June 7, 2017

Flavours of Montreal

Chiara Di NORTH AMERICA, TRAVEL Canada, Montreal, Quebec, Travel, Wanderlust 0 Comments

Montreal is a great international city full of so much culture, history, amazing food, nightlife and simply something for everyone.

The direct train from Quebec to Montreal with Via Rail took three hours and 20 minutes. The journey wasn’t too exciting as most of the land was brown with the last of the snow melting and the trees yet to bloom, so I tried to nap most of the way.

We were welcomed in Montreal to a 25 degree day which was the warmest day of our holiday. We arrived at Central Station in the heart of downtown and navigated our way to our hotel on foot.

We stayed at Chateau Versailles, a boutique historic hotel in downtown as we wanted a real French experience. The rooms were cosy and there was complimentary continental breakfast daily. There were no elevators which was a little difficult on arrival when we didn’t have the help of the lovely staff to assist with our luggage at the entry stairs, but we got used to the stairs and it made the hotel more traditional.

After check in, we walked to the central tourist information centre at Dorchester Square and bought a two day hop on hop off bus ticket (CAD$59) to help get around to the main sights. As it was early afternoon we stayed on the bus for most of the loop passing Old Montreal, the Latin Quarter, Fine Arts Museum, Gay Village, World Trade Centre and Notre Dame Basilica.

We got off the bus to visit Saint Joseph’s Oratory which offers a view over wider Montreal and has a basilica and chapel. Pilgrimages also happen here.

The next stop was Mont Royal Park. We walked to the Kondiaronk Lookout which had an amazing 180 degree view over downtown Montreal. It was great to be back in a big city. It was a nice view and worth the stop even though our bus driver told us the next stop had the best view (which it didn’t). It was a shame the gardens weren’t blooming yet, but the grass was green.

We were recommended by our concierge to go to Crescent Street, a short walk from our hotel for the restaurants and bars. On our first night in Montreal we had dinner at Sir Winston Churchill pub – one of the first pubs on the street. Due to the warm weather everyone was loving the alfresco area and Happy Hour til 8pm.

We ended up with a pub meal of poutine – a Canadian dish of fries with cheese curd and gravy – and nachoes. Mum wasn’t very happy with the decision. We walked across the street and had a wine at W&G Bar before calling it a night.

The next day was the only day we got to enjoy the complimentary hotel breakfast. Ham and cheeses croissants, chocolate croissants, bagels, fruit, cereal, yoghurt… mmmmm!

We got back on the hop on hop off bus today at Dorchester Square. This time we got off at stop one to explore Notre Dame Basilica of Montreal. From the outside it resembled the Paris cathedral, but from the inside it was so different – almost gothic like.

The alter backdrop looked like Jesus was in a Disney castle. The design and colours were so beautiful. There was a beautiful chapel at the back of the basilica as well.

After Notre Dame, we walked through the streets of Old Montreal taking in the architecture, shops and scenery. We walked to the port area, St Lawrence River and Place Royale square which had restaurants, monuments and art displays.

We found our favourite coffee of the whole trip in Old Montreal at Le Petit Dep, a cute little French inspired cafe shop. Skinny latte for me and cortado for mum, which was the equivalent of her go to in Australia – a long mac topped up.

On the way back to central downtown, we passed Chinatown (not much to it), the Museum of Contemporary Arts, the pink Batman building and numerous churches.

We tried the famous beef brisket sandwich for lunch at Reuben’s Deli. We shared the Famous Super Sandwich – 10 pounds of smoked beef brisket on rye with mustard – and a roast beef melt on toasted rye with garlic mayo, sauteed onions and Swiss cheese. Both sandwiches were really good, I just don’t understand the obsession with so many layers of meat?!

After lunch we wandered the shopping streets of downtown, mainly St Catherine and checked out some of the local boutiques.

Then it was time for Happy Hour from 4pm. We went back to Crescent Street and this time tried Thursday’s bar. We found a spot around the bar and enjoyed $4 vodkas and meeting locals and other weekend visitors.

We left for a bit and went back to Old Montreal for dinner. We were craving some pasta by now (being of Italian heritage) but couldn’t settle for any Italian restaurants we walked past. We ended up at Mangia Foco which didn’t have pasta on the menu so pizza and salad it was. The pizza had pesto, cured meat, fennel, fig sauce, spinach and mozzarella and the salad, I couldn’t even tell you what was in it cause it was so random and the restaurant was so dark.

Then we couldn’t resist going back to Thursday’s for a dance. It was a fun night, everyone was so friendly and down to earth and the music was great for dancing.

Our last day in Montreal was spent on a full day tour to Ottawa which I will post about next week. So our last night was a quiet one.

We were up early the next morning for an 8am flight to New York City with Air Canada. The taxi fare was a CAD$40 flat rate from downtown to Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport. After checking in I enjoyed one last Canadian meal – breakfast of pancakes with maple syrup!

Then we were off to New York City and lucky for us it was a clear day when we left Montreal so it was a nice view from the plane.

Next week I will share all about our day trip to the Canadian capital, Ottawa.

LWL xxx