Maxing out on Montreal, June 2005

[+ newatthis]

My previous Montreal trip ( [http://babydb.male4malescorts.com/m4mdc/dcboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=18&topic_id=11284&mesg_id=11284]) was such a stand out that I leaped at the chance to return barely a month later. This visit was more subdued, with both highs and lows. That has its good side: I didn’t find myself in a state of depression and misery at leaving. But it also made me realize that, for me at least, there is such a thing as visiting Montreal so frequently that some of the magic is lost.

 

It was really, really hot last week – daytime temperatures well into the 90’s, sticky and humid. The busses and métro are not air-conditioned. The heat put a serious crimp in my favorite summer activity – it was just too unpleasant to wander around outdoors for long. The heat broke somewhat Wednesday evening with torrential downpours that lasted on and off for several hours.

 

Some personal firsts: I was treated to shots by a dancer and a waiter at one club (they must have been trying to get me drunk and have their way with me). At the same club, a 95-year old (well that’s how old he looked; he claimed to be 65) Frenchman sat down next to me and began tweaking my nipples and trying to pick me up. A very popular dancer at another club had to be reminded that I hadn’t paid him for his private dances (I like to think it was because I showed him such a good time!). And one afternoon as I was walking down Ste. Catherine, I heard a voice yelling “Hey, baby” at me from the open front of one of the bars – it was a Taboo dancer wanting to know if I’d be at the club that night. Made me feel almost like a local.

 

TABOO

As I reported in May, Taboo has risen to the top of the heap once more. Every night last week, including normally dead Monday and Tuesday, there were 15-20 dancers, and the place was packed with customers, especially after 11 pm. This was doubly amazing since it was just after the long St. Jean Baptiste holiday weekend and just prior to the Canada Day/4th of July double header weekend. Wednesday evening was standing room only, with significant waits to do private dances. Alongside the older customers who make up the normal Taboo crowd were a significant number of younger guys and couples.

 

While there are still no ‘roided muscle men at Taboo, the range of body and personality types has expanded considerably. Taboo still has its jail bait of course, including an adorable18-year old newcomer, Lesley, with drag-queen good looks and lots of attitude.

 

An old-timer who just returned to dance for the summer is the French journalist Aurian. The Latino population continues to increase, including a new Mexican, Roberto, who joins his compatriots Helmuth and Eden (arguably the dancer with the sweetest temperament), along with Peruvian Alonzo, Colombian José, and Brazilian Diego. I tried out Alexandre in the back based on several good reports here in the MC, but found him disappointing. Malek wasn’t much better in the back, but a lot more interesting to talk to.

 

A dancer whom I spent quite a bit of time with mentioned that he found dancer X very attractive, so I called X over and paid him to do a couple of dances for my guy. They told me that an on-duty dancer wasn’t allowed to do private dances for another on-duty dancer, but they could dance together for me as the customer. It was quite a show – I don’t know how they managed to get away with it in the Taboo back room – and they went way over time.

 

ADONIS

Adonis was the big surprise of this visit. I fled there in despair from Campus on my first afternoon in town. There is a good selection of new dancers who were very pleasant to look at. At the moment, Adonis seems to be specializing in tall, lanky, good looking, boy next door types. The club was full enough to be comfortable most afternoons when I dropped in, but never too crowded. A couple of dancers mentioned that the smaller size and feel of Adonis is what made them prefer to dance there.

 

Although many dancers caught my eye (Snow, Justin, Kevin – one of the few Chinese I’ve seen at the clubs, TJ – with a very cute ass, Max, Tony), the only one I took to the back was William, an 18-year old finance student whose stage dances were very artistic and unusual. He scored an A on conversation and an A- in the back on my first day; those grades dropped to B the next.

 

CAMPUS (afternoons)

This has long been my overall favorite club, but it was completely dead 4 out of the 5 afternoons I stopped in. On the first day, I fled without even buying a drink – there were only 5 dancers, all of whom I knew and disliked. Not too many customers either.

 

Things picked up a bit on Thursday afternoon when the incomparable Phil was there. In fact, the high point of my time at Campus was being taken in hand by Phil, Ryan, and Cory (Cory’s followers will be happy to learn that with the demise of West Side, he has moved to Campus) in an attempt to teach me to play pool. There is some new eye candy in the person of fill-in waiter Jean-Philippe, barman Serge’s boyfriend.

 

GOSSIP

The Village is like a very small town; everyone seems to know everyone else’s business, and loves to talk about it, even with relative strangers like me.

