I got outside, the noise was even louder and I realized that it was the sound of the Champ cars over at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. This is the last Champ car race that will take place in Montreal. I’m not a race fan but it seems sad whenever Montreal loses a large event. However, the latest brouhaha surrounding the race has been pretty hysterical. Alex Tagliani and Paul Tracey have apparently been at each other’s throats and the whole thing has turned into a Quebec vs. Paul Tracey insult fest. I guess boys will be boys…

Apart from Champ car racing this weekend, there is so much to do around town. Like fellow Metblogger André (Ahoy!), I too went down to Old Montreal to check out the 18th Century Marketplace at Place Royale around the Pointe-à-Callière Museum. The area was jam-packed! Speaking of which, there were several stalls with different kinds of tasty jams and jellies. But if you don’t like crowds and taking very small steps, you might not enjoy the experience. I found it to be pretty interesting. Every summer I manage to miss out on the Marketplace weekend but finally this summer I had a chance to go. It was pretty amusing to see people dressed in period costumes. I tried to snap a pic of a prisoner being held in the stocks but the crowd was too thick for me to get a good shot. So here’s a pic of a stall where they were making galettes au sarrazin (buckwheat pancakes). They’re served brushed with butter and sprinkled with maple sugar. The marketplace is still going on tomorrow if you’re looking for something to do but unfortunately, we’re expecting rain on Sunday and another reminder that Fall is just around the corner…