Websites
The governments of Canada, the province of Québec, and the city of Montréal all provide excellent online resources for planning your trip, including these:
Bonjour Québec
http://www.bonjourquebec.com/us-en/accueil0.html
www.tourisme-montreal.org
http://www.tourisme-montreal.org/B2C/00/default.asp
Vieux Montréal (Old Montréal)
www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca
Tours
If you have only a day or two in Montréal, you may want to get the full effect of the city’s beauty and charm by taking a conducted tour:
Boat tours
Le Bateau-mouche de Montreal www.bateau-mouche.com
Croisières du Port de Montréal www.croisieresaml.com
Bus tours
www.grayline.com
www.guidatour.qc.ca
Vieux Montréal (Old Montreal)
Métro: Place d’Armes
The Old City is a rare opportunity in North America to enter the world of the 17th and 18th centuries. You can stroll through Vieux Montréal in a morning or an afternoon, or take a day to get to know the unique history of La Belle Province, and dine at one of the Québecois-themed restaurants in the quarter. (And Chinatown is walking distance away, too.)
Place Jacques Cartier
http://www.neuvel.net/image%20files/Pictures/Montreal/place_jc.jpg
The heart of Vieux Montréal, lined with outdoor cafés and lively with street performances.
Basilique Notre Dame http://www.terragalleria.com/images/canada/caqc10737.jpeg
One of the world’s great churches.
Where Celine Dion married Rene Angelil on December 17, 1994
Pointe-à-Caillière (Montreal Museum of Archeology and History)
This is the place to learn everything about the city’s history.
http://www.pacmusee.qc.ca/index.aspx?lang=EN-CA
Château Ramzay
The home of French governors in the 18th century, now a great collection of artifacts of Québec’s colonial history.
http://www.chateauramezay.qc.ca/index2.htm
Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours
http://www.philwieland.com/postcard/j/f1458.jpg
Gives a brilliant sense of life in Montréal in the 18th century.
Marché Bonsecours
Charming stores: Canadian art, clothing, chatchkas.
Churches
Mark Twain said that Montréal was the first city he’d seen where you couldn’t throw a brick without breaking a church window.
Oratoire St-Joseph (St. Joseph’s Oratory) http://www.imtl.org/image/big/oratoire.jpg
Métro: Côte-des-Neiges
The Oratory has a commanding view of the city and a dramatic history: It’s the brainchild of Brother André, a humble doorkeeper credited with many miraculous cures, and now the largest Catholic church outside Rome.
Cathédrale-Basilique Marie-Reine-du-Monde
Métro: Bonaventure
A 1/3-size replica of St. Peter’s in Rome.
Art Museums
COME AND SEE THE DREAM ART EXHIBITION AT GALLERIE ART NEUF!!!!
Gallerie Art Neuf in Montreal’s gorgeous Lafontaine Parc, is only a few bus stops away from our hotel, along Sherbrooke Street, or a 3.00 taxi ride. Worth the break!
Besides our own IASD art exhibit in the hotel, another beautiful exhibition is running the months of July and August that centers on the subject of dreams, and which is in conjunction with IASD art.
Take a break! Find an hour or so to walk through the park and gallery.
Lafontaine Park is Plateau Mont-Royal’s biggest park. A 40-hectare gem of traditional park landscaping, it includes two linked ponds with a fountain and waterfalls, the Théâtre de Verdure open-air venue, the Centre culturel Calixa-Lavallée, of which Art Neuf is a part. Bike paths run along the park’s western and northern edges.
http://www.montreal.com/parks/lafontaine.html
Montreal Museum of Fine Arts ( Musée des Beaux Arts )
Métro: Peel or Guy-Concordia
www.mmfa.qc.ca
A first-class, diverse collection of artwork from all ages. In July, an exhibition of the work of designer Yves Saint Laurent will be featured.
Museum of Contemporary Art ( Musée d’Art Contemporain)
http://www.macm.org/en/index.html
Métro: Place des Arts
A special emphasis on artists from Québec and the rest of Canada, with a solid international collection as well.
Montréal has more than its share of French-language theaters and multilingual cinemas, as well as an international reputation as a center for jazz and dance.
Montreal Neighborhoods, Walks, and Shopping
Parc du Mont-Royal
http://www.cnd.mcgill.ca/MCH/IMAGES/Lac-aux-castors.jpg
Métro: Peel, McGill
A world-class urban park, designed by Frederick Law Olmstead, with magnificent views of the city.
Parc Jean Drapeau
Métro: Jean Drapeau
Home to several attractions: The Biosphère is great museum of ecology, housed in the geodesic dome designed by Buckminster Fuller for Expo 67.
http://www.stewart-museum.org/en/default.asp?id=1
La Ronde Amusement Park and the Casino de Montréal can also be found here.
Rue Saint Denis
Métro: Berri-UQAM
Montréal’s “left bank” – the heart of Francophone nightlife: cafés, restaurants, shopping.
Plateau Mont-Royal
Métro: Mont Royal, Sherbrooke
Funky, inexpensive, and “lived-in” – head here for second-hand and record stores. Rue Prince Arthur is a pedestrian enclave, lively at night and a great place for lunch or dinner. Walk down Boulevard Saint Laurent toward Chinatown and Le Village for a good view of the life of the city.
