10 Saint-Joseph’s Ora- tory of Mount-Royal etting a story in and the Lachine Canal trail, sculptures, chase hockey For more than 40 Get Around, Greenly Montréal is like browsing the colorful Jean- pucks, ice skate, toboggan, years, Brother André— The fondest vacation memories never 1 Cap-St.-Jacques Nature Park a handyman with little casting a character Talon Market, shopping along and cozy up in fire lit pubs. A working ecological farm updates education—ministered to involve driving in urban traffic. Fortunately, Quebec’s rich agricultural traditions for ailing pilgrims, often from Montréal is a superb city for walking and in a novel—one with St.-Laurent, St.-Denis, and Some see my adopted city a society in which food has become an a public streetcar shelter. offers the clean, quiet, convenient Métro art form. In late winter, sample fresh His reputation for miracle a distinct, vibrant Ste.-Catherine. I delight in as a schizophrenic scrapper syrup, taffy, and sugar made from sap cures earned a fortune subway system as well as an expanding out of the park’s maple trees. In the in alms for construction network of all-weather cycling routes. S personality not to be ignored. the multiculturalism: Irish pub continually fighting herself: summer, lounge on the beach. Enjoy of this colossal shrine. geotourism (n): Tourism great views of the river year-round. Upon his death in 1937, La Belle Ville seized the beside French bistro, sushi Anglophone–Francophone, that sustains or enhances the the monk’s heart was “Cycling provides a healthier, often quicker, geographical character of a extracted by order of and increasingly more-fashionable means spotlight on page two of my restaurant beside Schwartz’s Sovereignist-Federalist, Cath- place—its environment, culture, church authorities. Pickled aesthetics, heritage, and the of getting around. There are now 380 km well-being of its residents. 45°27′N in formalin, it remains (236 miles) of bike trails that take you first book, Déjà Dead, when famous smoked meat. Most olic-Protestant. Montrealers the shrine’s most unusual 73°57′W attraction. throughout the city and beyond. To the I wrote “when summer ar- of all, I love to walk the view their hometown as a PONT DE SAINT-JOSEPH’S ORATORY OF MOUNT-ROYAL L’ÎLE-AUX-TOURTES CANADIAN TOURISM COMMISSION / PIERRE ST-JACQUES west you can ride along the Lachine Canal 1 Park to the town of Lachine; a nice ride to rives in Montréal, it flounces tangled neighbourhoods with New York–Paris blend. They the east takes you about 12 km (7.5 miles) in like a rumba dancer.” That their narrow streets and are right. The joie de vivre is to the Botanical Gardens; and to the impossible staircases. south you can explore Nuns Island, Île was 1994. The city has never irrepressible as the bilingual Île-Bizard Ste.-Hélène, and Jean-Drapeau Park in the released its hold on me. Year-round, Montréal bares citizenry revels in a shared river. A beautiful ride right in the center is Montréal is the leading lady its soul to visitors. Summer love of fashion, food, music, through Mount Royal Park. 2 The paths are set to double by 2011. of contradictions—flirting with is a June to September cel- and dance. In the end, every- The new BIXI bike sharing service will take Sainte-Anne- her future while embracing ebration of outdoor cafés, one wins. de-Bellevue us another step towards a city designed for cycling.” her past, vigorously blending makeshift bongo concerts in The pulse of Montréal beats —David McDougall & Stephanie Thompson, French and English, harmo- Mount Royal Park, fireworks loudly, and visitors will find partners, My Bicyclette nizing the steel skyscrapers competitions, and endless their hearts willingly harmoniz- 20 of Downtown with the green festivals. In winter, unde- ing with this alluring city. OLD PORT 40 STÉPHAN POULIN gems of her parks. I adore terred by bitter cold, les —Dr. Kathy Reichs, forensic R hiking the wee mountain, bik- Montréalais slap on lip balm i v anthropologist and author i ing along the Old Port Quays and erect impromptu ice Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal e` MONTRÉAL HIGH LIGHTS FESTIVAL 2 r BENOÎT DUROCHER e National Historic Site of Canada - d Montréal Watch pleasure boats ride the e 37 Bois-de-Liesse Nature Park hydraulic lift in this short 1843 s - Watch for beavers and painted canal at the western tip of P turtles along Bertrand Creek, r Vive la différence Montréal Island. The town bus- a which flows through this 159- i 34 La TOHU tles with shops and restaurants. r hectare stand of old-growth 35 Île-de-la-Visitation Nature Park ie One of the world’s biggest s hardwoods. Human and natural history blend circus arts training centres and PONT in this riverside park containing Montréal Coat of Arms 3 Pointe-Claire LOUIS-BISSON 36 Église de la Visitation du performances spaces, where This lakeside village was a Sault-au-Récollet the restored Maison du Pressoir, you can see big-top shows Montréal’s ethnic diversity is celebrated not only distant summer retreat for Île aux Chats built in 1806 to extract apple from around the world. in today’s tourist brochures but also recognized on 37 One of Montréal’s oldest church- CANADA Montrealers before road and rail es (1750), built of fieldstone in juice for fermentation into cider. 