French-Canada - I was told by everyone who's been that it's the closest you'll get to Europe in North America. Most of them were specifically talking about Montreal, but now having been both there and Quebec City, I can say that QC fits the bill even more.
I'd always been put off going by flight prices, which from Cleveland, seemed to hover around $500 any time I checked. But for the first time, I took advantage of BCD's employee ticket program which allows you and a companion a free round-trip flight in the US, Canada, Mexico, or the Caribbean once a year. It was a bit difficult to actually use, as you can only book 120 days out but have to find a flight with the lowest fare class available. I put in about a dozen cities and dates before I found one that worked, and that happened to be Montreal. We just had to pay taxes, so our flights cost us $60 each on Delta (the price I would normally pay for a round trip checked bag on Spirit!).
We flew in late June - the weather was hot - and stayed 5 days. Here's what we packed into the itinerary.
Day 1
Montreal - Chinatown and Old Port
We landed in Montreal on a Wednesday afternoon and took the bus from the airport into the city. I'd booked us a cheap Air BnB for the first night that turned out to be right in the middle of Chinatown. It was an odd, artsy place, and the girl who owned it (who very much fit the vibe of her apartment) met us on the street out front to hand over the keys - she was running late but we had bubble teas while we waited. The place was cluttered and had her own photography all over the walls, most of which were eccentric self-portraits. It was cheap with a comfy bed and in a great location, so this worked out well for one night.
We had a chilled out first evening. The Old Port was only a few blocks away, so we walked there and rode the ferris wheel. It took us around a slow three rotations, so I felt like it was worth the money.
There was a cute terrace bar right next to it where we had a beer after. I tried my first Quebecois IPL, which seems to be the thing up there rather than IPAs. I was loving sitting in the sun with this view.
We wandered Old Montreal the rest of the evening, stopping in an adorable cat-themed ice cream shop called "Chat-colate" (cuuute), and had dinner in a hotel restaurant called Epik (which was good enough but they set their bar a bit high with their name).
Day 2
Quebec City
We had an 8:30 AM train booked to Quebec City for Thursday morning, so we walked the 13 minutes to the Via Rail station and settled in for our 3 hour journey north. It was decently comfy, although the views on the way were pretty boring unless you like flat grassland.
Since we were both starving when we got in around noon, we hauled our bags to the nearest Poutineville for lunch. The area was sunny and roads were very quiet. Poutineville fully delivered - we both did build-your-owns, and I loaded mine up with smashed potatoes, cheese curds, goat cheese, hot peppers, onions, an egg, guac, and spicy vegan gravy. I also had my first caesar (Canadian bloody mary) of the trip. Neither of us were able to finish our full plate, but so good.
We were too full to make the 20+ minute walk to our hostel with our suitcases, so we ordered an uber, and I was glad for it when I saw the hills to get into the center of the city. Our hostel, QBEDS, was on a popular street full of restaurants, and we dropped our bags there and took a walk around to kill time before check-in.
There was a large park nearby called Plains of Abraham we ended up wandering around. It had views over the water, an old battlement and cannons, and a concert happening nearby. We saw another pretty park next to some cute houses on our way back, and I already liked Quebec City. It feels like more of a town - so walkable, quiet, and cute.
We went back to properly check into QBEDS, and it was a hostel with some really nice amenities. There's a bar which we were given a free drink ticket for, a movie room in the basement, a "jungle room" with hammocks, a gym, a nice front patio, and a cute restaurant-like seating area circling the kitchen. We booked a private room on the top floor (up many stairs) that basically ONLY had room for the bed in it along with a small table and mirror. There were communal toilets and showers in the hall. It was like $50 for the night, so no complaints here (just from Mat - I agreed to ensuite bathrooms in the future).
Our evening was spent wandering the adorable streets of Old Quebec. Lots of pedestrian streets, stone buildings, and charming art such as painted buildings, statues, picturesque benches, or my personal favorite - topiary gnome on a llama (?).
All of it sits below Le Chateau Frontenac, a huge and historic hotel.
We walked down Rue de Petit Champlain, a cute shopping street, and had a drink outside the Oncle Antoine pub.
On the way back, we also hopped into Pub Nelligan for a drink, and I would highly recommend! Great wooden Irish pub interior, craft beers on tap (I had a key lime IPA), and a sunny back patio.
