Christmas Lights Around Montreal

As the days get shorter and colder in December, Montreal starts to become a little magical as the various Christmas displays appear around the city. Here are a few neighbourhoods worth braving the cold to enjoy the lights.

Old Montreal

When you add some white snow and Christmas lights to the cobblestone streets, old stone buildings, Notre Dame cathedral, and Marche Bonsecours, Old Montreal transforms into a Christmas wonderland. It's a great neighbourhood to explore in early December to get into the holiday spirit.

Downtown

Every year, downtown Montreal has impressive Christmas light displays along and around St. Catherine's, McGill-College, Crescent Street and Place Ville Marie. Wrap up your walk with the charming classic mechanical window display at Ogilvy's, which has been a family destination for generations.

Plateau Mont Royal

Plateau Mont Royal has a different Christmas display in the square around metro Mont Royal. From there, enjoy the lights along Mont Royal, St. Laurent and St. Denis.

Square around metro Mont Royal, Dec. 2012

The Village

Each year, there is usually a colourful light display along St. Catherine between St. Andre and Papineau.

St. Catherine's looking toward The Village, Dec. 2012

While the weather is not too cold, it's a good time to grab your camera and get out and enjoy the Christmas lights while the season lasts. Happy holidays!

On Patine! The Best Outdoor Skating In And Around Montreal

In Montreal, there are two ways to deal with winter: hide from it or embrace it. Considering there is snow on the ground for four to five months of the year, I decided soon after my arrival to learn how to enjoy the season. Near the end of my first winter here, I bought an inexpensive pair of recreational skates to enjoy the abundance of outdoor skating.

Every neighbourhood has at least one skating rink within easy walking distance. Some are specifically set up for playing hockey while others are free-skate rinks or decorative paths. Enjoying the winter scenery while I skate is important to me, so all of my favourite skating places are the decorative paths in the larger parks.

My reviews below are only a few of the many places to skate in Montreal. For an interactive map of all the rinks and their current condition, check out patinermontreal.ca.

Full Service Skating

If you are new to outdoor skating and not sure you want to invest in a pair of skates, I recommend trying out one of the full-service skating rinks. You can rent skates at all of these locations, usually around $6-$8. If you already own skates, they also have sharpening services.

Bonsecours Basin (Bassin Bonsecours)

If you are uncertain about outdoor skating, Bassin Bonsecours will convert you. Open from 10am to 9pm (weekdays)/10pm (weekends), you can enjoy skating surrounded by the beauty of the Old Port day or evening. For $6, you can skate on the ultra-smooth refrigerated rink or skate with more freedom on the natural ice in the basin. Each evening is a different musical theme, adding to the festive air. Bring your own lock to store your boots and other personal items in the bench lockers in the chalet.

Beaver Lake (Lac des castors)

The refrigerated rink at Beaver Lake

On top of Mont Royal, Beaver Lake also offers the choice of a smaller refrigerated rink or the freedom of natural ice on the lake itself. There is no charge to skate, but there is a full service equipment counter inside the chalet if you need to rent. A popular spot on the weekends, it is best to go early or, since it is open until 9pm, try the evenings during the week. Bring your own lock for the bench lockers in the chalet.

Parc Lafontaine

A neighbourhood favourite in the Plateau, Parc Lafontaine is one of the most scenic of the outdoor skating paths. The long natural ice path winds around the chalet and toward the south west corner of the park, giving you the feeling of skating along a meandering river. Also a popular spot on weekends, it is best to go early, when the ice is the smoothest and less crowded. Skating is free and you can store your boots in the bench lockers inside the chalet.

Parc Jean Drapeau during Fête des Neiges

The skating path during Fête des Neiges 2013

Fête des Neiges is the annual winter festival usually held at Parc Jean Drapeau on the weekends from mid-January through early February. For the past two years, you can skate for free along a scenic path near the St. Lawrence river. Because it is during the festival you can also take in one of the other winter activities or enjoy hot chocolate and Beaver Tails while you're there.

Favorite Neighbourhood Skating

You will need to bring your own skates to these fantastic free neighbourhood spots.