 

There was lots of buzz about Taboo’s having been sold and to whom. Some customers/locals claimed to be in the know but sworn to secrecy. But the dancers all knew who the new owner is (he takes over in August) and pointed him out to me. He told me he is planning some changes to the back room during the slow season in winter (the idea is to still allow surveillance, but make it so the customers can’t see each other in the back room).

 

If you have a thing for former Campus dancer Pascal as I do, now’s your big chance: when I stopped by Mado’s to say “hello”, he told me he had just broken up with his boyfriend. Various other couples were also reported as having broken up. On the other hand, a dancer couple I met in May celebrating their first (month!) anniversary has made it past their second.

 

Several people gleefully reported that one popular dancer who claimed to be straight (“except when I’m drunk”) had acquired a dancer-boyfriend from another club and spent most of his time with him belly down.

 

Not all the gossip was quite so light-hearted. I heard about club owners’ travails, and, to my surprise, about gang influences in the clubs.

 

THERE’S MORE TO MONTREAL THAN THE STRIP CLUBS

This is the first time I’ve stayed in a hotel that required a walk through downtown streets from the metro. What I discovered, coming home at 2 am, was how alive the city still is at that hour. Crowds of people in the street; outdoor terraces of restaurants still filled with people dining or drinking.

 

The Village Artfest began on my last full day. There was a wonderful feeling all along Ste. Catherine. The gay marriage bill had just passed the House of Commons the day before. The temperatures had moderated somewhat and all the restaurants and bars had opened themselves up to the street and set up tables and chairs. People wandered up and down visiting the art displays, stopping and chatting, or people-watching. Scores were seated in the makeshift sidewalk cafes. The crowd was completely mixed: young and old, black and white, with both gay and straight couples walking hand-in-hand.

 

The Vatican is sponsoring an exhibit on the Papacy at the Basilisque Notre Dame. The ads make it sound like there is great art from the Vatican collection; not so. There are displays of papal vestments and other ritual objects which I found mildly interesting; overall I didn’t think this was worth the price of admission.

 

The Fine Arts Museum has a new show on the work of Holgate, a major Canadian artist who died in 1977. What does the phrase “major Canadian artist” bring to your mind :-)? The same museum has some blockbusters on their upcoming schedule, however, including an exhibition of paintings from the Hermitage.

 

Much more to my taste were the fine exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art. This was right in the heart of Jazzfest land at the Place des Arts, which deserves a whole posting to itself (4 or 5 giant stages set up outdoors with non-stop free performances from 11 am to midnight).

 

WARNING: L’AÉROBUS (THE AIRPORT SHUTTLE)

Although their web information hasn’t changed, the airport shuttle has ended its brief experiment with giving direct service from the airport to several downtown hotels. Instead, it takes you to the Central Bus Station on Berri (convenient only if you’re staying in the Village), whence you are farmed out into smaller minibuses which make the rounds of the downtown hotels. This makes a 20-minute trip into a 50-minute one. They are also completely unreliable on the return trip – when they were 20 minutes late on pickup, my hotel called, only to be told they had no reservation for a pickup from my hotel.

[Karl-G]

Thanks very much for the great up-date on Montreal. The specifics were all very enjoyable.

 

You are right about the airport shuttle-bus if you are staying downtown, but if you are staying at the Gouverneurs or anyplace in the Village, the Berri bus station is ideal. Returning is also ideal if you are staying close to the bus-station; a bus leaves every hour on the hour and every half-hour on the half-hour. And they are very regular and reliable.

 

The museums can be very enjoyable, as you point out, and the special shows can be exceptionally good. For other daytime fun during good weather, I highly recommend walking to the Place Jacques Cartier, the traffic free zone close to the old harbor. It is only a 10-15 minute walk from either downtown or the Village/Ste Catherine; if you walk down from the Place des Arts area you also get to walk through Chinatown, which is always interesting. The Place JC is lined with restaurants and outdoor cafes which are wonderful places to have lunch and watch the crowds. The food is very good, the prices very reasonable, and I have made friends with many of the wait staff who enjoy talking with people from the U.S., especially if you try speaking at least a little French. There usually are street entertainers who are great fun to watch and put on a very good show every 40 minutes or so, juggling, riding trick bicycles, or swallowing flaming swords. You can rent a bicycle, a bicycle-rick-shaw, or roller blades and enjoy cycling or blading along the waterfront. The old streets in this part of town are lined with antique and art shops as well as tourist shops. It is a very nice place to spend a few hours each day before heading to Campus for the afternoon fun at 3:30 or 4:00.

