WEEKEND IN MONTRÈAL

The long weekend was upon us and a road trip to Montréal sounded like a great idea.

Minus all the traffic, plus 10 hours on the road, we managed to get there in one piece, relaxing in the beautiful Intercontinental Hotel located right downtown. The hotel boasted stunning views overlooking Old Montréal and the Port, which made all the exploring very convenient.

I've always wanted to visit Montréal ... mostly for the poutines, but it's literally like taking a slice of Old Europe and placing it in North America. Forget all the wide roads I was used to, the small cobble-stoned streets, alleyways and old buildings made this city a unique mash-up of Europe and North America. Also, hearing people speak French and reading French street signs was a bittersweet moment and I was stuck between: "What the hell does this mean?" and "Yay, we're definitely in a different place!"

After getting some rest, we set out to explore the famous Mount Royal, a mountain located downtown. Getting to the top wasn't too difficult, as there were stairs leading us all the way.

The weather that weekend was surprisingly warm... Warm enough to walk around without a jacket and get into a snow fight. Bare in mind, a snow storm hit Montréal days before we arrived and we were wondering if the trip would even happen. But somehow, with deep snow still visible across the city, the sky was clear blue and it reached 16 degrees. That's a miracle if you live in Canada, because winter literally lasts up until April.

But once we got to the top, the view was just insane. Here we are, chilling at the highest spot of the city:

The trek back down the mountain was 100x better as we decided to slide down the snowy hills instead of taking the steps. It was a fun day and we ended up relaxing in a lovely cafe just a few minutes away from the mountain.

Montréal is the perfect city to explore on foot! We walked through Old Montréal and the Port (shout out to Zee who came down from Ottawa to give us a little tour!) Walking around the city really shows a very unique and artistic side to Montréal.

As the sun set, we noticed that films and images were being projected on buildings. The lights and huge video projections are part of a project to share the history of Montreal. It was really interesting and different - (other cities need to take note!)

See below for pics:

There was a black and white moving image of a man standing on this building. It was kind of eery but epic. Makes you stop and admire parts of the city.

It was a lovely weekend getaway, definitely a whole different world compared to the busy streets of Toronto but all in all, I'm so glad I got to see it. If you're thinking of hitting Montréal, go in the summer. We were lucky that the weather wasn't too bad as the winters are usually rough. We ended the night on a horse carriage, touring the city.

Visit MTL to get a real taste of an artistic and historic city.