 |
travel / great places / cg recommends / montreal
| CG Recommends |
|
|
Old Montréal: A Taste of Europe
What could be more romantic than a weekend in a quaint
old European village? For those who don't have the disposal income
to jet overseas for a getaway, the stone buildings lining the narrow
cobblestone
streets of Old Montréal make for an ideal alternative right
here at home. And that's just what my wife and I decided on for our
tenth
anniversary.
From Ottawa, we took the quick, two-hour trip on VIA Rail's First-Class
service. The train is a great, hassle-free way to travel and
I would do it again in a second. When we emerged from the train
station in downtown Montréal, we just had to walk across
the street to our hotel, the Queen Elizabeth, an elegant CP Hotel
that first opened its doors in 1958. (The hotel is known for,
among other things, being the location of John Lennon's famous
"bed-in" in 1969, where the song "Give Peace a
Chance" was recorded.)
Although the hotel is close to
a number of the city's many attractions, we focused our weekend
on Old Montréal. We spent our days touring around, visiting
boutiques that sold everything from cool kites to traditional
native Canadian moccasins. We browsed through art shops and even
splurged on a horse-and-buggy ride, taking in the sights and
sounds of the busy streets. The area is great for leisurely walking
and window shopping.
There are a number of excellent restaurants in Old Montréal,
but for dinner, we decided on one with traditional French-Canadian
cuisine that was in a big, old stone building. The old semi-circular
ovens from the original structure had been replaced with windows,
and the stone interior and exposed beams gave us a sense of what
the building must have been like when it was first built a few
hundred years ago. It was a very romantic setting.
After dinner, there wasn't a shortage of nightlife. Patios
were open, the streets were alive, with music sounding from the
various clubs — everything from French folk to rock, jazz and
reggae.
I've visited various parts of Montréal a number of times, but
it is certainly the Old City that will keep me coming back.
Dan St. Jean, Web Designer
LINKS:
|
|
| ADVERTISEMENT |
|
|
|
|
