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Vieux- Montreal…a city that stole my heart in a mere 24 hours. It is a city that feels more like a part of France, than a city in North America. Montreal is located in Quebec, Canada’s culturally French province. The people of Montreal were incredibly warm, friendly and helpful. It was the perfect romantic getaway that we will remember for a lifetime.


Saturday:
The drive to Montreal from Vermont takes about 6 hours, which included time for us to get lost, per usual. Getting lost this time though inspired us to start a list of rules to follow when traveling. One of which is to always have a good official map of where you are going. We will no longer be relying on tourist maps found at travel and information centers, as those maps don’t always show all the streets and even highways. We ended up traveling across the Pont Jacques-Cartier, the bridge that takes you to Montreal (which is an island from the mainland) twice before figuring out our way. Finally we arrived at our destination (which was kept as a surprise to me up until we arrived) around 2:30, to the Hostellerie Pierre Du Calvet, 405, rue Bonsecours.


25The Pierre du Calvet was built in 1725. Its décor is from the 1700’s .Beautiful, warm and inviting rooms with fireplaces, living area, 4-poster beds with gilded wooden frames and huge windows that open up to the cobblestone streets below.
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Nice common areas – library, sitting areas, indoor and outdoor with big comfortable chairs and fireplaces as well. Next door the Chapelle Notre-Dame-be-Bon-Secours, a beautiful, ornate chapel, (which houses the remains of Saint Marguerite-Bourgeoys), really lends a romantic flavor to the location.
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The ambience of the Hostellerie itself, plus its surrounding streets gives the place a very European feel. That was exactly what we were looking for, a nice weekend getaway that would transport us to a very different kind of place. Staying in a place like this, made that so much more possible and I would recommend it to anyone looking to stay in an authentic 1700’s home right in the heart of Vieux (Old)-Montreal. A real treat, indeed!The staff at Pierre Du Calvet is terrific. There are only 10 rooms in the Hostellerie so they give very personal service. Roberto had requested as another surprise that they have champagne and roses in the room upon our arrival. They accommodated that request perfectly, making us really feel like we were on a luxury vacation. They were also extremely helpful with directions and making sure our stay was very comfortable in every way. Staying there really made our trip so enjoyable and so decadent. There is also a 4 star restaurant that is part of the hotel called Les Filles du Roy, named after the original founders of Montreal. Montreal is still warm in September, and so after checking into the hotel and enjoying some of that delicious champagne, we were able to enjoy a delicious, late lunch at Jardin Nelson, 407 Place Jacques-Cartier. The restaurant is comprised of several totally outdoor dining areas, with live jazz most days. On Saturday afternoons they have a jazz quartet. The food there was delicious. We decided to make a meal by sharing several of their appetizers: French Onion Soup, Brie Fondue with pesto, pine nuts and toasts, breaded and baked calamari with cocktail sauce, and the house drink –a mix of Chambord, Rum and fresh lemon juice, very refreshing and delicious. The service was also great. They made great suggestions and we were served quickly, even though it was crowded. The weather was perfect that day, which made the experience that much better.

After lunch we took a long walk, trying to explore the main parts of Vieux-Montreal. The highlights were: The Old Port (a beautiful waterfront walkway where you can stroll along the St. Laurence River, or rent a paddle boat if you prefer), Place Jacques-Cartier(originally a marketplace, created in the 19^th century, which now is the heart of Old-Montreal, filled with restaurants and street performers (the most memorable being a magic show with magician Peter Snow) and the Basilique Notre-Dame (a beautiful Gothic Revival church built in 1829. It is full of gorgeous gilded and painted wooden decorations, sculptures and stained-glass).
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After this long walk we decided to see the rest of Vieux-Montreal via a horse named Buddy and his carriage. The ride took us mainly through the non-cobblestone streets of Vieux-Montreal. It was a lovely ride despite having to navigate roads that are traveled on by cars.
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Afterwards, feeling refreshed, we walked back to the Hostellerie and got ready for an evening out on the town. We were told by our carriage driver Pascal (who we suggest not to trust when it comes to dining experiences, (we should have known when she told us that she never goes to Old Montreal for entertainment) that Place D’Armes Hotel had a nice rooftop restaurant with good drinks and good food that was very affordable. The view was great, but the menu was mostly bar food, and we were looking for something with a little more of a European ambience and French cuisine. However, the front desk at the Place D’Armes Hotel was very helpful in trying to help us track down another restaurant. The Place D’Armes also seemed to be a nice place to stay – very modern and upscale.

