Vacationing In Montreal: Celebrities, Carnivores and Canadian Dollars

For years, I had wondered if driving to Montreal would provide a Parisian-type vacation without the tres cher airfare. 

So we finally packed up the car last week, and the answer is yes, Montreal packs on the old-school French charm with delightful sites, elegant architecture, wonderful food and, yes, the French language everywhere.

I love trying to speak French, which I studied in high school. But when I didn't know a word or phrase, I could just ask, "Parlez-vous anglais?" and the French Canadian I was speaking with usually said "sure" and switched comfortably into perfect English--with no judgment.

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Montreal also had no problem keeping two teenagers entertained. I took them to the Chateau de Ramezay, hoping to keep them riveted by the home of the Montreal governor back in the 1700s, when the city was just a backwater trading post.

They were riveted, but it was because two 20-something docents, clad in 1700s garb, told them that movie crews were filming an "X-Men" movie across the street at Montreal's ornate Hotel de Ville, or City Hall. We all gossiped about the celebrities in town, including Hugh Jackman and Jennifer Lawrence.

Did I mention that while we had dinner at a Toronto microbrewery restaurant on the way to Montreal, they spent a half-hour debating whether a Zac Efron lookalike at a nearby table was really Zac Efron or not? The consensus was no.

The visit to Chateau de Ramezay went well, as did a visit to the Point a Chartieres natural history museum, which had a great multimedia show about how the French and British have been scrapping it out for control of Montreal for about 400 years. We also got to wander among the original foundations of previous buildings on the site, which were archaeologically preserved down in the basement. In a temporary exhibit on the Beatles' visits to Montreal, we got to relive the fun years of George, Paul, John and Ringo. 

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When the museum closed and we spilled out onto the plaza in Vieux Port, or the Old Port district on the waterfront, one of my kids nodded in the direction of a man and whispered, "That's Laurence Fishburne." They each surreptitiously took photos of the other, with the real purpose of getting shots of the movie actor in the background. Then we had to tail the poor man for a block, with the kids eventually deciding they would not approach him for an autograph, because he was with his family, but also because, "he plays really angry guys in movies." They concluded he, too, must be in town filming the new X-Men movie. Well, we'll see when it comes out!

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TIPS FOR VISITING MONTREAL

• IMPORTANT: If you cross the border with your smartphone on, it will begin to rack up expensive Internet roaming charges. You must turn off your data (Internet and email), and either purchase a data plan or use it only in wifi hotspots. The same with the phone service--you must purchase a phone plan or be prepared to rack up expensive charges. If your mobile phone is not a smartphone, the same still applies.
• Be sure to visit the Vieux Montreal (Old Montreal) and Vieux Port (Old Port) areas, which are next to each other and sort of combine into one large, lively historic district. Stroll the streets and plazas, which are filled with shops, restaurants, sights and tourists.
• Try some Montreal specialties: a smoked meat sandwich, which is similar to pastrami but with different spices, and a creation called "poutine." Poutine is a dish of French fries covered with brown gravy and topped with cheese curds. You can order it in several variations, such as with smoked meat or sausage. Be warned: this dish would be perfect for a hockey player in winter. It's hearty.
• Watch those Canadian dollars. Montreal seemed expensive to me. Gasoline is $1.40 a liter, which comes out to something like $5.60 a gallon. Also, sales tax is about 14 percent on general merchandise and restaurant meals. Somebody's gotta fund that Canadian healthcare system!
• To save money, we chose to stay at a hotel outside downtown but convenient to the excellent subway system. We chose the modern, clean and convenient Hotel Dauphin in Longueuil, a nearby suburb, and we took the subway to Vieux Montreal and the Biodome complex. Even if you stayed downtown, you would still have to drive or taxi to the tourist sites.
• Montreal has a tourist area on the site of its 1976 Olympic village. It contains the Biodome, a well-done sort of indoor zoo, which has 7,000 animals and fish from four ecosystems. We didn't have time for the Botanic Garden, Planetarium or Insectarium. 
• There's an elegant shopping area near the McGill subway station, with Canadian stores such as Simons and La Baie (Hudson Bay Company).
• Be prepared for everything to be in French. Most signs do have English translations beneath the French. If you're asking for directions, though, try to pronounce your destination the French way. But as mentioned earlier, most Montrealers are happy to speak to you in English.
• Remember that you'll need passports for everyone in the family when crossing the U.S.-Canada border.