Parc Maisonneuve

With a beautiful view of the Olympic Stadium on one end, the huge oval at Parc Maisonneuve will inspire your inner speed skater. The ice is well-groomed and not too busy on a Saturday morning, so it is very easy to pick up some speed and get a good workout. On the other side of the oval, the park is a beautiful winter wonderland with trails for cross-country skiing and walking. If you want to lock up your boots and belongings, there are lockers in the heated chalet if you bring your own lock.

Parc St. Viateur

This scenic path has been a favourite in Outremont for generations. The well-groomed, natural ice path circles the park, taking you under a small bridge and by the charming heated chalet, where you can safely keep your boots warm. Since it gets busy on the weekend, it is best to go early and then warm up with hot chocolate at one of the nearby cafés.

Road Trip!

If you are inspired to do a winter skating road trip, these two are worth the drive!

Domain de la foret perdue (Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel)

Outside Trois Rivière at Notre-Dame-du-Mont-Carmel, Domaine de la Forêt Perdue has a 10km labyrinth of groomed skating paths winding through forested farmland. In addition to great skating, there is a small zoo of goats, sheep, llamas and more, your can try your hand at ice fishing for trout, and sample some maple syrup taffy cooled on snow. If you're hungry, you can buy a pretty decent hot lunch on site or heat up your own in a microwave in the food chalet. For $12, you enjoy a full day at the Domaine and leave with your choice of a small bottle of honey or maple syrup or a small package of buckwheat flour. 

Rideau Canal (Ottawa) 

Winterlude 2013

Famous for being the world's largest outdoor skating rink, the Rideau Canal is worth the drive to Ottawa. Because it is natural ice, its condition is very weather dependent, so the best time to go is usually during Winterlude in February. For the full experience, start at Dow's Lake and skate toward downtown, which is 7.8km one-way. If you get tired, you can rest and refuel at one of the many rest and snack stations every 1-2km along the way. The canal can get very crowded during Winterlude, especially downtown, so its best to start early.

Montreal Adventures - A Look Back At 2013

With the year winding down, it's a good time to reflect on adventures I wanted to have in Montreal in 2013. Most of the year was consumed with finishing and shipping Batman: Arkham Origins, but I still managed to get out and enjoy myself from time-to-time.

Embrace winter (if it ever comes)

Go skating, tobogganing, maybe even snowshoeing - at least once a week.  Find and enjoy more tea or hot chocolate.

We had a short, fairly mild winter again, so I only managed to go skating three times in January/February, but two of them were during winter festivals: Fête des Neiges and Winterlude. I hope we get the same ice skating path in Parc Jean-Drapeau this year! As for new tea places, we enjoyed tea at Maison du Macaron and at Birk's Cafe. Highly recommend both places!

Embrace summer (when it comes)

Find and enjoy new terrasses.  Eat outside on my own. Finally attend a show at the Just For Laughs festival.  Spend time at the Jazz Festival.  Have a picnic in a park.  Watch the fireworks from Jacques Cartier bridge.  Find and enjoy more shop-made ice cream.

D and I finally went to two Just For Laughs shows - one gala and one of the smaller shows at Club Soda. I also happened to be walking around Place des Arts at the time and enjoyed a bit of the street festival. A friend got some tickets to the Fantasia Film festival and invited me to a film from Taiwan made in the style of a 1950's American musical (but sung in Mandarin). In September, I spent four crazy days exploring Montreal with tourists from the USA and Europe during the MEETin Invasion. That was about it for this goal. Fortunately, many of the other goals are summer-related :)

Walk or ride my bike just for the fun of it. 

This was by far my most successful goal of the year. In the Spring, a friend at work got me to join him on his daily walks at lunch. We usually walk 30 to 45 minutes through either the Village or Old Montreal. Those walks have really helped maintain my sanity. In August, a friend and I started doing major cycling, with our longest ride being about 60km, taking us to and around Iles-de-Boucherville. 

More solo street photography (outside of my monthly MEETin photo walks)

I didn't do any solo photo walks outside of a brief wander around Queen's University campus after the ice storm this week. However, my lunchtime walking buddy found the Wiki Loves Monuments photo contest, so we spent September seeking out and photographing the monuments around work. It was a lot of fun and we discovered some places we didn't know were monuments.

