MOON METRO MONTRÉAL

Moon Metro Montréal
2nd Edition
ISBN 1-56691-938-X
ISBN-13 978-1-56691-938-8
$14.95
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Ask Montréalers why their city is so special, and they’re likely to puff a cigarette, shrug slyly, and say, “It’s just different.” Whether or not that difference can be distilled, visitors will find a distinctive joie de vivre here that comes with the intermittent clash and coalescence of cultures.
Montréal’s linguistic heritage certainly differentiates it from other cities in North America. The second-largest French-speaking city outside Paris, it displays its European roots from the cobblestones of Vieux Montréal to the bistros of the Quartier Latin. However, long-standing tensions between English and French communities have created periods of political uncertainty. Resultant economic woes and social strife have imbued residents with wry wisdom, liberal ideals, and a heightened appreciation for life.

When the spring sun shines, brave souls take to the terraces of rue St-Denis, huddling over warm cups of café au lait. Neighbors converse in franglais (a mix of English and French) between wrought-iron balconies. Summertime brings celebration, with nonstop music festivals and impromptu Tam Tam jams in Parc du Mont-Royal. In winter, Montréalers frequent dark taverns, underground shopping concourses, and ski hills.

Montréal’s lust for life accounts for its enduring reputation as a hedonist haven. During American Prohibition, bootleggers and thrill-seekers crossed the Champlain Bridge to visit Montréal’s breweries and gin barons — and peek in the many strip clubs. Even today, the drinking starts early — 18 — and the nightlife goes late — 3 a.m. This open-mindedness, and an affordable standard of living, has long attracted artists, left-leaning intellectuals, and immigrants, resulting in a heady multiculturalism. While celebrity chefs whip up French fusion cuisine, Haitian, Vietnamese, and Eastern European restaurants offer authentic eats.

Locals don’t describe their home as international, world-class, or cosmopolitan, though. Montréal is proud to have never reinvented itself. Although its fortunes have waxed and waned, it prefers to live equally in the past and the present, embracing its contrasts. In Old Montréal, 18th-century warehouses have become boutique hotels and designer showcases. In Plateau Mont-Royal, old-world delis neighbor swank nightclubs. In downtown’s Golden Square Mile, Victorian townhouses once belonging to moneyed merchants host art galleries and cigar shops.

Montréal’s mystique is hard to define. Above all, it is a city that will include you in its joie de vivre, and you may find yourself proclaiming, “Vive la différence!”