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Many Words and Photos About Montreal

Published on August 11, 2015 By Emily. Updated on August 13, 2015

As I’ve mentioned several times now, I spent the bulk of last week in Montreal with Brian.  We were celebrating Brian’s birthday, but mostly we were just on vacation.  You may recall that I was in Montreal in the spring of 2014 for my mother’s birthday.  Since Brian had never been to Montreal, we ended up doing some of the things I’d already experience (which I was totally fine with) and checking out some new stuff.  I always have good intentions to be leisurely about my travels, but then there are so many things I want to see and do that we always find ourselves walking all over the city.  The apartment we rented was within reasonable distance of public transportation, but far enough away that when we traveled to an area, Brian and I wanted to make the most of it.  As a result, our days were pretty packed and we were pretty worn out by the evening.   After a fairly relaxed Monday evening following our drive up, we hit the ground running on Tuesday.

Montreal Botanical Gardens Collage

We started out Tuesday morning with the Botanical Gardens, which I had done before but were much more impressive in August than they had been in April.  I found the vegetable gardens to be especially impressive.   We wandered from the gardens to the Biodome, eating a lunch of cheese sticks, watermelon and popcorn that we’d carried with us.  I always enjoy zoo-type places and the Biodome was fun to revisit.  It was also rather crowded, especially in the area featuring the temporary “Nature’s Slowpokes” exhibit, which featured some rather cool tortoises and a sloth who didn’t seem interested in leaving his “nest”.  We also made a quick pass through some of the Olympic Stadium areas, which were being used for some sort of ropes camp.

IMG_5046

I was pleased that Brian was interested in visiting the Notre Dame Basilica, because I think it may be one of my favorite things in Montreal.  We took the tour (why wouldn’t you? It’s free with admission!) and spent some time appreciating the beauty of the building.  Well worth the $5.

Marche Jean-Talon collage

We also took in some new sights on our visit to Montreal.  We checked out the Marche Jean-Talon, one of the city’s public markets.  I love public markets and everything looked delicious.  There were lots of produce vendors, as well as prepared food establishments.  We need more fromagerie shops in the United States.

I was really excited when planning the trip to discover that the Montreal Science Centre had a temporary exhibit about video games.  As promised, the exhibit featured hundreds of games from the entire history of video gaming on all kinds of consoles that you could play for, apparently, an infinite amount of time.  We hit the museum at a good time and, though many games were being played, were able to spend time on a number of games with little or no wait.  There were also exhibits about design, music, trends and more.  It was pretty great.

Montreal Science Center Game On Exhibit

We also stopped by the Montreal History Center, which we sort of stumbled upon accidentally.  The price was lower than many museums we were considering and the exhibits were really good.  We took in an exhibit about the history of Montreal (which our knowledge was really lacking on), an exhibit called Scandal! about 1940-1960 in Montreal and checked out the participants in the center’s 2015 photography contest.

Perhaps my favorite new thing that we did in Montreal this time around was visiting Mount Royal.  Mount Royal is the highest point in Montreal and had come up several times on our trip.  Following some advice I read online, we took the bus into the park and got off at a beautiful scenic overlook.

looking over Montreal from Mount Royal

After enjoying the view, we headed up.  The advice I saw on multiple articles said that all you had to do was go up, because the main attractions were at the top of the park.  There is a metal cross at the summit of the park memorializes when Paul de Chomedey built a cross on the mountain to thank God for saving Montreal from a flood in 1643. But it became clear that we weren’t really headed in the right direction and soon found ourselves going in circles.  Perhaps we got off the bus in the wrong place? (Totally possible).  No sooner had we begun to get frustrated and start heading down, then did we stumble upon the cross and, shortly thereafter, the Chalet and another amazing view.  We then headed down the series of staircases that I’d read about and found ourselves back in the city.  Seems like it would’ve been just as easy to start from that entrance to the park, but at any rate, the views were breath taking.  There was a lot of the park we didn’t see and I’d go back in an instant; especially if I had a map.

Mont Royal Collage

As always, I was very interested in eating well on this trip.  During the course of our 4 night stay, we ate dinner at two breweries: Dieu Du Ciel and Les 3 Brasseurs.  Both places had good beer and food.  Dieu Du Ciel was really busy when we arrived (on a Monday!) and we struggled to get the attention of the waitress, especially given the fact that we don’t speak French.  Nevertheless, Brian and I enjoyed good beers and a delicious platter of bread, pickles, nuts, olive tapenade, sausage, ham and cheese.  I enjoyed my beer even better at Les 3 Brasseurs.  Brian enjoyed his first poutine (covered in pulled pork) and I had one of their flatbreads, which was so big we ate half of it for dinner the next night.

Montreal breweries collage

As always, I arrived in Montreal with a list of restaurants to check out that I’d generated from a variety of articles and lists I’d seen.  We visited Olive + Gourmando for lunch.  The restaurant was really busy and we had to wait a bit before being seated, but I loved my goat cheese and caramelized onion panini with housemade ketchup (and I don’t even like ketchup). Brian had an amazing looking “Majestic” hotdog.  We also stopped by Arhoma for breakfast sandwiches and coffee one morning and it totally hit the spot.  I spent the whole trip being jealous of the abundance of beautiful bread and pastries throughout the city.  Other excellent stops included St. Viateur Bagel for breakfast and Juliette et Chocolat for dessert.

