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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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photo of EmilyWelcome to Relishments! Follow along with my adventures in cooking and eating in the Berkshires of Western Massachusetts.

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Emily
Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring Last week Brian and I finally got around to hiring a sitter for a rare night out. We went to dinner at @publicna and took advantage of the opportunity with drinks, appetizers and dessert.

Pictured:
- Citrus Braised Beef Tacos
- "Chicken and Waffles"
- House Fries with Garlic Aioli
- Fried Chickpeas
- Blood Orange Cheesecake
It was no surprise that Public was close to full on a Wednesday night - everything was so good. 

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#igers413_food #igers413 #BerkshireFoodies #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #PublicEatAndDrink
New year, new theme word! This year's word is "enr New year, new theme word!
This year's word is "enrich" and I'm really excited about it.

I've written more about this year's theme on the blog. Click in the link in my profile or follow the link below to read the post.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-2023-theme-word-enrich/
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#YearlyTheme #MyOneWord #2023 #enrich2023 #NewYearsResolution
It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post. It's It's not New Year's Eve without a Top 9 post.
It's almost all #Berkshires content this year, which is great.
1. A pasta salad reel that took longer to create than the recipe took to make.
2. A reel from North Carolina where I could have watched birds all day.
3. The @thelazygenius book giveaway.
4.@plantconnector 
5. @berkshiremuseum 
6.@sculpture.now at @themountlenox 
7. @massmoca 
8. @mountainviewfarm413 
9. The #AshuwillticookRailTrail
New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year' New on the blog: My 2022 reflections on last year's theme word - resume. 

I was able to get back to many activities that were meaningful to me this year and I'm calling this theme a success. Follow the link below or click the link in my profile to read more.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/reflections-on-resuming-in-2022/
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#resume2022 #newyearsresolution #myoneword #yearlytheme
New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022. For New on the blog: My Favorite Recipes of 2022.

For the fourth year, I've recapped the best new (to me) recipes I made this year in the hope that they'll give you some new dishes to try. This year's list is short, but delicious. It includes @budgetbytes My Favorite Recipes of 2022
Published on December 30, 2022 By Emily. Updated on December 30, 2022

It’s hard to believe that 2022 is basically behind us. Though overall this year found me getting back to the person I want to be (post-babies and “post”-pandemic), I did not try nearly as many new recipes this year as I used to. In fact, I was pleasantly surprised to see that I’d made note of any new-to-me recipes I wanted to share in this post. This year’s list is short, but delicious. It includes recipes from @budgetbytes, @smittenkitchen and @howsweeteats.
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Read the post by visiting the link in my profile or 
https://www.relishments.com/blog/my-favorite-recipes-of-2022/
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#RecipeRoundUp #BestRecipes2022 #FavoriteRecipes
@coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one @coastalmainebotanicalgardens continues to be one of the highlights of all my return trips to Boothbay and their annual Gardens Aglow event continues to impress. It was great to be back to walking the gardens instead of the pandemic drive through and there seemed to be more lights than ever.  I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#Boothbay #BoothbayMaine #CoastalMaineBotanicalGardens #GardensAglow #BotanicalGarden #MidcoastMaine
It has been a while, but there is finally a new CS It has been a while, but there is finally a new CSA menu plan on the blog! Visit the link below or in my profile to see how I plan to make use of some of the @mightyfoodfarm produce seen here.
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https://www.relishments.com/blog/welcome-to-winter-farm-share-csa-menu-plan-148/
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#MightyFoodFarm #EatLocal #EatSeasonal #VermontGrown #CSApickup #CSAshare #KnowYourFarmerKnowYourFood #MenuPlanning #MealPlanning #igers413 #igers413_food #BerkshireFoodies
Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but t Fall in the Berkshires is always incredible, but this year we've had weather that has also been outstanding. The past 2 weekends have included time at Jaeschke Orchards, the Greylock Glen, and the Ashuwillticook Rail Trail as well as stopping to photograph any random foliage I see. 
Check out the last slide for video of some feathered friends we saw on a walk.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #EatLocal #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #FallFoliage #FallColors #autumn #AshuwillticookRailTrail #JaeschkeOrchards #GreylockGlen
@freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favo @freshgrassfestival continues to be one of my favorite events each year, and it doesn't hurt that it's just minutes away from home. Enjoying the festival with my kids is definitely a different experience than without, but it's still a good time. The weather was especially cooperative today which was great for all the laps I did around the @massmoca campus pushing a stroller. I'm already looking forward to next year.
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#igers413 #InTheBerkshires #WesternMA #WesternMass #Berkshires  #VisitTheBerkshires #NorthAdams #NAmazing #FreshGrass #FreshGrassFestival #MassMoCA #MusicFestival
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