Montreal Holiday

This is an annual tradition - the trip to Montreal over the holidays. As with any tradition, there's the familiar comfort of sameness, but we try to balance that with an injection of new elements each year. Some of them are one-time experiences; others return the next time around.

A few of the returning favorites:

1) Les Passants du Sans Soucy - I love this little auberge, situated along the oldest street of the Old City. During the day, it bustles with tourists; at night, there's the clip-clop of hooves, carriages transporting people down the narrow streets after dinner. And late night, there's quiet. The rooms are wonderful, the staff delightful and accomodating, the omelettes what one would expect from a fine French kitchen.

2) Bonaparte - this is a fine hotel, too. We have dinner there on Christmas Eve. Our eating is broadly ethnic and weighs heavily toward The New, so a traditional, perfectly prepared French meal (with Canadian influences) on the night before Christmas is a treat.

3) Mont Royal - We walk from the Old City to Mont Royal on Christmas Day, usually leaving around 10am, generally arriving back home around 2pm. If the weather is too cold, we "cheat" by walking through the Underground City for much of the way there. Let's face it, there's not much else to do when you're on vacation on Christmas, and the walk is a good way to get a little exercise outdoors.

Those are what I would call the mainstays. We'll piece the rest of the trip together as we go.

One of the best blogs about food and Montreal is "... an endless banquet."
Their list of recommended Montreal restaurants begins here:
http://endlessbanquet.blogspot.com/2005/…

A note for Chuck and his interest in tea:
http://endlessbanquet.blogspot.com/2005/…
Camellia Sinensis, 351 Emery, 286-4002 (Quartier Latin)

Enjoyed reading about your trip, have only been lucky enough to go there once but plan on returning someday! BTW, all the food I had in Montreal was the BEST!

pamcfall58: Thanks for the note! We're very much looking forward to this year's trip and I hope to write a lot about it while we're there. I agree, the food in Montreal is wonderful - from simple French bistro food, to the more elaborate French dining experiences, to the various permutations of fresh, local, seasonal cuisine. We have our favorites, and we hope to indulge a couple of those while looking for new discoveries.

A note on our travel plans for this year. We've been fans of the Via Rail trip from Toronto to Montreal, and this year, we'll be going to Montreal by rail again. We made one change - this year we'll fly to Toronto and go by train to Montreal, but we'll fly from Montreal all the way home. The train ride is enjoyable and relaxing, but after nearly a week away, we find we're anxious to get home and the train ride back to Toronto extends the trip a bit too much. Nevertheless, I expect we'll have a good time, despite the shuttling from plane to train.

I hope to write a lot about it while we're there. I agree, the food in Montreal is wonderful - f

Nice trip...

Thanks for the comments, folks. I've added entries to the Trip Journal to flesh out our experiences a bit more thoroughly. I'll also post more pics.