We hit two more bars later in the night - Bateau de Nuit which was hidden up a stairwell but so worth it. Total local dive vibes (but with craft beer), rock music, and bartenders who quizzed Mat repeatedly on French-Canadian hockey facts.
The second bar we went to, Le Sacrilege, seemed really popular. Super crowded, and we were lucky to find a free table in the back corner of the patio. I had to stop for late-night takeaway on the way home since we had been too full of poutine to have dinner at any point, and we sat on a bench to eat before calling it a night.
Day 3
Half day in QC, back to Montreal, night in Mont Royal
It was a requirement that I have crepes while in a French part of the world, so we went to Le Sultan for breakfast where I had savory veggie crepes and a great iced latte.
We hit up the Quebec Notre Dame after which pales in comparison to the one in Montreal (still to come), then ended up just walking around Old Quebec again for the morning. We originally had wanted to go to Montmorency Falls, only a 13 minute drive from the city, but ubers were absolutely extortionate, sometimes skyrocketing up to $60 one-way. Public transport would take too long, so sadly we had to skip.
On the bright side, we enjoyed some great pink lemonades, got some cute photos, had a tour of a woodworking shop and were given 50% off a gorgeous golden cat sculpture I somehow stuffed into my carry-on, and had a nice lunch at Le Don Vegan.
Despite the very leisurely paced afternoon, we somehow still ended up on a time crunch to uber back to our hostel and grab our bags in order to make it to our 3:00 train. Very thankfully caught it and arrived back in Montreal at 6 PM.
Our hostel for the next two nights - M Montreal - was the absolute best. We had a private room (ensuite this time!) on the first floor. There was a cafe in the lobby that did Vietnamese iced coffees (the pinnacle of coffees), a very large bar in the basement with pool tables and such, and best of all, a rooftop terrace on the adjacent building with hammocks, astroturf, and two jacuzzis. Would not hesitate to book again if I ever return to Montreal.
We walked 20-30 minutes for dinner that night at a vegan Thai place called ChuChai, and holy shit. We were both raving about it! Best Thai either of us have ever had - and I spent a month in Thailand. We split vegan peppered shrimp and spring rolls as an appetizer, and my main was pad kee mao with fake duck in it. Unreal. I also had some kind of crazy good cocktail made with ginger, basil, lime, hibiscus, hazelnut liqueur, coconut liqueur, and vodka. Go here, vegan or not.
Bonus: Saint Louis Square, lined by these colorful houses, is nearby.
Afterwards, we hit up some bars in the nearby Mont Royal area, starting with Fitzroy, an Australian-inspired bar you would walk right past on the road if you weren't looking for it. Up 4ish flights of stairs, you'll come into a massive open room with at least two dozen pool tables, other table games, and a raised seating area full of comfy couches.
To end the night, we headed to the Candi Bar down the street, where the inside is covered in cartoon graffiti, colorful lights, and candy dispensers on each table. I had a cotton candy martini followed by a rumchata Oreo milkshake that was delicious.
Day 4
Biodome, Botanic Gardens, & Cirque du Soleil
Saturday was the only day we slept in, so we had a late start getting out to the Biodome, arriving around 1ish. We had finally tried to use the metro, and of course the nearest station to our hostel was shut down, so we ended up calling an uber since we were on a bit of a tight schedule.
The Biodome, Botanic Gardens, and Olympic Park are all in the same complex, so you can easily combine them into a day. The Biodome is this spaceship looking building full of animals in different habitats. We didn't realize until we arrived that tickets are sold in timeslots, so we ended up with some time to kill before the first one we could book. This gave us time to see the Olympic Park areas - old stadiums, a skatepark, and the Olympic rings.
The Biodome took us about two hours to see. There's an arctic area lined with walls of ice that holds penguins and puffins, a lake area with birds and fish, a northwestern forest with raccoons, otters, and a lynx, and a rainforest with capyburas, monkeys, parrots, gators, and more. It was very crowded, but we both enjoyed it.
Unfortunately, we were left with only an hour to rush to the botanic gardens afterwards. We still decided it was worth paying for since we may never be back, and we did a speed-run of maybe seven of the many themed garden areas. We saw the alpine area, Japanese building, rose garden, and best of all, the Chinese garden which was the absolute highlight.
