Wen and I spent Thanksgiving in Montreal with a quick side jaunt to see the folks in Ottawa (Hi mum!). We had a great time at both, but alas only took photos in Montreal. Here are shots from around town.
Lunch at La Boite Gourmande (445 rue Laurier Est) – an old bank (complete with vault turned into store room for strollers) transformed into a communal cafeteria:
While Montreal may get grey winters, the locals are especially colourful- especially their art galleries:
The Atelier Punkt takes this to the extreme:
Montreal also has beautiful buildings and a fine, run-down charm:
If you visit, I recommend the Hotel St. Paul, dinner at L’Appartement and buy some fine Quebec-made clothes at Blank (think American Apparel if run by Quebecers [Ed: it is]).
Also, be sure to stop by Suite 88 for some chocolate. The image below shows caramel, honey and green tea truffles, followed up with a lychee and ginger cone:
So there you go, Montreal in a nutshell, with a slightly gastronomic angle.
However, Quebec is home to much more food. On the way to Ottawa we stopped in Rigaud for a poutine. We went into this place:
This place was amazing! (Alas, it doesn’t appear to have a name, but Rigaud only has one main street off the highway; it’s about 2 minutes in) I ordered a smoked meat sandwich and a poutine; I won’t try and describe how good it was; you can just take a look instead:
J’adore la belle province!