Lucie’s List: Three days in Montreal

As is the way on the road, sometimes I rock up in a city with little, if any, idea of what I should do or see. Montreal was one of those places.

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, has lived in Montreal on and off over the past year. She put together the following list of things I should see in Montreal. I spent three days ticking off almost every one.

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). Lucie loves this place so much so I made sure we went together. It was a perfect afternoon. We sat on this pier and watched the sun set. I could have fallen 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.

Have you been to Montreal? What would you add to this list?