|
Condé Nast Traveler picks
 Best of Montreal
The world's second-largest French-speaking city (behind Paris), Montreal is a natural choice for a stateside Francophile's quick fix. A walk through the cobblestone streets of the Latin Quarter, past bakeries turning out baguettes and croissants fresh from the oven or bistros serving steak frites and carafes of wine, will make anyone feel transported. But this metropolis on Quebec's St. Lawrence River has so much more than just its links to the Old Country. Montreal is Canada's second-biggest city and contains some of the country's most important cultural institutions. It is also the most successfully bilingual place on the planet, and its French and English speakers—plus legions of more recent arrivals from southern and Eastern Europe and the West Indies—add their own special flavor to the stew.
Attractions & Activities The city is at its most French in Old Montreal, where even the street names seem lifted from the City of Light. Most of the people you'll walk past here are visitors, not locals, but it's still worth treading the cobblestones laid out on the city's original footprint. The centerpiece of Old Montreal is the Notre Dame Basilica, the neo-Gothic confection built in the 1820s on the site of what was the first church in town (514-842-2925; basiliquenddm.org). A short walk away and near the waterfront is the Marché Bonsecours, the mid-nineteenth-century marketplace where today you'll find shops, restaurants, and historical exhibits (514-872-7730; marchebonsecours.qc.ca). Nearby, the Old Port is home to the kid-friendly Montreal Science Centre, with its interactive educational exhibits on subjects from Ice Age relics to how communications satellites work (514-496-4724; montrealsciencecentre.com). The adjacent Quays of the Old Port, an entertainment complex on the waters of the St. Lawrence itself, is the place to come to embark on a bateau mouche similar to those that ply the Seine or to see Cirque du Soleil when the troupe performs in its hometown (514-496-7678; quaysoftheoldport.com). Off the Old Port, on the island where the 1967 World Expo was held, the Biosphere is one of Montreal's most famous sites, thanks to the photogenic geometry of its Buckminster Fuller-designed geodesic dome. Dedicated to raising environmental awareness, the institution has exhibits on the local ecosystem and mankind's impact on it, and frequently holds fairs and workshops to get children thinking green from an early age. Between Old Montreal and downtown, the Canadian Centre for Architecture showcases the best of the field, both within and outside the nation's boundaries (514-939-7026; cca.qc.ca). Across the street from McGill University's downtown campus, the McCord Museum of Canadian History makes for a good crash course on the subject, with a permanent collection of 1,375,000 artifacts relevant to the settling of Montreal, Quebec, and Canada, as well as special exhibitions (514-398-7100; mccord-museum.qc.ca). The city of Montreal is arrayed around the base of Mount Royal, the peak from which it derives its name. More a large hill, it's the site of Mount Royal Park, the city's premier green space. Designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, the mastermind of New York City's Central Park, the expanse comprises 500 acres of walking trails, playing fields, and manicured gardens. A gradual climb from its southern base takes you to the Kondiaronk Belvedere, with its expansive views of downtown and the St. Lawrence River. Nearby, a short ski slope provides bunny-hill thrills during the winter months. A fiber-optically illuminated cross at the summit is visible throughout much of the city (lemontroyal.qc.ca). North of the park, Montreal's St-Henri area, once dominated by tanneries, has been transformed by the boutiques and restaurants that fill the ground floors of the former factories. Housewares purveyors include Expressions de Grâce, which stocks Asian objets d'art (2657 Notre Dame W.; 514-486-7332). The Art Deco Atwater Market carries colorful produce and pantry staples at shops such as Les Douceurs du Marché, which stocks 375 types of olive oil (138 Atwater Ave.; 514-939-3902). Lodging Poised at the intersection of tony Rue Sherbrooke West and lively Boulevard St-Laurent, the 136-room Hôtel Godin strikes the right balance of hip, refined, and subdued. The lobby—with its gentle lighting, dark wood, cork walls, and welcoming sofas—offers a sense of urban intimacy. One level down, the plush Bar Godin brings Montreal's lounge scene to a new level of sophistication, and a separate street entrance ensures peaceful relations with hotel guests. Until recently, the area south of the Place Royale had a string of derelict buildings. But gentrification has arrived in the form of galleries, bars, restaurants, and several small hotels that have opened over the past year, with the Hôtel Gault being the most charming of the lot. The stone facade of this former carpet factory conceals 30 rooms with polished concrete floors, comfortable minimalist furniture, and steel accents warmed by touches of natural wood. From the outside, the 120-room St. Paul Hotel looks very Old Montreal, but inside it's all modern, with white leather couches and colored ambient lighting. Dining Legendary for its nightlife and lively restaurants, Montreal could keep a discerning epicure content for weeks on end. There's nothing remotely indigenous about grits in French Canada, but down-home Southern cuisine has a mouthwatering outpost north of the border at Savannah. In a cavernous Art Deco space downtown, chef Peter Pryor redraws the Mason-Dixon Line by including on his menu creole, Cajun, soul food, and Southwestern dishes, often with a French twist. Canadian salmon gets a fabulous Southern makeover: It's served blackened, with crawfish, sweet corn sauce, fried plantains, and hominy grits (4448 Boul. St-Laurent; 514-904-0277; entrées, $14-$21). From the cobblestone streets of the historic quarter, step into the century-old and now ultra-hip St. Paul Hotel, where the restaurant Cube, a sanctuary of cream and bone, serves delicious market-fresh food: caramelized onion focaccia; pan-seared foie gras with creamy polenta, roasted parsnips, and ice wine vinegar; and braised lamb shank with Japanese artichoke, risotto, and thyme (355 McGill St.; 514-876-2823; entrées, $15-$19). To have a dining experience of unrivaled richness, reserve at Au Pied de Cochon, in Montreal's stylish Plateau neighborhood. At this restaurant at the forefront of Québécois gastronomy, beer taps flow, waiters hum by with platters of fresh oysters, and good-looking men and women savor absurdly rich food—the restaurant goes through 12 pounds of foie gras in a typical evening (536 E. Duluth Ave.; 514-281-1114; entrées, $10-$25). Images of goats adorn the picture windows of Les Chèvres, a mostly vegetarian restaurant that's great for high-end grazing. The nibbling may begin with organic bread and asparagus atop a velvety fazzoletti (a cannelloni-type pasta) with caviar, followed by a ragout of autumn root vegetables with white polenta. Goats aren't necessarily sacred here: Carnivorous diners should note that the restaurant's namesake is on the menu, served with a wild mushroom risotto (1201 Van Horne Ave.; 514-270-1119; entrées, $19-$30). In a city where nearly all the noteworthy restaurants are clustered around the downtown core, Le Bouchon de Liège lures diners to an outlying working-class neighborhood with its delicious dishes and modest prices. Trend-seekers and local residents rub elbows in this chic but homey space with cream and mocha banquettes, mirrors, and wooden tables covered with brown paper. Try the duck foie gras appetizer followed by the sublime veal liver with manjari sauce and sautéed vegetables atop creamy polenta (8497 St-Dominique St.; 514-807-0033; prix fixes, $23-$33). Truth in Travel is the guiding principle for all content published in Condé Nast Traveler. Other travel publications often accept free travel and accommodations. Condé Nast Traveler does not. It is independent of the travel industry. The magazine always pays its way, and, as far as possible, its correspondents travel anonymously. By doing so, they experience the world—both the good and the bad—as other travelers do, and their reports and recommendations are fair, impartial, and authoritative.
|
||
 |
