montreal

Montreal was one of the best trips of my life. Can’t afford to fly to Paris? Want to be inundated with butter, cream, and then try to fit into little black dresses? Allons-y. This was my first time trying Airbnb: boy did I love it. We stayed in a cute little apartment in Outrement – I highly recommend! Out host was an artist and her apartment was absolutely divine for laying on the couch and reading, or dipping into red wine and cheese for dessert. A real treat after biking to the Jean Talon market on our Bixi bikes (which you must do when in Montreal).

We walked into almost every vintage and antique store, one thing after another catching our eye. I could walk around for miles in the Mile End, pretending to be Canadian superstars. When we couldn’t shop any more, we went to the Sparrow for brunch. Starting off with bloody marys, we treated ourselves in the cozy, welcoming retreat and burried ourselves in pulled pork eggs benedict and biscuits. The food was to die for. The decor was English pub meets Portland put-a-bird on it. We even loved the typography.

Then everything changed when we went to Plateau and ate at Au Pied de Cochon. From stylish and fleeting to hearty and rich. I couldn’t even pay attention to my dinner companions, because the waiters were screaming in English and French, “ topped with 25 grams of foie gras,” while describing each dish. Needless to say I left feeling twenty pounds heavier, but I got twenty life points for eating my first poutine topped with foie gras, in addition to my absolute favorite meal in the entire world, blanquette de veau. This blanquette was served with fried cheese curds. Need I say more?

Then we ate Middle Eastern at Rumi in Outrement. Wow! We were wandering through our neighborhood, looking for Rumi, which was recommended by just about everyone in the downtown hotels I had been staying in for work. The ambiance was amazing; after heavy eating all trip it was so refreshing to each veggie tajine and drink warm tea and relax before heading home.

What I loved most was feeling completely and utterly at peace. Riding my bike up Mont Royal and seeing the beautiful colors of fall was simply a sight to see. Montreal, je t’aime.