A couple of hours in the office on Monday morning and then it was off to Montréal via Air Canada for a work conference.

Travelling for work has its pros and cons. On the upside, you get to travel on someone else’s dime, visit new places, learn a lot for your job, and make new business contacts. On the downside, you generally have to lug around heavy work laptops and other work-related items, rarely get sightseeing time, you don’t really get evenings off, and you end up working maybe twice as as long as you would in the office. There’s definitely a trade off there. Still, I think it’s always important to be grateful for any opportunities to travel for work, especially in this economy.

I arrived in Montréal at just before 10 pm EST which is 7 PM on the west coast. I rushed back to the hotel and tried to catch the end of the Canucks game. Fortunately, I got to see the entire third period. Unfortunately, well, we all know what happened last night.

The rooms at Hôtel Place D’Armes are beautiful. I didn’t get a chance to shoot the lobby last night but I will when I get a chance. The rooms are very spacious, modern, and well-lit.

Here are a couple nice touches about the room: beautiful brown faux-fur rug over the corner of the bed, padded leather headboard, large firm king-size bed, desk for working, and a fireplace!

The bathroom is also really cool. My favourite: a large stainless steel rainwater-style shower head, plus the standard extendable shower head. It really does feel like I’m showering under a waterfall. I like the one sheet of glass for the shower divider, and the square sink basin.

I like having a hallway in a room, because it makes it feel like less of a cave. Digging the large armoire and the full length mirror across from the paintings and suitcase stand.

Here’s another view of the room.

You may have already noticed the strips of exposed brick in the hallway, bathroom and the main room. I LOVE IT! Definitely adds character to the room and reminds me I’m in Vieux-Montréal (Old Montreal).

And so I hang up my jersey beside my suit in the armoire. I didn’t even really get a chance to parade it around on the East Coast. Alas, the Canucks lost last night and are out of the playoffs. I had a hard time sleeping last night. My heart was just broken. It really felt like it was the year. Not sure who to blame… Lou? The coach? The entire team?

All I know is that the other team had more heart and hunger. I hope the Canucks have gotten some good playoff experience on how to play a little tougher. I hope it shapes our choices for building the team next year… I’d like to see more grit and players who know how to play with hussle.

Till next year, Canucks fans. It’s going to be another long wait, but at least we had a good run. Right?!

In other news, I’ll back in Vancouver on Thursday. For Twilight fans, I’ll sadly be missing Rob’s birthday.

Well, I’m off to work here in Montréal! Have a good day everyone.