Montreal

Tanya and I recently returned from a trip to Quebec and Vermont. We spent four days in Montreal. When talking about the trip to friends here in Tacoma, the most common question asked is why we went to Montreal. They can understand going to Vermont for fall color, but not Montreal.

We chose to go to Montreal because we had never been there before and it didn’t cost too much in terms of frequent flyer miles. When I booked the trip about six months ago, I hadn’t really thought about Montreal either. I didn’t know what tourist attractions the city has or what we would do when in the city.

After this trip, I can highly recommend Montreal as a fun, interesting destination for photographers and non-photographers alike. Montreal, and Quebec in general, is like a little slice of Europe inside North America. French is the native language of most Montrealers. But it is not just the language that sets it apart, the city is different (in a good way) from the other major American and Canadian cities I’ve been to, especially in the old part of the city (called Old Montreal). In Old Montreal, most the streets are narrow, some are set-aside for pedestrian use only, and many are paved with cobblestones – all features of many European cities. There are very many churches in the city (such as the Notre Dame Basilica featured above and in my last post), many being very large and impressive, again reminiscent of Europe. You can easily find traditional French food, and most of the wine is also French. If you are a beer drinker, at least one like me, it is also hard, in my opinion, to find a decent micro-brew there, just like my experiences in Europe. (Traveling the short distance across the border into Vermont was another story – Vermont is chock full of good micro-brews.) There are several open-air markets, again very similar to many European cities.

From a photographer’s point of view, the city is a visual delight as well. I hope the images I posted here can give you a taste of why you should visit Montreal.