Lucie's List: Three days in Montreal

As is often the way on the road, you rock up in a city with little, if any, idea of what you should do or see. In some cities it's obvious. But in others I've needed a little help. Montreal fell into the latter category. I'd heard it was beautiful and was interested enough to go there. I knew they spoke French, but that was the extent of my knowledge of Quebec's largest city.

This is when knowing a local helps. My friend Lucie, who is French, but has only lived in Montreal on and off over the past year, put together the following list of things I should see in Montreal over my three days.

• Old Montreal. For the Old Port, Notre Dame Cathedral and archaeological museum. On the Orange Line (Champ-de-Mars or Place dÁrmes). I spent hours walking around Old Montreal. I loved the cobblestone streets lined with cafes, galleries and boutiques. Lucie suggested going inside the Notre Dame, but since I'd seen inside the one in Paris and am soon off to Italy to see more churches than I can count, I gave it a miss. I have heard it is amazing though.


• Mont Royal street and Mont Royal (the mountain). It is the French (from France) neighbourhood and very touristy. Orange Line (Mont Royal) then bus #11 to Mont Royal Mountain. You should do exactly what we did: pack a picnic and enjoy it at the top while the sun sets over the city. Beautiful.

• St Catherine Street. One or the main streets downtown with shops and restaurants. Green line (Peel or McGill). If you want the city centre and shopping, this is it. It's worth a visit if only to enjoy the contrast from the old town.


• St Denis Street Another typical street. Lots of bars and restaurants. Orange, Green or Yellow Line. (Berri UQAM). I explored this street at night and wish I hadn't have had dinner and was in the mood for a drink. It's lots of fun.


• Parc Jean-Drapeau: The island of St Helen with an awesome view on the Old Montreal, across the St Laurent River. Huge park! Yellow line (Jean Drapeau). Ah sitting on the edge of the river watching the sun set. I could have fell asleep here. It was so peaceful and beautiful.

• Oratoire St Joseph: Another nice view over Montreal and old beautiful building/church. Blue line (Côte-des-Neiges) I didn't go inside but spent a while walking through the Garden of the Cross., which was beautiful. It's a lovely building and a nice view of the city.


• Botanical Garden: Part of it is free and you can buy a pass for the Garden + the Biodome + the Insectarium + Olympic Stadium (there is an elevator that brings you to the top of its tower: nice view too). Green line (Pie IX or Viau) I was pushed for time so didn't invest in the ticket to see most of the garden, but just sitting under a tree with an ice cream was awesome.

• Place des Arts: Big place where summer's festivals take place, theatre etc. Green line (Place-des-Arts). This is really close to St Catherine St so I walked up from there. A community art project involving muscial swings is set up and is a bit of fun.


• Jean Talon Market and Little Italy: Biggest farmers' market in town. Blue or orange line (Jean Talon) and Blue line (De Castelnau) for Little Italy. Don't have lunch before you visit the market so you have room to sample everything. The prices are reasonable too. It was too hot for me to explore Petite Italy.


• Fairmount Bagels/St Viateur Bagels: In the Mile End area, a nice place to visit. Blue line (Laurier). I visited Fairmount Bagels, a teeny shop packed and packed with bagels. Oh soooo good and pretty cheap too.


• St Laurent Steet: The longest street that separates east from west in Montreal. After crossing the Sherbrooke St, just walk and reach the Portuguese area; nice area and home of Leonard Cohen. Quite a long walk because the street if very long but lots of interesting and unconventional shops and restaurants. Green line (St Laurent). This really is a very long street. I kept finding it everywhere. Definitely worth checking out no matter what you're looking for.

• Juliette et Chocolat: The best chocolate "restaurant"ever. There is one on St Denis St (Berri UQAM) and one on St Laurent St (St Laurent). This is a must visit and I can only imagine how much weight I would put on if I lived in Montreal. It's open quite late (11pm and 12am on weekends) to fit in the dessert cravers.


• Poutine: La Banquise. Open 24 hours and a typical tourist place with a huge choice of . There's a nice park close to it: Parc La Fontaine. Orange line (Mont Royal). The only thing on the list I didn't get to, mainly because it was so hot on the days I was there and I just didn't feel like eating poutine.

