I recently got back from a weekend vacation to Montreal. Having been there a few years ago and loving it, I thought it would be a good mini-vacation for ML and I as we were well overdue for one. It’s like Paris without the snobby holier than thou attitude Parisians are infamous for. So not only do you get to experience a different culture/language, there’s also an added benefit of going there during the summer time – you get to see why its called the city of festivals. We intentionally coincided the trip with the Just for Laughs festivals – a huge comedy festival that happens right after the Jazz Fest.

Having done a bit of looking up on what to see and do in the weekend we were there I thought I could share our experience breaking out the trip by day.

Day 1.

12:00 PM – The best way to get yourself intimately acquainted with a new city is to walk (assuming of course its a pedestrian friendly city). So once we checked in to our hotel, ML and I walked over from the Financial Area (by Rue Peel and Maisonneuve) to Old Montreal. The walk is pretty encompassing as you walk through the financial district of the city, past the hundreds of stores and malls on St. Catherine, through Chinatown and into Old Montreal.

1:00 PM – Once in Old Montreal you can choose to walk through the more tourist-friendly parts of the area packed with mimes, caricature artists and busy sidewalk cafes or walk through the quieter, more charming parts of this area strolling down the cobblestone paths lined with old gas-light lamp posts, hearing the occasional click-clock of horse-drawn carriages and encountering the ever-so friendly locals. The architecture, and quaintness makes you forget for a second that you are still in the 21st century and feel like you have been transported momentarily though time to the 18th century.

There are also a ton of boutiques and art galleries that populate this area that are worth looking at to get a feel for the local art. After soaking in the architecture and sights, we stopped by to sample some of the local micro-brews and grab a quick bite at a restaurant called Santos. ML tried their unique and rather potent sangria which was actually pretty good. After coercing the bartender for the recipe, I thought I’d share it here as well as I think it makes a great summer cocktail:

Rosé Sangria:

1 shot of Bacardi
1 shot of Peach Schnapps
1/2 cup Rosé wine
2 fresh strawberries, halved
A handful of blueberries
2 peeled and fresh lychees
1 wedge of lime
Splash of lychee juice
Club soda
Ice

In a large wine glass, add ice with one shot of Bacardi Rum (white), 1/2 cup of rose wine, a shot of Peach Schnapps. Add in a couple of halved strawberries, a handful of blueberries and a couple of lychees (skinned, of course) with a few drops of lychee juice and a wedge of lime. Top with club soda and enjoy.

On the way to check out the centerpiece of tourist attention in this area, La Basilique Notre Dame, stop by at a small bakery called Les Glaceurs for out-of-this world cupcakes that put the ones you wait in line at Magnolia for to shame.

7:00 PM – Given that we were in the midst of the Just For Laughs Festival, we had to get tickets to a comedy show. So we were lucky enough to catch a Videotron Gala series show (which are the premier shows of the festival) hosted by Lewis Black.

10:00 PM – After the show, we walked through the Just For Laughs street fair – its a block after block of food vendors, games, live music, clowns,  mimes, and Cirque du Soleil-esque processions. Right in the midst of the fair, we stopped by for dinner at a tapas restaurant called Confusion on St. Denis. You can sit outside at this restaurant and get a front row seat to the masked performers walking on stilts through the street fair, as well as a good dose of live jazz music from local musicians playing right next door on the pavements. It’s a perfect way to end your first day in Montreal.

Go to Day 2.