[Luv2play]

>

>The Fine Arts Museum has a new show on the work of Holgate, a

>major Canadian artist who died in 1977. What does the phrase

>“major Canadian artist” bring to your mind :-)? The same

>museum has some blockbusters on their upcoming schedule,

>however, including an exhibition of paintings from the

>Hermitage.

>

Now them's fighting words! Canada has always suffered by living in the shadow of the USA, a much (10X) larger country in population and, since the middle of the 20th century, the major centre of art in the world. New York benefited in particular from the fallout of WWII when many European artists, fleeing Hitler's oppression, helped to shift the centre of art influence from Paris and other European cities to North America. Earlier generations of American (and Canadian) artists had to go to Europe to complete their training in art to expose themselves to the leading European artists who had dominated 19th and early 20th century art.

 

It is true Canadian artists are not well known to the American population generally, but again, the huge American market tends to focus nowadays on home-grown talent. New York, while important in terms of selling art, no longer seems to hold a dominant position on creating art, as many regional artists have acquired a national and international following. The Internet seems to be an influence as well as information about art and artists can more easily be disseminated these days.

 

It is unfortunate Canadian artists are not better known to Americans as there are many who have produced work which stands up well to their American counterparts. In the earlier part of the 20th century, Canadian artists developed a unique style of reflecting the Canadian landscape (Group of 7) but because of the dominance, they tended to overshadow other artists such as those in Quebec who were busy establishing their own presence in the art world, separated from English Canada by their language and unique culture. Only some of these artists acquired a global reputation, such as Jean-Paul Riopelle, but there are many more such as Edwin Holgate that have languished in relative obscurity until recently. Hopefully, this will be corrected as more of these artists' works are brought to the attention of the art world through retrospective exhibitions such as the Holage at the Museum of Fine Art in Montreal.

[Luv2play]

oops! The last sentence should read "such as the Holgate".

[+ newatthis]

Canadian artists

 

While little of Holgate's work spoke to me, I don't actually believe that had anything to do with his being Canadian. I just couldn't resist the smart-ass remark about Canadian artists (sometimes I have no self control), and I thought we Montreal lovers deserve a little controversy every once in a while -- why should the d*****s and the w*******s have all the fun? :-)

 

The Canadian artists I enjoy most seem to be contemporary. As I wrote above, I've rarely been disappointed in a show at the MACM. I bought a Nadeau print in Outremont last year. And one of the most enjoyable exhibitions I've seen in a long time -- the art was very clever and whimsical -- was devoted to 2 contemporary Canadian artists in a converted warehouse-like space near the Vieux Port. I can't locate their names or the venue right now; it was sometime in the past year.

 

Thanks for putting things in context.

[KY_TOP]

It was cool to read about your trip. I just returned from Montreal today. I must say as much as I get to go there it always seems to be different. Not just each trip but each afternoon or day. I always enjoy the unexpected. I usually visit Thursday - Sunday but due to a business trip that went into Friday and my birthday being on Tuesday (this is the 4th birthday I have celebrated in Montreal), I decided to do Friday until Wednesday. I must say that Monday and Tuesday are a real experience. There were very few dancers at any of the clubs those days. BUT the ones that were there seemed to be very accommodating due to the slow business. I made it to all 4 clubs multiple times and met some new favorites for me.

 

At Taboo my favorite was Roberto. I saw him Saturday and spent alot of time in back with him, a real firecracker. He told me he would also be dancing Sunday and Monday but did not show either night. So on Sunday Sean became my new favorite and he really seemed to enjoy the attention and said he usually doesn't get so many dances from one person. Don't understand that one he was a real hot backroom guy. Sean was supposed to work Monday but didn't show and I really didn't stay long, the guys there didn't interest me much and the place was unbelievably slow Monday and Tuesday.

 

Spent some time at Adonis but nothing much to write home about. Place was friendly enough and I did a few dances. Place was nothing compared to my March trip there.