A picnic with a view

It's hot. A top of 33C is forecast for Thursday. That's not my kind of weather. In an effort to avoid the sun, I spent the morning running errands: doing laundry, posting stuff at the post office and going for a run (only on the shady streets). Even when you're travelling these things must be done.

At about 1pm, covered in sunscreen, I make my way to my first destination: Jean Talon Market. The market, near Little Italy, is undercover. So that's a big plus for me. I get there without having lunch and unintentionally seem to fill up on free samples. I did actually buy stuff!! I was a little surprised in the difference in quality among the stalls. The market is mainly fruit and vegetables and flowers, although there are some boutique stores selling various things such as cheese, olives, ice cream and chocolate.

Armed with some food for dinner I go back home and fine that by the time I take care of some trip planning (sending CouchRequests, checking my bookings for my upcoming trip legs etc) I don't have much time before I have to meet Lucie, so I relax a little, prepare dinner and head into the city about 5pm.



Our plan for the evening is to visit Mont Royal - a mountain, or perhaps more correctly, a hill, in the centre of Montreal. We meet at the Mont Royal station and decided bagels are in order. Fairmount Bagels is known as having some of the best in the city so we catch another metro and walk a few blocks to find this tiny, hole-in-the-wall store. The store is jam packed with ceiling-height trolleys full of bagels. There is room for about four customers at any one time. The bagel store is in a neighbourhood known as Mile End. It's a very hipster area full of cafes, bars, boutiques and galleries. I wish I had a bit more time to spend here.

En route to a bus or metro station the threatening dark clouds above deliver. First just a speckle. Then big fat rain. We take shelter in a bus stop and wait for it to pass, which eventually (after a few false starts) it does.



We get off the #11 bus near the top of Mont Royal and walk to the chalet. In my backpack I have our dinner: fresh vegetables from the market to make into a wrap and some fruit for dessert. The skies lighten up and we're able to enjoy the picnic without rain or ants. There was one raccoon, but he was over the railing and wasn't climbing up anytime soon.

The view from Mont Royal is lovely, especially with the rainbow and setting sun. We don't stay until dark and climb down back into the city, and it's noise. Our next destination is Juliette et Chocolat, another item on Lucie's List. We shared a sundae filled with bananas, ice cream, strawberries, brownie and whipping cream, and an intense brownie with ice cream and chocolate sauce, before walking out of the store straight into the path of the nightly protest.

Students have been on strike and protesting for more than 100 days over a hike in their tuition fees. In an attempt to address the protests the government passed a law requiring all protests of more than 50 people to submit notice and a route map to police at least eight hours in advance. So the students (and many many others) protested about that. Then last night they arrested 518 people for violating the new law. So tonight everyone is protesting about that. The army of people, sporting little red felt bits as a sign of their solidarity and banging pots and pans, marched through the city. This happens every night all around the city.

Picnic with my teacup on Montreal's Mont Royal

As dusk falls over Montreal, the Kondiaronk Belvedere in front of the of Mont Royal Chalet begins to fill. Tourists prepare to capture the sunset, runners take a breather and stretch before their descent and a sly few enjoy a beer or three. Then there is me; setting my pretty china tea cup down on the edge and photographing it with the views of downtown Montreal behind it.



It isn't a long walk up to Mont Royal, but having felt the result of the first few thunderclouds to roll over Montreal, my friend Lucie and I decide we should reach the top ASAP - so on the bus it is. Despite the view over the city below, we feel a million miles away. Lucie explains Mont Royal is described as the "lungs" of Montreal.

The sun returns and we are greeted with a beautiful rainbow over the city skyline while we have a picnic outside the Chalet. With temperatures of more than 30C during the day, it's too hot for tea, so it's juice in my Secret Garden Tea Company teacup instead.



When the sky starts to look a little dark again we escape down the stairs into the city centre. Soon we can hear traffic and sirens - our escape was too short.



 

Montreal: Cities within a city

My second day in Montreal and I still haven't quite comprehended what I have dubbed "The French Thing". Everything is in French. Even the newspaper. 