Go to Jean Talon or Atwater market every week.

It wasn't every week, but I did go to the market regularly. As a result, I cooked and brought my lunch to work more regularly.

Go to the Botanical Gardens (my favorite) or some other park once a month.

With Mosaïcultures at the Botanical Gardens this year, the outdoor gardens did not have free admission for Access Montreal card holders from July through September. However, I did get to see the Mosaïcultures exhibit twice this year and it was spectacular! The bike rides usually went to a park, so there were still plenty of nature moments.

Visit museums.  

I took advantage of a web deal and became a member of the Musée des Beaux-Arts this year. So far, I have seen three of the temporary exhibits, my favourite of which was the glass art by Chihuly. I also thoroughly enjoyed my visit to the new planetarium and the Canadian Centre for Architecture. Both are worth visiting.

Explore more restaurants, especially in my own neighbourhood and around work.

Sadly, I didn't do much in this area. Most of the new restaurant experiences came from travelling, rather than around Montreal. However, I did finally get to try Les Filles du Roy during MTL à Table. The food is delicious and the historic setting is worth experiencing.

Wear fashionable clothes.  

My wardrobe continues to evolve. I have been investing in some items from Katrin Leblond, a local designer who has a boutique in my neighbourhood. I love shopping there and always leave feeling fabulous!

Do more travelling.

Almost all of my travel was work related, none of which I would have predicted at the beginning of the year. I went to Frankfurt in May, Los Angeles (with a day trip to San Diego) in June, and New Orleans for the annual PMI Leadership Institute Meeting in October. The only vacation travel was spending a week at the same cottage where we spent our honeymoon and a Thanksgiving weekend roadtrip to Bois-Franc and Arbraska tree-top adventures in Rigaud.

Update this blog once a month.

This will be the 15th post on this blog this year. It wasn't exactly a monthly schedule, but I'm still happy with the amount of content I posted. I also wanted to make this blog more interesting. I didn't do anything special for that, so I don't think I made much progress on that goal. My weekend at Blissdom got me thinking about what I could potentially do with this blog. I'll do some more thinking this week and include any new goals with my 2014 goals.

As for my 2014 goals... I will be publishing them in the first days of January. If you have any suggestions on adventures in Montreal I should try, please let me know in the comments! I would also love to hear about any of your most memorable adventures this past year.

I hope everyone had a great 2013 and hope you enjoy the rest of the holiday season!

Summer?

It feels like we're living in the tropics. Almost every day starts out sunny and then winds up raining in the afternoon or evening. Despite the wet weather, I still managed to have some summer fun in Montreal. I can't believe September is around the corner already.

I was too busy with moving to get tickets to one of the Just for Laughs shows. I did manage to walk through the street festival in the Latin Quarter one evening. It was pretty cool. There were people on stilts, giant insects (picture above), bands, living statues, someone creating a sand sculpture, giant balloons, acrobatic street performers... the list goes on.

Fireworks are a big part of Montreal in the summer with the international fireworks competition. In total, I saw three shows - one from Terrasses Bonsecours in Old Montreal, one from the fire escape of my building and one, which was by far the best, from La Ronde, where the fireworks are set off. The picture above is from the last show. China put on a spectacular display! It is definitely worth the ticket price to see the show from La Ronde. Speaking of La Ronde, I am completely convinced that it is guaranteed to rain whenever I go there. Fortunately, it stopped raining in the evening so we got in a few more rides and could enjoy the fireworks.

Even after selling my car, I still went on a couple of road trips. A group of us from MEETin spent a relaxing Sunday at the Cascades Rawdon. We never go hungry at MEETin events. There was enough food for the BBQ to feed a group almost twice as big. "Swimming" in the rapids was like being in a giant, cold jacuzzi. Fortunately, the threat of rain kept the crowds away, but the rain held off until the drive home. A few weeks later, the xtreme foodies group did a day trip to Vermont where we sampled chocolate, cheeses, tea, and did a pilgrimage to the home of Ben and Jerry's. Since we couldn't bring anything back across the border, we wrapped up the trip with a picnic in a park in the mountains. We're now planning to go back in the fall when the mountains change from green to yellow, red and orange.

