Montreal

A post has been long over do, we have had some exciting changes in our lives! Moved back to Seattle from NC and having a baby!!!

We were in Toronto for my cousins wedding and planned a trip to Montreal before heading to Florida! Our good friend Binal met us in Montreal, it’s been awhile since we have spent so much time together and it was loads of fun.
We drove 5 hours with my sister from Pearson International Airport where we rented a one way rental. It was about $130 with gas through Hertz. We dropped the rental off at Pierre Elliot Trudeau airport and took a flat fee $40 cab ride to Le Westin situated in Old Montreal.

I totally recommend this hotel, great clean rooms, friendly informative staff and awesome location. We did end up seeing a better deal by a few bucks on Jetsetter for another hotel in the same proximity. I would recommend staying in this area regardless of which hotel you pick.
I made reservations for all dinners just in case but since we were there on weekdays it wasn’t too bad. Our first meal was at Modavie, overall good vibe and food was decent. I wouldn’t likely go back however. Service in Montreal in general was absolutely fantastic everywhere we went!

After dinner we walked through the square where the Notre Dame Basilica is situated before heading for drinks at Suite 701 inside Hotel Place D’Arms.

The next morning after much needed rest we had brunch at Gross Jamon, which we enjoyed minus the poutine. One knows when visiting Montreal you must eat poutine. We did find a place later on called Montreal Poutine that satisfied our desire!
We decided to tour the city via horse and carriage ride, being 6 months pregnant my energy level isn’t at it’s norm. The ride was $80/hour for all four of us, the guide gives you tidbits of info when you could hear him. Overall it was a nice use of time and fairly inexpensive, I believe that was my first ride!

After our ride it was time for happy hour and we hung out at Accords for some wine and beer for them and water for me! Dinner was at Damas which was a $20 cab ride to the “newer” area of Montreal. I highly recommend this Syrian/Mediterranean restaurant and definitely make reservations. We could have eaten the foutosh salad all day!

Binal was scheduled to leave the next day and our itinerary consisted of brunch at Olive & Gourmando which is a must! We then took another $20 cab ride to the top of Mount Royal for spectacular views of the city. You can also get up there via bus and train but we opted for cab for time reasons. There are cabs that can bring you back down you will just have to wait by the bus stop.

After Beans left we relaxed yet again at the hotel before heading out for drinks at St James Hotel XO bar, a popular hangout spot of Madonnas apparently. Dinner was at Venti Osteria, a nice little Italian restaurant situated right near Olive & Gourmando. We decided to go to Suzette’s for crepes, utter disappointment, DO NOT waste your time, money or stomachs!!

All in all our visit to Montreal was lovely, we got lucky with the weather too as a week later they had tons of snow! I would say two nights is a good amount of time to get in all the main sites and eats! We headed to Florida afterwards for our family baby shower hosted by my in laws. We had a great time with friends, family and food during our lovely week off!