My friend Lucie, who I am staying with, works near Old Montreal. Or as I like to call it, Paris 2.0. I spend a few hours walking through Old Montreal and its cobblestone streets. There are lots of cafes and restaurants, galleries, souvenir shops and boutiques. It was a scorching day so my path was decided by where ever I can find some shade. For a while it's outside the Notre-Dame Basilica. It looks like a smaller version of Notre Dame in Paris. Lucie suggested I go in, but rain is forecast for my remaining days in Montreal so I'm saving any indoor activities for then.

One open square is lined with cafes. All the menus are in French, with a small translation underneath. The chairs at the tables are the same style I saw so often in Paris. It's an eerie feeling to be in one place that so strongly resembles another.

After walking the length of Saint Paul Street a couple of times I spy a couple with a really tasty looking sandwich. I ask where they got it and they give me the cafe name and tell me it's somewhere at the other end of Old Montreal. So back I go. I search, give up, and start looking for other lunch spots when I find it. It's a buzzing little cafe with barely a spare table. I just want take-out and there seems to be a little system happening for that. I can't read the signs (in French) but just get in line. The menu is also entirely in French. Except for one phrase: "Get real food here." Thanks for my three weeks in France last year I can understand the ingredients in one of the sandwiches so choose that one and then find a nice park bench under some trees. And boy, what a sandwich: cajun chicken, red onion, mango, guacamole...nom nom nom.



After lunch I headed to Saint Catherine St, one of the main shopping streets and also on Lucie's List.  Stepping out of the metro station I couldn't believe I was in the same city. The city centre was just like any other city centre and Saint Catherine St was lined with all the usual names: Gap, Tommy H, The Bay etc. Was I really only a few minutes from those cobblestone streets?





From Saint Catherine St I walked to Place des Arts, a popular spot for festivals in the summer and also on Lucie's List. I walked around for a little bit until a public art project caught my eye. A series of musical swings had been set up along one of the streets. Every time the seat swings, it makes a note and sounds rather like a wind chime. Apparently this is all being recorded and will be performed at the end of project. I joined the fun and sat on one of the swings for a while. It seemed to be only adults.

At 5pm I met Lucie at her work. I was craving an ice cream so we found one in the Old Montreal and enjoyed that before catching the metro to Parc Jean-Drapeau. The park is split over two islands. There's not a lot of open space so it's always a shock when you suddenly come to a swimming pool, restaurant or the circuit used to host the Canadian Grand Prix. When the cars aren't racing the track is open to cyclists and rollerbladers. There were plenty of both out.

We walked around to the river and spend sometime lying in the dying sun and enjoying the view back over the Old Montreal.



 

Montreal: my ticket to France

Let me preface this by saying I am well aware of, and support, a person's right to speak in any language they choose. But this is Canada. So why are you speaking in French??

This sentiment has been floating around in my head for two days now. I'm not frustrated by it anymore. Now I just find it funny.

I arrived in Montreal on Tuesday night, after finishing my trip on The Canadian, a one-hour stop-over in Toronto and a six-hour train up to Quebec's largest city. I'm staying with a friend of mine, Lucie. I hosted her through CouchSurfing twice last year and we've stayed in touch. Lucky for me she's French so is helping me navigate this culture-clash of cities.



For those that don't know much about Canada's east, let me fill you in. The province of Quebec (which Montreal is in) is part of Canada. But it probably would prefer not to be. The last referendum on the matter was about 50/50. For a super quick history lesson: the French settled in Eastern Canada before it was taken over by the British. It's still a sore point. So French remains Quebec's one and only official language. On a national level, Canada recognises both English and French as its official language. Up to speed? Good.

So I get off the train in Montreal and every sign is in French. The only time a translation appears is for emergency signs. Apparently that is the only situation I will need to understand anything. Most maps are in French. My bus ticket is in French. The street signs are "Rue". The French word for street. You get the picture.

From the station Lucie and I go straight to her place, in the Ukrainian neighbourhood, where at the supermarket everything is still in French. And despite saying "hello" to the cashier, she still speaks to me in French before I managed to stumble, "um, I don't speak English". "Do you want a bag?" she asks. Nearly everyone here speaks perfect English, just not to each other. Or to me, it seems.

I'm exhausted from my days on a train. After writing me a great Montreal To-Do list, Lucie cooked me some dinner. I showered (first in two days, oh it felt SO good) and collapse into bed.