h, to spend an evening sipping dirt-cheap, tarted up drinks from dirt-smudged glasses, sharing tales of triumph and woe with drunks of all ages in the heart if the gay and lesbian village. The music from overhead is full of appropriately melancholy fare, and every now and then someone gets lucky, vacating the premises. For us, there is no sweeter holiday.

However, This gay and lesbian hangout in the downtown core is usually quiet and intimate, apart from Saturday karaoke nights. Remodelled after a fire gutted the joint in 1999, attracts a decidedly older clientele posting young studs working behind the bar and. Agora is popular with French and English businessmen and downtown university students. It also offers a a 4pm to 9pm cocktail happy hour. For the crooners, there also is karaoke on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, with an emcee beginning at 9 pm. - R.L.