This is an annual tradition – the trip to Montreal over the holidays. As with any tradition, there’s the familiar comfort of sameness, but we try to balance that with an injection of new elements each year. Some of them are one-time experiences; others return the next time around.
A few of the returning favorites:
1) Les Passants du Sans Soucy – I love this little auberge, situated along the oldest street of the Old City. During the day, it bustles with tourists; at night, there’s the clip-clop of hooves, carriages transporting people down the narrow streets after dinner. And late night, there’s quiet. The rooms are wonderful, the staff delightful and accomodating, the omelettes what one would expect from a fine French kitchen.
2) Bonaparte – this is a fine hotel, too. We have dinner there on Christmas Eve. Our eating is broadly ethnic and weighs heavily toward The New, so a traditional, perfectly prepared French meal (with Canadian influences) on the night before Christmas is a treat.
3) Mont Royal – We walk from the Old City to Mont Royal on Christmas Day, usually leaving around 10am, generally arriving back home around 2pm. If the weather is too cold, we “cheat” by walking through the Underground City for much of the way there. Let’s face it, there’s not much else to do when you’re on vacation on Christmas, and the walk is a good way to get a little exercise outdoors.
Those are what I would call the mainstays. We’ll piece the rest of the trip together as we go.