 

Campus actually was my biggest surprise this trip I walked in Monday afternoon and the place was dead. But I started talking to a dancer named Nathaniel. Sort of rough looking, tattoos, goatee, chain around his neck. He actually was very bright and cool to talk too. When we went back for a dance he blew my socks off. One of the best times I have ever had with a dancer in any club. He was not rough at all but very sensuous and sweet and well hung. }( I spent a good amount of time with him and he was kind enough the next day (his off day) to join me for dinner for my birthday. I did a few dances with other guys at Campus during my trip but again nothing to write home about. I made the mistake of visiting Campus on Ladies night. Stayed a whole 5 minutes even after paying a cover they charge that night. I did notice that most of the guys I had an interest in where not working that night. Mostly the straight muscle guys it seemed.

 

Stock is almost always my biggest disappointment. I find so many guys there appealing but, the lackluster overpriced backroom performance is just such a letdown. I tried a guy named Michael from California. I thought I had just about seen everything with strippers but he took the prize. Before he would start he took a bottle of hand sanitizer from his pocket and wanted me to clean my hands before I touched him. Only as a courtesy did I give him 2 dances and I really debated with myself on that one. So I had again given up on Stock but as I was making my way back to my Hotel late Tuesday night, planning for my departure the next morning, I passed stock and decided to at least look at the studs. Well I struck up a conversation with Lewis. Hot and cool guy, I decided to give him a try in back. Finally, a great time at Stock. Maybe it was because it was a slow night and he hadn't made much money but I must say he was well worth the time I spent in back with him.

 

Well with the days I was there it was a much different trip but I still had my usual fun time and made a few new favorites. Hoprefully they will still be there when I return.

[+ Lucky]

RE: Making out in Montreal

 

"When we went back for a dance he blew my socks off."

 

And here I thought only Rick Munroe could do that...

[+ newatthis]

>It was cool to read about your trip.

 

And to read about yours. This is the second time we've missed each other by less than 12 hours -- maybe someday we'll actually meet.

...

 

>I must say that Monday and Tuesday are a real experience. There were very few dancers at any of the clubs those days.

>BUT the ones that were there seemed to be very accommodating due to the slow business.

 

I asked my favorite dancer this past trip why he worked only week nights and not weekends -- most dancers love the weekends and work as

few weekdays as they can get away with. He said he hated it when it was so busy that he couldn't spend time talking to a customer before and after doing lap dances for him. If you get a guy with this attitude on a weeknight, you get real quality.

...

 

>At Taboo my favorite was Roberto. I saw him Saturday and spent a lot of time in back with him, a real firecracker. ...on Sunday Sean became my new

>favorite ... he was a real hot backroom guy.

 

I've spoken with Sean many times, but never did any dances with him. Roberto is new; he was on my list, but never got to him. Just too many attractive dancers at Taboo this visit (plus, as usual, I ended up spending 90% of my time with one guy). Thanks for the tips -- I'll make sure to get to them next visit.

[Guest Fisher]

Nathaniel - Campus

 

Glad to hear that Nathaniel is still dancing

at Campus. I'll be in Montreal next month

and I look forward to seeing him again.

 

When I first met him, I didn't think he was my

type ... too many tats ... a little too rough

looking. But after talking to him for awhile,

I found him to be sweet and intelligent. He was

starting to turn me on. (the fact that I was wearing

shorts and he had his hand up my leg and was massaging

my dick didn't hurt) }(

 

When I went in the back with him - WOW - what a

fun and tasty guy :9

 

Cheers,

Fisher

[Luv2play]

RE: Nathaniel - Campus

 

As you may know I frequent Campus from time-to-time but tend to get dances from the same old favorites. I do try out new ones but am usually disappointed and don't repeat with them. I have not seen Nathanial but you have sparked my curiosity. Did he charge the usual $10 per dance or was he more expensive?

[+ newatthis]

RE: Nathaniel - Campus

 

I met Nathaniel last year when he had just started out (and had a thing for Kenny), and have found him over time to be very much Jekyll and Hyde. Occasionally really sexy, raunchy, and fun (as KY and Fisher described), sometimes (even the same times) fascinating to talk with, but sometimes downright rude and unpleasant.

 

I've heard him say more than once "it's all about the money". While that's true for most dancers, he can be more offensively blatant about it than most -- for example, when he asks for $20/dance. He hangs around with the big spenders almost exclusively when they are there.

 

He can deliver big time in the back room when he's in the mood, but I know from personal experience that he can also be very disappointing.

 

Nowadays my modus operandi is to give him a warm greeting; if there's no one else around whom I like or who catches my fancy, I'll talk with him and try to gauge whether Jekyll or Hyde is working that day before proceeding further.

[KY_TOP]

RE: Nathaniel - Campus

 

$10 dances with me and he counted correctly also.