Le Village (The Gay Village)
Métro: Beaudry
LGBT vistors should not miss out on one of the gay-friendliest cities in the world. (You can get married here, you know!) Beaudry Métro features a rainbow-flag design. And The Gay Village is very straight-friendly, too. It has some terrific restaurants, that have plenty of outdoor seats to watch passersby, cafe’s and great streets to stroll.
http://www.queermontreal.info/
www.tourism-montreal.org/gay
Side Trips from Montréal
Kahnawake Indian Reserve
The heart of the Mohawk nation in Canada will present its annual powwow this year on the weekend of July 11-12. The date commemorates the anniversary of the “Oka crisis” of 1990, when Mohawks protested land policies of the provincial and federal governments, resulting in a two-month stand-off that profoundly changed Canada’s perception and treatment of the First Nations.
http://www.kahnawake.com/
The Laurentians
Beautiful lakes and mountains and plenty of summertime recreation at St. Sauveur, Ste. Adèle, Val David, Ste-Agathe-des-Monts, and Mont-Tremblant. There are plenty of lodges and rentals, lots of water-skiing, and restaurants and artists’ studios to explore. The area is largely French-speaking and English-friendly.
www.valdavid.com
http://www.sainte-agathe.org/en/index.html
http://www.tourismemonttremblant.com/
Québec City
About a 3-hour drive from Montréal, the old city of Québec is like a day-trip to the seventeenth century—the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in North America.
www.quebecregion.com
The Quebec Summer Festival (Festival d’Eté)
Check in at: http://www.infofestival.com/Festival/en-ca_section1.html
The dates are not set yet, but the “largest cultural festival in the French-speaking world,” featuring jazz, folk music, dance, theater from around the world, should be taking place just as the conference ends.
Language
Montréal is a majority French-speaking city. As in France, it is always polite to inquire if the person you’re addressing speaks English before launching into a question or request.
Say, Excusez-moi, parlez-vous anglais? (ex-kyoo-zay mwah, parr-lay-voo ohng-lay?) or just Excuse me, do you speak English? Métro attendants, restaurant servers, store personnel, etc., will often address you in both French and English, inviting you to choose the language for your conversation. It’s polite to use French with Francophone Montréalers for simple conversational openers and closers.
Conversation
Bonjour (Bõ-zhoor) = Hello
Salut (Sa-lu) = Hi
Bonne journée (Bone zhoor-ney) = Good day (say this as you leave an establishment)
Bonne soirée (Bone swar-rey) = Good evening (say this as you leave an establishment)
S’il vous plaît (Seal voo pley) = Please
Merci beaucoup (Mair-see bo-koo) = Thank you very much
Excusez-moi (ex-kyoo-zay mwah) = Excuse me (to get someone’s attention)
Pardon (Par-dõ) = Excuse me (when you bump into someone)
Je suis désolé (Zhe swee dey-zo-ley) = I’m sorry
Je ne comprends pas (Zhe ne com-prõ pah) = I don’t understand
Je ne parle pas français (Zhe ne parrl pah frãn-sey) = I don’t speak French
Signs
Ouvert = Open
Fermé = Closed
Guichet (automatique) = ATM
Bureau de change = Money exchange
Table d’hôte = A fixed-price menu, usually the best way to get a meal in good restaurants
Petit déjeuner = Breakfast
Déjeuner = Lunch
Diner = Dinner (not a diner)
Casse-croûte = Snack
Eau potable = Drinking water
Toilettes, WC = Toilets
Dames = Ladies
Hommes = Men
Attention = Caution
Cas d’urgence! = Emergency
Arrêt! = Stop
Lundi = Monday
Mardi = Tuesday
Mercredi = Wednesday
Jeudi = Thursday
Vendredi = Friday
Samedi = Saturday
Dimanche = Sunday
Note: The hours of the day are given in the 24-hour system in Montréal signs; thus 17h = 5 pm. Every street has very specific parking restrictions. Pay close attention to signs and look down the block for central ticketing stations for parking for the block.
Idioms
Québecois(e) – Someone (noun) or something (adjective) from La Belle Province – The Beautiful Province.
Loonie – The 1-dollar coin, from the loon depicted on it.
Toonie – The 2-dollar coin.
Mountie – A police officer, from Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)
Je me souviens – The provincial motto you will see on license plates – “I remember.”
Gîte – A bed-and-breakfast.
First Nations – The indigenous peoples of Canada.
Sirop d’érable – Maple syrup. It is everywhere, and every store will encourage you to purchase some, usually in decorative bottles. Prepare yourself psychologically for this.
Tourtière – A Québecois meat pie.
Poutine – French fries with gravy and cheese curds. You must try it at least once or you haven’t really been to Québec.
Smoked meat (la viande fumée) – A little like pastrami, a contribution of the city’s sizable Eastern-European Jewish community. You must try it at least once or you haven’t really been to Montréal. Montréal-style bagels are also unique and something of a revelation to bagel noshers from around the world.
You can get a poutine topped with la viande fumée at many establishments, but no one’s forcing you.
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