Montreal Forever!



Jardin Botanique - Lantern Festival

One of the most beautiful things about going to Montreal
in the Fall is the amazing Lantern Festival that is held each
year in the Chinese Garden at the Jardin Botanique.

Here are some links to some great pictures of Lantern
Festivals from past years as well as some great
information on the Jardin Botanique itself...

Info on the Jardin Botanique Lantern Festival

Info on the Chinese Garden
(LOTS of pictures of sections of the Chinese Garden)

About Magic Lanterns in general


***2002 Montreal trip - Sept. 20-23, 2002

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I have discovered that, for some reason or another, that it is much easier
finding pictures and information on traveling to Hong Kong than it is to find
pictures or info on going to Montreal, where I've been MANY times before.

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FIRST TIME VISIT
The easiest way I can describe how to get around in Montreal is to orient
yourself by St. Catherine Street. Downtown Montreal is essentially a grid.
The first time I went there, I stayed at the Comfort Suites on Crescent Street,
which is on the far WEST end of St. Catherine. Another time, I stayed at
Travelodge which is near St. Laurent & St. Urbain which is way the other way
off St. Catherine. If you walk St. Catherine at least twice back & forth (it's a
great SHOPPING street), you'll start to remember how the cross streets go,
just like how when you're on Newbury Street in Boston, the cross streets
become very familiar landmarks.

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PLACES TO CHECK OUT

The picture above is of a place up on St. Denis called the Galaxie Diner,
which is a real gorgeous sight to behold, especially if you're into retro 50s
nostalgia. Unfortunately, I'm not sure if it still exists, because last time I was in
Montreal (May 2001), I drove the length of Rue St. Denis and didn't see it.
I suspect that it has either been moved OR it has been changed (blasphemy)
into a pizza joint. I hope not though...

Montreal Botanical Garden / Jardin Botanique

Buffet Maharaja is a restaurant boasting the LARGEST Indian Buffet in
North America and it is pretty damned big! Good food...

Foufounes Electriques is THE punk rock / hard rock / whatever rock club in
Montreal, catering to all types, with many different rooms, featuring beer kegs
recycled as seats and a Bladerunner meets Mad Max kind of feel to it.
Official website - - Foufone Electrique website

Duluth Street has ALL kinds of great international restaurants, far away from
the bustle of downtown. The first time I went up to Mntreal, I ate at a Greek/
Canadian French restaurant where I dined under the stars in a courtyard area,
eating yummy brochettes of different meat, on a bed of rice.

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QUICK TIPS
- I used the subway a couple times, but then found it to be kind of a waste of
time unless you were going somewhere FAR from downtown. All of downtown
is pretty much walk-able. If you're in an absolute rush, it's almost a tie between
walking, cab & subway when it comes to Downtown destinations.
Montreal Subway / Bus / Transit System

- Exhange your money as soon as you get into the city (well... AFTER you check
in to the hotel & get situated a bit.). EXCHANGE places are located allover the city
and with the rate being so good for American Dollars to Canadian Dollars, it almost
doesn't matter if you go to a bank or an exchange place.

- Clothes!!!! My favorite clothing store chain ever has to be Le Chateau! They have
branches allover Montreal, but the BEST ones are the BIG one on St. Catherine Street
and the one way up on St. Denis. Very funky, stylish, clubby, yet dressy clothes at a
reasonable price.
*** Next on the list would have to be the skateboard shops on St. Denis where you
can find great pants, shorts and really cool skateboarding sneakers. Kinda pricey,
but St. Denis is an expensive area.
**** At the far end of St. Catherine Ouest (toward Crescent) is a cool store called
Influence-U where you can find top-end Deisel shirts, suave/clubby clothes for
both men & women. Wish they had a website...


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HOW TO GET THERE
I thoroughly reccomend going to Montreal especially if you live
in Northeastern United States, like I do, because it's only a 5.5 hour drive
from Worcester (maybe 6 if you stop for longer than I do at some of Vermont's
great rest areas. No joke. As soon as you reach Vermont, the rest areas on
Rt. 89 are incredible compared to the (what might as well be) open pits of NH
and Mass. In that short amount of time driving, you're immediately transported
to a hybridized version of Europe.

The first time I visited there was about five years ago (1996) and I'd never
driven that far north before. I always take Rt. 495 North to Rt. 93 North to
Rt. 89 North all the way up to the Canadian border. The trip through the
mountains and valleys can be breathtaking the first time, but if you've been
up that way twice (or more) a year every year like I have, the trip gets pretty
monotonous. But at least you KNOW that your destination is MONTREAL....

If you go the way I do (89 North to Canada, 133 North to 35 Ouest (West) to
Autoroute 10), you go through cornfields, boring industrial stretches and the
no-man's-land of the border area, but the real treat is when you see the highway
of Autoroute 10 get bigger and you see Montreal looming in the distance like the
Emerald City of Oz, just over the Pont Victoria (bridge). Head for "Center-Ville"
(downtown) and look for the "University" exit where 10 pretty much ends.

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MONTREAL LINKS
Montreal-Plus - (the CitySearch equivalent)
Canada.com - (news, Montreal Gazette newspaper, info, etc.)
Tourista.com - (Montreal nightclub info, but not a complete list)
Highwayhome.com - (Montreal nightclub info, but not a complete list)
Montreal Afterhours Scene - alot of pix of club flyers
Montreal.com - General Tourist Information - PLUS! A decent map, too!
Montreal Subway / Bus / Transit System
Canadian money
Diefenbunker - Canada's Cold War Museum

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