Traveling with High Street to Montreal and Quebec City, Canada

By Aaron Leventhal
IIf you yearn for that magical European vacation, but lack the time and money to cross the Big Pond, an attractive alternative is Canada’s distinctly French city of Montreal. Only a few hours’ flight away, you’ll find an international joie de vivre that will capture your body and soul.
My wife Beth and I recently enjoyed a week strolling hand-in-hand along cobblestone streets, touring world-class museums and historic sites, dining at sidewalk cafes and intimate bistros and experiencing the city’s vibrant nightlife. We found Montreal to be hospitable, safe, diverse and a good value. And, just about everyone we met spoke English.

Founded by French explorer Sieur de Maisonneuve in 1642, Montreal (Mount Royal) has emerged from its humble origins as a small trading post on the St. Lawrence River to a vibrant international metropolis of 3.7 million. We were surprised to learn that the city is actually an island, 32 miles long by 11 miles wide. About 68 percent of its residents speak French, and the city is home to more than 80 distinct ethnic groups, many with their own neighborhoods (more than 150,000 Italians, 90,000 Irish, 80,000 Jews, 50,000 Haitians, 40,000 Chinese and 35,000 Greeks).
Before we hit the bricks to explore North America’s most European city, Suzanne Bonin of Guidatour (800-363-4021) provided an informative tour to orient us. The best sightseeing value is Museum Pass (museesmontreal.com, 1-877-BONJOUR) with admission to 30 museums and unlimited public transportation for three consecutive days for $45.
Must-sees include the Museum of Fine Arts, with its collection of Renaissance through contemporary decorative art; Montreal Botanical Gardens with 30 gardens and 10 greenhouses; McCord Museum of Canadian History, with its important First Nations costume and textiles collections; Olympic Stadium, home to the 1976 Summer Games; Montreal Planetarium, with a spectacular multimedia show; and the Montreal Biodome, with four natural ecosystems. We were awed by Notre-Dame Basilica, a Gothic Revival masterpiece built in 1829 with seating for 3,500, stained glass windows created in France and a magnificent sculpted wood interior. We also enjoyed a 90-minute guided tour along the St. Lawrence River on Croisieres Cruises Cavalier Maxim boat (www.crosieresami.com).
We stayed at the intimate 30-room Auberge Bonaparte (www.Bonaparte.com), in the heart of Old Montreal near the Old Port. The bustling, narrow, cobblestone streets are lined with art galleries, boutiques, sidewalk cafes and restaurants. We dined on rack of lamb and lobster stew at our inn’s five-star restaurant, Le Bonaparte; and enjoyed grilled salmon nearby at Le Bourlingueur and Mexican dishes across the street at Casa de Mateo. In the old Jewish neighborhood, we lunched at Hymie Scholnick’s famed Beauty’s deli, which he has owned and operated since 1942.
Sainte-Catherine Street, the city’s main commercial thoroughfare, is lined with nine miles of department stores, shops and restaurants. The Underground City is a vast network of boutiques, restaurants, cinemas and entertainment venues below the streets.
Montreal teems with hundreds of bars, microbreweries, discotheques, music clubs and cigar lounges. There’s often a major festival underway, such as Festival International de Jazz de Montreal (montrealjazzfest.com), which we were fortunate enough to attend.
If time permits:
Consider taking VIA Rail Canada (www.viarail.com) for a three-hour journey to the historic walled City of Quebec, discovered by Samuel de Champlaine in 1608. The locals refer to their city as the cradle of French civilization in North America, and a spectacular 10-month celebration to mark the provincial capital’s 400th anniversary will begin on Dec. 31, 2007.
We stayed at L’Hotel de Capitole (www.lecapitole.com), a charming, 40-room hotel within walking distance of most Old Quebec landmarks. The narrow brick streets of the walled city and its quaint shops, sidewalk cafés, art galleries and historic sites exude a romantic European ambiance. Our sightseeing highlights included the massive, ornate Parliament; the richly decorated Notre-Dame de Quebec Basilica, with a chancel lamp from Louis XIV; and the Plains of Abraham, where British and French armies battled and now one of the world’s largest urban parks. The Musée National des Beaux Arts du Quebec has works by Quebec’s greatest artists and special exhibits, including “Picasso: La Joie de Vivre,” from Sept. 6 – Jan. 6, 2008.
A Winter Shuttle service “HiverExpress” is provided from the city to four nearby major ski resorts with international caliber downhill and cross-country skiing – Mont-Sainte-Anne, Station Stoneham, Centre de ski Le Relais and Le Massif (www.skisnowquebec-city.com). The acclaimed Quebec Winter Carnival of sports, arts and entertainment will take place Feb. 1-17, 2008.
For more information:
www.explorequebec.com; www.tourisme-montreal.org; www.quebecregion.com; www.MyQuebec2008.com;
Columbus-based travel features writer Aaron Leventhal is publisher of High Street Neighborhoods

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