Since we had tickets to the 5 PM Cirque du Soleil show in the Old Port, we hurried to get an uber and make it on time. It was a national holiday weekend though, so traffic was bad and we ended up having the guy drop us down the street so we could run the rest of the way.
I've been to a Cirque show before - Beatles LOVE in Vegas, which remains one of my favorite experiences. But the Vegas Cirque shows are all in flashy casinos, and I loved how this one in Montreal was actually under a big top circus tent.
The show we saw was called Echo and was an awesome experience. It seemed more centered around animals and nature, but as always, the acrobatics are incredible. Cirque du Soleil also originated in Quebec, so it's a must.
We stayed near our hostel for the night - the location worked out well because M Montreal is right next to The Village gay district. We had another great vegetarian dinner at Bistro Tendresse where I had fake calamari, sourdough foccacia, and mushroom waffles.
Last up, we hit a drag show at Cabaret Mado which included some fantastic queens, although I was very disappointed one of my fave Drag Race girls Gisele Lullaby was in Toronto for Pride, as Cabaret Mado is the club she usually performs at. Still, we had the very Canadian experience of seeing a full Shania Twain act, plus a few other off-the-wall comedic sets I really loved, so it was a success.
Everything, Everywhere, All at Once, anybody? Unhinged.
Day 5
Old Montreal
We started off the last day of our trip in the rooftop jacuzzis at the M, which we had to ourselves at the early hours of 8-9 AM. Beautiful.
There was a spot in Mont Royal called Le Avenue that I really wanted to try for brunch, but after ubering out there, we found a line fully wrapped around their patio. Mat was encouraging me to pick another spot, but we stuck it out for another 15ish minutes and thankfully got seated being a party of two behind a bunch of groups. And damn, it was so worth it. I had a Nutella coffee (bliss), a massive caesar (more bliss), and one of the best eggs bennies of my life with beer cheese, caramelized onions, spinach, and mushrooms. Wow wow wow.
We were seated on the patio, but the inside was also super funky with black walls and colorful sphere lights, plus a blacklight bathroom.
I'd heard Montreal bagels are a popular thing, so we popped into St Viateur bagel afterwards where there was ALSO a line out the door. Since we were just getting a plain takeaway bagel for later, they let us go in to the counter, but this place was a whole operation. We got an all-dressed bagel (everything, in American) and ate it later on, and while it was fine, I will say I don't get the fuss. Tasted like a run-of-the-mill bagel.
After taking an uber back to Old Montreal, the Notre Dame was our first stop. There is an entrance fee, but it was worth it. Such a unique and impressive church. We both really liked the deep blues and purples and the gothic architecture.
I had noticed early on in the morning that it was a particularly hazy day, but it wasn't until we reached the pier that afternoon that I finally decided to Google 'Montreal air quality' for the day. At this point, the smog was so thick that you could barely make out the Habitat 67 molecular housing across the water. I was feeling a bit more winded than usual too. The air had an eerie quality to it. Well, turns out Montreal had the worst air quality in the WORLD on that particular day from the wildfire smog, and suddenly it made sense why I'd seen more people out in masks than usual.
Am I in Montreal or back in New Delhi?
Aside from walking along the water, we stopped into a speakeasy called the Cold Room for cocktails. If you're having trouble finding the nondescript steel door in the street, there is a video online that helped us locate it. Ring the doorbell and someone will answer and take you downstairs.
We also sat out at Clocktower Beach (a beach, under the clock tower, believe it or not) to enjoy the toxic air, then went back for a beer at the M before collecting our bags and ubering to our final Air BnB for the night near the airport - we had a 6 AM flight to catch (thankfully our hosts were angels who woke up at 4 in the morning to drive us for a reasonable fee).
We both very much enjoyed Montreal. Everyone we spoke with on the trip was so friendly (taking after the Canadians more than the French, in that regard), walkability and public transport were excellent, and it felt very much like one of those cities you could see yourself living in. Quebec City, all of that too, on a smaller and more charming scale. Merci pour les bons moments, Quebec! (I don't know French so I hope Google Translate just did me solid.)
Yorumlar