The other restaurant recommendation we got was for Restaurant Le Bourlingueur. Bourlingueur which means something akin to “traveler”, in what I assume to be Quebecois, because after getting home I was not able to find it in any French dictionary. We did not know this at the time, but found it to be rather fitting that we chose to dine there. I ordered the roasted pork. The meal came with what I deciphered to be curried turnips and spatzle, cream of leek soup and a poached pear for dessert (which tasted like a pear from canned fruit cocktail). Roberto chose a salad with an assortment of cold seafood on top and the poached pear for dessert. He was also given a salad as a start to the dinner. The atmosphere was nice, it was very crowded, and so we were seated literally smack in the middle of two other couples, but it made for a lively dinner, and it was quite fun. If you are looking for something more romantic, I would chose a restaurant on Place Jacques-Cartier. Most restaurants there have outdoor eating areas and the lights on the square are very romantic. But we felt our choice was a departure from the norm, which in Montreal is romance, and instead had an experience.

After dinner we walked around a bit more in search of a more proper dessert. We settled on, Les Delices de L’Erable, which specializes in desserts and confections made with maple. We had gelato. I had Maple, and Roberto had Pistacchio. We continued our walk and ended up at A La Venture for drinks. We had a Zombie, a Chambly beer (locally brewed in Quebec) and a Cosmopolitan. The service there was great as well, and we were able to sit outside which is always a plus.

One can make a career of people watching in Montreal and it can go on until quite late in the evening. Bars that are also restaurants, like A La Venture are open until late, and people were being served full meals (like lamb with pommes frites), when we decided to head back at the hotel around 12:30. We both had a wonderful night’s sleep in our room, we used the gas fire place, and it gave the night such a warm and romantic feel. Again, we were feeling so lucky about our choice in accommodation.

Sunday morning we woke with a start. There was a bum sitting on some steps near the Chapelle yelling at people as they walked down the street. Then a brass band started playing on the grounds of the Chapelle. We never found out why, but it was definitely a way to start the morning. We were so jarred from our sleep by all the commotion that Roberto found it necessary to yell “Bon Soir!” out into the streets, which of course had us in stitches for the rest of the morning.We got another nice surprise when we went to take a shower and realized the shower head was as big as a dinner plate. Yet another reason that made us want to take up permanent residence at The Pierre du Calvet.We had a wonderful continental breakfast in the Hostellerie breakfast room. We were served choice of coffee or tea, orange juice, a croissant and a muffin with butter and jam. Our server was wonderful. We never got his name, but he reminded us of a French version of our friend back home, Jonathan. He was very friendly and chatted with us for a while about the history of the Hostellerie. We also chatted a bit about our personal lives, and when he found out that Roberto is a comic artisit he was so excited to talk to us even more! He is apparently a huge comic book fan, and it made the conversation go on for quite a while, which we really enjoyed. We didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to him, when we checked out, but we would have liked to.

After breakfast, with sad hearts, we went back upstairs to our room to finish packing our things so we could check out. We thanked the desk staff for making our stay so special and said goodbye to all the exotic birds that live in the Hostellerie’s glassed-in atrium.

We walked around our little part of Vieux-Montreal that we had come to love so much in such a short period of time. We visited the Chapelle and took a look at the Marche’ Bonsecours. The Marche’ is full of local artists and artisans. We were very impressed with all the beautiful local art in Montreal. Before leaving the city we made sure to have a Crepe – we shared one that was filled with ice cream, bananas and strawberries. While we were eating we were able to enjoy a spectacle on the square. One of the street performers, and older gentleman playing a harmonica, seemed to have taken a prominent location on the square, which caused many of the other street performers to become annoyed. Apparently getting the right spot on Place Jacques-Cartier is a constant war between musicians, balloon animal makers, clowns, and one Elvis impersonator who looks like he is made of gold. We had so much fun trying to decipher their comments. It made for some wonderful last moments in Vieux-Montreal.

After leaving the city, we decided on the way home to check out Montreal’s casino. From the brochures it looked really beautiful and we wanted to see it in person. The architecture is very striking in the skyline. It was a disappointment. Living fairly close to Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut we have become spoiled. It was dark, dank and badly laid out. We lasted there less than an hour.

Crossing the border back into the States was fun! We were stopped by this very serious customs officer who asked us all sorts of questions, at the end of his 20 questions he said he had to ask me a very important question and then says: “Does this guy look like Johnny Depp, or what?!”, while waving Roberto’s passport. Then he goes on to tell us that he actually had met Johnny Depp once, whose bus had passed through his window once. We asked him if he was nice, and he said he was “kinda weird”. The officer then starts waving Roberto’s passport enthusiastically and yells over to the officer in the next booth: “Hey! I got Johnny Depp over here, want an autograph!?” It had us cracking up the whole way home.

Montreal is a wonderful city to visit in mid-September. It is past the tourist season, but the weather is still mild, and all the events and attractions are still going on. The people are great, and every hotel and restaurant we visited we had impeccable service. This being the case I would imagine most of the city is that way. While we were there we didn’t even venture out of the 10 blocks surrounding the Pierre du Calvet. We really were able to get a feel for the place, but would have loved to have spent a week there.

I feel totally confident recommending a trip to Vieux-Montreal to anyone looking for a little European flavour in North America.