Montreal 20151

I think my favorite meal of the trip may have been our stop at Burger Royal.  We went there after our adventure on Mount Royal, after deciding not to wait in the crazy line at Schwartz’s (even though it was the middle of the afternoon and not a traditional meal time).  I was immediately excited by the menu featuring “fresh local Quebec grass-fed, free range, hormone & antibiotic free beef.”  They also had a housemade vegan burger that I would totally try if I had the opportunity to return.  Instead, I ordered the California Dreamin’ beef burger which had guacamole, blue cheese, fried egg, arugula, tomato, garlic + chive mayo and sweet onions.  It was incredible.  Bonus points for a perfectly fried, runny egg.  Brian had an equally great looking chili cheese burger.

Burger Royal Collage

Did reading all that make you tired?  Imagine how we felt! I’m still amazed I finished my 5k two days after we returned home.  That said, it was a great trip and we packed a lot into just a few days.  I’ve written more specific reviews of some of the restaurants we tried on Zomato, if you’re interested. Montreal is such a great city and I’m glad it’s within reasonable distance home, because that greatly increases my chances of going back soon.

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Filed Under: travel Tagged With: Canada, montreal

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Comments

  1. Veronica says

    August 12, 2015 at 3:09 pm

    Love all of these pictures!! My friend has always said that Montreal is amazing. I’m drooling over the food!!

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Emily
This week I - drove across the state for 4 days of This week I
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- was incredibly impressed with the facilities and food at @wyliecenter and @tuppermanor
- wandered my undergrad campus at dusk
- started to wrap my head around @openscied
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- Enjoyed an evening with one of my closest friends from college
- took deep breaths and watched birds at the ocean 
- visited the mall and Whole Foods primarily to see what life is like for the other half of the state
- rediscovered a love of taking the scenic route, making unplanned detours and checking out small towns along the way
It was a cold and cloudy morning, but we made it t It was a cold and cloudy morning, but we made it to our second annual strawberry picking at @mountainviewfarm413, which included E's first tractor ride (she was very excited). We picked about 9 pounds of strawberries and I'm looking forward to eating them! 🍓
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Scenes from this morning in Adams, featuring @shir Scenes from this morning in Adams, featuring @shiredonuts, Poseidon Coffee, the Ashwillticook Rail Trail, St. Stanislaus Kostka Church, Adams Free Library and beautiful flowers.
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I don't have answers, but I'm trying to take care of myself and my biological and school families. I'm saying "I love you" a lot to my children and my students. I'm closely following and sharing the work of @everytown while contacting my state and federal representatives and the president. I'm going for walks and getting fresh air and trying not to overload on news. I'm sharing good resources in my stories as I see them.
UPDATE: the giveaway is now CLOSED. Congrats @aloh UPDATE: the giveaway is now CLOSED. Congrats @alohr3!

 @thelazygenius' second book, The Lazy Genius Kitchen, is finally here and I'm so excited! I don't purchase many books, but I pre-ordered this last July because I knew it would be right up my alley and then I pre-ordered a second copy because I knew that I'd want to give one away.

Author Kendra Adachi has been one of my favorite voices in recent years. Her principles (shared through her first book, The Lazy Genius Podcast and her Instagram) have helped me focus my priorities and give myself more grace. 

This book is NOT a cookbook (it has just 2 recipes), it is a kitchen guide - to help you "have what you need, use what you have, and enjoy it like never before". It is beautiful (full color!) and thoughtful.

I'm very excited to send this book to one of you.

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This morning we took advantage of @massmoca's Berk This morning we took advantage of @massmoca's Berkshire Teacher and Social Worker Appreciation Day free admission. After enjoying the student Art Invitational exhibit, the 4 of us took in several of the other galleries. Mass MoCA always impresses and it was delightful to be able to be out in the world with my kids.
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Today I finally found my way into @plantconnector, Today I finally found my way into @plantconnector, in its new location on Main Street in North Adams. The shop is incredible - the displays are great and the plants are delightful. There's a refill station with bottles and jars for soaps, detergents and other products, a terrarium bar, and an abundance of sustainable and beautiful products. I'm now in the process of pondering who I can purchase Plant Connector gifts for in the coming months.
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This is your periodic reminder that @berkshiremuse This is your periodic reminder that @berkshiremuseum is a great visit for all ages. The current Voyage to the Deep exhibit, which involves an interactive Nautilus submarine that my 5 year old spent literally hours in.  We also thoroughly enjoyed the Aquarium and Berkshire Backyard. Highly recommended - we'll be back soon!
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My January and early February menu plans for my @m My January and early February menu plans for my @mightyfoodfarm vegetables are finally up on the blog. See how we're making use of these beautiful items, as well as the items from the other pick up we made in the past month. 
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