MONTREAL


Deux Langues While most locals are bilingual, the official language of Quebec is French. You’ll see all public signage en français — including international brands such as KFC, known here as PFK, or Poulet Frit Kentucky


Clockwise from top left: Saint Joseph’s Oratory, Canada’s largest church; exhibits at the Pointe-à-Callière Museum; the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts was founded in 1860; the remarkable dwellings of Habitat 67, built for a world expo; Los Planes restaurant in Jean-Talon Market Previous pages: Enjoying the sunset on the steps leading up to Saint Joseph’s Oratory


SEE & DO OLD MONTREAL: Begin in the 17th-century centre, where narrow streets segue to a park- fringed series of quays on the St Lawrence River. Browse the many boutiques and galleries, then to Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, built in 1771 as a sailors’ pilgrimage site. The cobblestone stretch of Rue Saint-Paul near Marché Bonsecours, the public market that’s stuffed with boutiques, is especially photogenic. oldportofmontreal.com POINTE-À-CALLIÈRE MUSEUM: Get an overview of the city’s foundations from the archaeological exhibits of this eclectic museum in Old Montreal. It chronicles some 4,500 years of the area’s history, from early hunter-gatherers to 17th-century Catholic settlers. pacmusee.qc.ca JEAN-TALON MARKET: This mostly under- cover market in the city’s northwest is where food-obsessed Montrealers go to stock up. Among the produce from the 50-plus vendors, there is whiffy Quebec-made cheese at Fromagerie Qui Lait Cru, crunchy local apples from Domaine Villeneuve and maple syrup at Ferme René Lussier. marchespublics-mtl.com MONTREAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: The city’s most significant arts museum — located in Downtown — trots from gilt- framed Napoleonic pieces to large-scale Antony Gormley works and Inuit carvings. In summer, the al fresco sculpture garden, where 22 public art pieces from around the world dot the lawns, is particularly inviting. mbam.qc.ca


HABITAT 67: One of the few lasting remnants of landmark Expo 67 — the world exposition hosted here in 1967 — this series of brutalist homes is an architectural icon in the city. Join a 90-minute guided tour through the maze of suspended terraces and pedestrianised walkways on the banks of the St Lawrence River to learn about its design and the lifestyle of its inhabitants. habitat67.com MOUNT ROYAL PARK: Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted (the brains behind New York’s Central Park), the city’s 692-acre central green is a meeting place, exercise area and entertainment space. In the summer, locals picnic, take boat rides on the lake or stroll with dogs to the park’s 764ft-high pinnacle. Don’t miss vast domed Saint Joseph’s Oratory, Canada’s largest church — its profile brings to mind Paris’s Sacré Coeur. saint-joseph.org MCGILL UNIVERSITY: With heritage buildings and rafts of greenery, the grounds of the Downtown academic institution — one of Canada’s finest — are well worth a wander. Pass under the columned Roddick Gates, to find the grand Macdonald-Stewart Library and McCall MacBain Arts buildings. mcgill.ca PLATEAU & MILE END: Of all Montreal’s cool neighbourhoods, this duo in the city’s north are especially vibrant. The artsy Plateau has colourful Victorian buildings, indie shops and leafy ‘ruelles vertes’ — garden alleyways. Edgier Mile End, meanwhile, mixes 19th- century buildings with vintage shops and retro bagel bakeries.


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