The "search of the best" restaurants continued. I enjoyed shark curry at an African-Reunionaise restaurant. We're planning to go back when the weather gets colder, but the event will have an "over-18" advisory because the chocolate cake was very... satisfying. Even the guys got the look that usually only women get with good chocolate. We also sought out the best Thai, Pho, southern BBQ, Old Montreal bistro, and one really good dessert place. We also enjoyed another pastry tasting, courtesy of our group's pastry chef.

Other summer fun included The Tempest at probably the only dry performance of Shakespeare in the Park, a New France ghost hunt in Old Montreal, and a walking tour of my new neighbourhood - Plateau Mont Royal.

In between all the summer activity, I'm slowing getting settled in my new place. An anniversary also came and went, which was marked with a conversation for the first time in six months. It's the start of many conversations. It's a good thing. I'll leave it at that for now.

Woosh! Part 1 - So Many Photos

Woosh! Where did April and May go? There were a lot of adventures and they are becoming a blur. I thought I'd write my updates in several parts, based on some major themes this spring. Montreal went from winter to spring/summer almost instantaneously. With the warm sunny weather, my camera has been getting quite a workout.

The first weekend of April was gorgeous, so my camera and I walked around Old Montreal. Basilica Notre Dame, Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel, architecture spanning about three centuries, cobblestone streets, and fabulous art galleries were all part of the 92 photos I took that day. I also started coveting digital SLR cameras that day. Everywhere I went there were other locals taking pictures with some pretty cool cameras. Suddenly, my little Kodak felt limited. I'm still very happy with how my photos turned out. I've been consistently posting my favourites on Facebook. I'll put fresh ones here.

The next week, a few of us from Meetin went to the annual butterflies fly free at the Botanical Gardens. I was like a kid in a candy store, taking 135 pictures of plants, flowers and butterflies, as well as thinking about which plants I want to make part of my soon to be jungle at home.

The photo above is a blog exclusive. I didn't put my photos from the Cabane a Sucre and hike on Mt. St. Gregoire. Cabane a Sucre, or Sugar Shack, is a Quebec tradition, involving a lot of food and maple syrup, but not so much on the shack part. The feasting occurs in very large halls reminiscent of those used for Oktoberfest. It was during the hockey playoffs, so there were a lot of Canadiens jerseys and "Go, Habs, go!" chants. To burn off our meal, we hiked up Mt. St. Gregoire. The views were beautiful, but didn't translate so well on camera - the browns and yellows really washed out in the sunshine. It was only the end of April, but I got SO sunburned.

I wore my sunscreen a couple weeks later for the hike on Mont Royal and the tamtams at Parc Mont Royal. The views from the mountain (relative to the rest of the geography, it's a mountain) were fantastic. One guy described the tamtams as a timewarp back to 1967. Every summer Sunday people gather at Parc Mont Royal, play drums, dance, play, partake in Vancouver's finest export (grown locally, I'm sure), whatever. There was even someone dressed as an apostle, carrying a flagstaff. I still need to edit that photo.

Fabulous friends visited from Vancouver over the long weekend and into the next week. It was an action-packed tourist weekend, including partying in Old Montreal, shopping downtown (and buying the perfect dress), a boat trip from Old Port, and La Ronde in the rain. I think I saw more of Montreal in four days than I have the previous four months. Thanks, J! Both sets of friends are also BSG fans. I now have a renewed passion for the series, just to see whether our speculations were right.

The last photo adventure was a walking tour of Hochelaga-Maisonneuve last weekend. In addition to pictures of the Olympic Stadium, Marche Maisonneuve, and a variety of other historical buildings, I also added to my collection of pictures of doors and front stairs. I'll be printing my favorites and replacing some vacation photos soon.

The walking tour wasn't the only adventure last weekend. A group of us, all from MeetIn, went on a foodie roadtrip to the Eastern townships. We planned to go to the chocolate festival in Bromont, but didn't quite make it. We wound up touring farms and towns... and I forgot my camera! I've got a great picture of a goat on my cell phone.

Stay tuned for Woosh! Part 2...