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Spending the next week in Montreal, Quebec. We're staying on the southwestern corner of Parc la Fontaine and will be getting around by transit and bike rentals.
Open to all suggestions: especially welcome - vegetarian and vegan-friendly eats, great art and history, fun nightlife (LGBTQ-friendly is a + but not required), and anything else you think worthwhile....
It's the International Jazz Festival next week, so we probably have music covered... But who knows? Thanks, all!
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Market Jean Talon, not veggie - AuPied Du Cochon, L'Express - classic bistro, go to Le Fromentier get bread,cheese, and wine to snack in the nearby park.
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Also, my French is not passable, but I can manage a pleasantry or two en français. For recent visitors: how is the Franco-disdain for English-speakers these days? A visit to Paris a few years back proved surprisingly tolerant (and appreciative of a "Bonjour! Ça va?"), but Quebecers are another breed.....
urrender:
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You will manage, do try the bonjour etc., the occasional person will look down their nose at you, but people will appreciate your effort. I forgot to mention a restaurant, actually I can't believe the name came back to me. Le P'tit Plateau. It's been awhile but it has always stayed in my memories of Montreal. Very tiny, excellent food with great culinary technique, BYOB at the time, but it was the "ballet" between the 3 person brigade in a tiny triangular kitchen (open) that really amazed me
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The only traffic jams will be around Toronto. The 401 is three lanes each way all the way except for additional lanes through Toronto.
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There is ALWAYS some type of wine or beer festival happening at any given time, and it's usually very good (if not particularly cheap).
If you can, get out of the city and explore the countryside, but there is still plenty to do in the confines of the city. Basically, if you are a foodie, it's a great place.
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I've never been met with any hint of rudeness about language, not even in the fraught Law 101 days of the 1980s. You'll typically be greeted "Bonjour-Hello" and they're happy to respond in whatever language you continue in. French-only is more common as you go east to Trois-Rivières or Québec. In small shops or fast-food places, a struggling young francophone may point to pictures or hand you over to her bilingual colleague.
What to do? I enjoy poking along the lively shopping streets: Ste-Catherine downtown, Boul. St-Laurent, Ave St-Denis, Ave du Mont-Royal in The Plateau, Côte-des-Neiges just north of St. Joseph's Oratory. Plenty of wonderful cafes. It's hard to have a bad meal in Montreal, even in the surprising food courts at Complexe Desjardins or Centre Eaton. Marché Bywater is a working food market that's set up for having meals, especially lunch.
Of course, the Vieux-Port area is worth a look, including people-watching on Place d'Armes, but it's several blocks of shops and restaurants designed to separate tourists from their money. For good food, choose one of the outlying neighborhood strips mentioned above.
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....poutine [ on the Ritz ].......
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