Discovering Royal Montreal!
Canada kind. That has been my impression after visits to Toronto and Vancouver—but would Montreal confirm the pattern?
Erin and I planned a week north of the border as a way to see a new part of the world and escape the summer heat in Florida.
We stayed at the downtown Marriott in Montreal and quickly learned most people speak French as their primary language but most can speak fluent English as well.
First stops—the two biggest tourist attractions– Notre-Dame Basilica and “Old Montreal.”
The 1829 church is under renovation until 2040, according to its website. It is the first “neo gothic” church in Canada. Tours range from $11 to $75 dollars. Singer Celine Dion married her manager there in 1994. We enjoyed the ambiance on the plaza across the street, full of statues, performers and good people-watching.
Old Montreal is a 17th-century neighborhood full of cobblestone streets, high-end shops—and countless souvenir stores—and restaurants. It was beautiful—but parts were packed with tourists. Consequently prices are high.
We happened upon the massive City Hall and poked our heads inside the beautiful 1878 building and city council chamber. It’s a National Historic Site of Canada.
We then had something funny and random happen: A couple in matching uniforms and clip boards asked us to take a Montreal survey and we agreed. While the guy asked me questions, the woman separately told Erin they were going to prank me with a couple actors posing as trashmen. They materialized in front of us with a big messy bag and offered us $20 to drink a soda they removed from it. I winced at the question, but Erin did it and my reaction was caught on three hidden cameras. It’s a nationwide candid camera-type show called “Just for Laughs.” Memorable start to our vacation.
We had dinner in a plaza area on Sainte-Catherine Street called ‘The Quartier des Spectacles.’ Erin and I enjoyed sushi at an outdoor table—which turned out to be our best meal in Montreal. But we got lost during our walk home and wound up using Uber to help us find the hotel.
The next morning we headed out–for what would be–a 33,000-step day. It began with a hike through the heart of the city, through McGill University and up “Mount Royal,” a hill overlooking the city. (French explorer Jacque Cartier named the hill in 1535 and the city adopted the name which later became “Montreal.”) We enjoyed seeing the nearby 470-acre park designed by Frederick Law Olmsted, the same 19th century landscape architect who produced everything from New York’s Central Park to the U.S. Capitol to Buffalo’s Delaware Park.
We came back down to earth and walked around the urban streets of Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. It was a nice break from touristy Old Montreal. Most people are friendly, greet with a neutral “hello” and wait to see which language you’ll speak next. (I took a few years of French in school, but outside of the basic vocabulary words I was immediately lost if someone as much as asked me “Comment allez-vous?” or “How are you?”)
We had two last items on our “to do” list before leaving Montreal:
I wanted to see where the legendary Montreal Canadiens played—and was relieved it was a block from our hotel. However this it wasn’t original famous “Forum” from their glory days.
We wanted to see Monteal’s underground city, which is 20 miles (!) of restaurants and shops. Some people can get to work, restaurants and home without ever going outside during the bitter cold winters. Fascinating.
Au revoir Montreal and now looking forward to boarding the train and making the 3-hour ride north to Quebec City!
Did Montreal complete the trifecta of friendly cities for me? Oui oui.
Sidebar:
Helpless Travel Nightmare
We initially flew from Sarasota to Newark for a 90-minute layover that almost spread to several days: Heavy rain bumped our 2:30 connection to 6:30, at which point United canceled the flight altogether. There is no longer a customer service desk, just a QR code. What a helpless feeling.
It’s bad enough we were going to miss the first night of our vacation, but we had to cancel our hotel reservation, then find a hotel in Newark and hope to get out the next day.
The next morning, we saw weather reports that predicted torrential rain again Monday afternoon. Erin connected with Air Canada which agreed to honor our United tickets and get us out of Newark and into Montreal just after Noon.
But once we got to the Newark Airport and checked in with Air Canada, they told us we still had to retrieve our luggage from United, two terminals away. The clock was ticking—but we got it done.
Later that day we checked and saw our original flight was indeed postponed again, and maybe the following day as well.
Ray Collins is a Sarasota-based writer who has learned to pack an extra day’s clothing, medication and toiletries in his carry-on luggage. www.raycollinsmedia.com/articles