2345, rue Jarry Est its official coat of arms, which goes back to 1833. links made it an easy commute. a traditional Quebec style. Enjoy a spirited taste of village UNITED Montr´eal Along with maple leaves, a beaver and the motto The town’s landmark 1710 stone 1847, boul. Gouin Est life in 19th-century Quebec. STATES windmill typifies those built “Concordia Salus” (Salvation through harmony), 73°50′ PONT throughout France at the time. MEDERIC-MARTIN Île Gagn´e the city’s official emblem features symbols of its Gun slits in the exterior wall 3 13 earliest settlers—a fleur-de-lis for the French; a were a precaution, ultimately PONT PAPINEAU- L LEBLANC rose for the English; a shamrock for the Irish; unneeded, against attack. ak e S 15 45°34′ and a thistle for the Scottish. The motto has ai 35 also inspired the name of one the four Montréal nt Riv L i`ere- universities, Concordia University. Fur Trade at Lachine o 36 des- 5 National Historic u Pra is iries Site of Canada 45°41′ This was the home base for the epic journeys of Montr´eal-Pierre-Elliott Trudeau voyageurs, who traded International Airport Pointe-aux-Prairies PONT CHARLES- European goods for Nature Park DE GAULLE pelts, collected by native trappers in the country’s Île Bonfoin Île remote northwest. Bourdon Exhibits housed in this 4 René-Lévesque Park / 19 1803 warehouse bring Musée de Lachine that era alive. This narrow spit of parkland 1255, boul. Saint-Joseph features a linear sculpture gar- 73°29′ Lachine Borough den popular with bicyclists and 520 hikers. Nearby is the fieldstone Musée de Lachine, built as a fur 40 trading post in 1669, which is 34 LACHINE NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE OF CANADA 40 JOHN MITCHELL / ALAMY Montréal’s oldest building. It was the home base for the voyageurs, Map Key Lachine Rapids, who embarked from here on Food 7 St. Lawrence River long canoe journeys to trade with This springtime stopover native trappers in the country’s Entertainment THE ISLAND OF MONTREAL Île for migrating waterfowl remote northwest. Historic site also draws sun-basking Sainte-Th´er`ese 17 Market Montrealers. Some 225 6 Fleming Mill 73°43′ 25 species of birds and at In summer, actors recount the Museum least as many varieties of history of this 200-year-old 15 16 cyclists, anglers, boaters, windmill. 9675, boul. LaSalle Scenic viewing spot lovers, picnickers, and Other point of interest noon-hour tanners, flock 8 Lachine Canal National Historic 15 to this long stretch of Site of Canada Maisonneuve Scale varies in this perspective parkland opposite the St. Dug by hand in the early 1800s 12 13 Park 32 Morgan Boulevard Lawrence River’s rushing to dodge the Lachine Rapids, the 14 Grand public edifices—including Lachine Rapids. 14.5-kilometre (9-mile) canal 30 a public bath, and domed farm- now carries pleasure boaters 11 ers’ market—symbolize the civic 22 23 exuberance of the once-indepen- from the Old Port of Montréal 21 31 Biodôme de Montréal SATELLITE IMAGERY PROVIDED BY DIGITAL GLOBE dent City of Maisonneuve, incor- to Lake Saint Louis. 31 33 Explore four distinct ecosystems RAFTING ON THE LACHINE RAPIDS Lachine 10 20 from the Americas under the porated into Montréal in 1918. LES DESCENTES SUR LE SAINT-LAURENT 4 25 roof of this one-of-a-kind experi- ence. You’ll encounter 700 spe- www.geomontreal.com 26 33 5 29 Île Sainte-Hélène cies of plants and animals from Promenade Bellerive 24 Île Sainte-Hélène features a walk-up tropical and polar regions, the A relaxing park that is the Copyright © 2009 observation tower, sprawling outdoor Canadian Laurentian forest and ferry stop for cruises to Îles-de- National Geographic Society, Mount Royal swimming pools, and the regal Hélène the St. Lawrence River. Boucherville National Park. Washington, D.C. Welcome to the World de Champlain restaurant, which for Park 32 decades has drawn visitors to this There is no better proof of Montréal’s ope- natural island. The boisterous La Ronde ness to newcomers than Michaëlle Jean. 20 amusement park is a holdover from the 9 Lachine Canal Bike Path 6 1967 World Fair.