In late October, we had packed up and ventured off to Montréal with a couple of friends. Our friends were going to see a concert, so we all thought we'd make an entire weekend out of it.
We left on a Friday morning, and arrived in Montréal in the early evening. Our friends headed off to the concert, while Cess and I spent the evening in Old Montréal. Having never spent any significant amount of time in Montréal, I could immediately see why everyone says Montréal has a very European feel to it -- it does. The architecture, the layout of the old part of town, and the overall atmosphere are certainly very reminiscent of European cities. We wrapped up our evening with a dinner at Garde Manger, a restaurant owned and operated by Chuck Hughes, of Chuck's Day Off fame. The dinner was excellent, albeit, a bit on the pricey side when you consider what type of food you're getting. Regardless, we had a great evening.
The remainder of the weekend was spent doing various touristy things. The two highlights were Pikolo Espresso Bar (awesome coffee and pastries) and Jean-Talon Market. The latter is one of Montréal's largest open air markets and is extremely impressive. In short, it puts Toronto's St. Lawrence market to shame. Jean-Talon is much larger, has a much better variety of products, and in most cases, the products are much better priced. Between the four of us, we loaded up on 10lbs of peppers, about 15lbs of tomatoes, and other various goodies.
It's safe to say that we would definitely like to go back again. Even just to experience the market!
Old Montréal At Night:
Pikolo Espresso Bar:
Jean-Talon Market:
Fresh Mushrooms at Jean-Talon Market:
Montréal - Old & New:
