I don't know about the rest of the world, but I sometimes just need to get away. I'm raising a teenager, working two jobs and writing books. I'm busy, and sometimes I just need to unwind. Last month, I nearly lost my mind from stress and needed to get away, so I dragged my husband for a long weekend in Montreal. What I found out is that Montreal is amazing in the summer. I went to a beach party, saw fireworks, had amazing food, saw live music, and tried Montreal style bagels. It was great, and I hope to return to that city many times over.
Let's start with the park. I love the park. I'm still not sure what it's called, but it was right across from our hotel in Gay Village. This place was amazing. It had some incredible fountains that lit up every night. They had snacks and drinks for sale all day long. They had a community garden, a children's area, and live entertainment every day. If I'd wanted to, I never would have had to leave the park, and I could have had a wonderful time all weekend. It was a relaxing place to have a beer and hang out any time. It was also our entrance to the metro.
Montreal is a collection of old and new. They still have phone booths, Greyhound Buses, and a Medieval Old Town; but they have a great very modern transportation system. The metro consists of four lines; green, yellow, orange, and blue. It also connects to an underground city. This is primarily used in the winter time to battle the cold weather, but it's interesting I don't care when you visit. We didn't use the blue line, but we utilized the other three all weekend long. With a three day OPUS card we not only had unlimited travel on the metro, but the buses too. We were able to take the metro to Mount Royal and transfer seamlessly to the bus that took us up to the lookout and the park at the top. Easy as can be. Not to mention, the metro is electric, but it runs on tires instead of tracks and reminds me of a street tram. The stations are clean and decorated largely with modern art, so they are a pleasure to use. The signs tend to be in french, but it's still easy to navigate. We just mapped out the stops that we knew we wanted to use and learned to recognize them whether we knew what the words meant or not. It was one of the easiest metro systems I've ever used.
The Pied Courant. This is a permanent beach party along the St. Lawrence Seaway underneath the Jacques Cartier Bridge across the river from La Ronde Amusement Park. We wandered that way on a Saturday night to find food, drink, live music, hordes of people hanging out and fireworks. La Ronde puts on a fireworks show every Saturday night in the summer, and people gather all along the river to watch. It's a weekly event enjoyed by all the locals and anyone else who happens along. It's free and a great way to meet people and find out even more about Montreal, which is a subject that the people of the city love to talk about. The locals love their city, and I'm with them.
Then there's the bridge. The Jacques Cartier Bridge is the pride and joy of Montreal and it puts on a show every single night. The bridge is equipped with moving lights that work in patterns and change colors to create an amazing show. It operates all night long, which I can attest to because it was the view out my hotel window. It was beautiful.
Gay Village is one of the better known neighborhoods in Montreal and a great place to spend your time. The shopping is good, the food is good, the art is everywhere, and there's a pedestrian street. We ate Lebanese food one night, shopped in all kinds of shops, and of course; hung out in the park. It's an incredibly people friendly neighborhood and very easy to navigate.
We visited many neighborhoods, including the three most notable. We went to Chinatown, Old Town and the Old Port. This is the touristy spot if I ever saw it, not to be confused with enjoyment. I loved the Old Port with the wheel, the beach, Cirque de Soleil and all the shopping. The views are amazing, the trinkets are amazing and the view from that wheel is fabulous. Now you can zip line across it and take a cruise on the river from it. Not bad. Old Town is beautiful and has great food, drink and shopping. Chinatown has all the food and cheap shopping that anyone can handle. It was all great. My biggest bestest tip is to get off the beaten path in these neighborhoods. Take a side street. The best food and entertainment is on the side streets.
Another tip is to visit a city market. In Montreal there are three giant city markets. We went to the Atwater Market. They had all kinds of food for sale, both prepared and to take home and cook. They also had newsstands, florists, and many other types of shops. I've watched travel shows for years and decided to take the advice of the hosts. Visit a city market. You will learn a lot about the people of the area and have a great time.
We went up to see the view from Mount Royal. It was just as beautiful as I'd heard. The transportation was simple, easy and effective. The views of the city were amazing as was the old pavilion where the snack bar was. There was an entire park at the top of the mountain and it was a great area with a museum and several lookouts.
But, by all means; when you are out and about enjoy the food and drink. We tried a lot of things in Montreal. We were not disappointed. We all reach a certain age and we go on diets for our health or our weight. When on vacation, I try stuff, and Montreal has it all.
The long and short of it is that Montreal is a feast for the senses. There are so many things to do that you could spend a lifetime trying it all. There are festivals year round in this city for the enjoyment of all. There is amazing food, thrilling rides, scenic tours, sports, gambling, and something to do everywhere you look. Add to that the ease of getting around the town, and you can't beat this spot for a vacation. Take the time, learn a little french and visit Montreal. Enjoy!
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