Montreal for Christmas

ohhhh, I LOVE Montreal. We would go up often when I lived in Burlington. It's been years since I've visited but there was a large retail area known as 'The Underground" and a visit to the greenhouses of the Botanic Gardens is a wintertime must.

The old city (Rue Jacques-Cartier and vacinity) is great for artists, cafes, and wandering. Old Montreal

edit: oh, oh. and the Cathedral de Notre Dame is fabulous!

Mount Royal Park is great too

Mount Royal


What you are able to do depends a lot on the weather. Montreal can be brutal in the winter but it can also be pleasant and beautiful.

ChicagoJoe had a thread on this topic.
Some good reco's in there.

OOH! I'd love to go to Canada for Christmas!

A friend has been married to a Canadian lady for quite a few years, and they go to her parents log cabin at Christmas time.

I am officially jealous.

Thanks for those link, J_B.

Not to contradict you, m'lord, but I believe you are envious, not jealous. But why stay either? Fly on over and meet us.

Thank you for those links J_B. We'll be staying within easy walking distance of Mount Royal Park, on Sherbrooke, right at the corner of Rue Peel. I don't think I've ever visited the Old City before and am looking forward to that. Thanks again.

Now I think I should go and pack something or other. Leaving very early tomorrow a.m. with hopes of being there in time for a lateish lunch.

Have a wonderful trip and a fabulous holiday, MA. We'll be waiting to hear all about it when you return.

Now if Set and I leave early tomorrow morning and drive east, and MA leaves early tomorrow morning and drives northwest - we'll end up just a bit apart <the hamburgers live halfway between Tranna and Montreal>.

I am truly envious - the food and shopping in Montreal is marvellous.

Urgent update:

If any of you plan to be in Montreal in the near future, do not, I repeat not stay at the Best Western Ville Marie Hotel on Peel and Sherbrooke Sts. On the positive side, it has three things going for it -- location, location, location. It is three blocks from the Musee des Beaux Arts, two blocks from the decadent shopping district of St. Catherine's St. and virtually right on the campus of McGill U. In good weather, it's also within walking distance of Mount Royal Park (MA and Seaglass did not have good weather). Other than that, there is not one positive thing we can say about it. Well, okay, the staff is very friendly. But you can starve to death in that joint. No room service. The coffee shop was shut down tight as a drum over the holidays. The dining room was closed Xmas eve, Xmas day and Boxing Day. It reopened on the 27th but then decided to close an hour earlier than posted, so we got no supper that night. At one point, the radiator system was set on air conditioning rather than heat and a maintenance man had to come up and adjust the thermostat. He was very nice and helpful and friendly. But the joint needs new management.

Generally speaking, unless you have friends in Montreal who will invite you over for dinner, the holidays are not a good time to visit the city. The French Catholics take Christmas tres seriousement and every restaurant, diner, coffee shop and pub are shut down tight as drums. We went without breakfast for two days straight (unless you call coffee and a croissant at a 24-hour Second Cup establishment adequate breakfast).

But there were some awfully good times also. More about that in a subsequent post. Suffice it to say that we are now back in Boston, as of last night, and trying to recover from the experience. In general terms, life is good. Thank you all for your fine suggestions and good wishes. We'll stay in touch.