Bonjour Montréal
Rich with history, cosmopolitan city has much to see via bike, cruises, more
After being starved of travel for the past 17 months, we board an Air Canada jet and reclaim our joie de vivre in Montreal.
My wife, Kerry, and I embraced Montreal like a saviour; a French-speaking, cosmopolitan, yet historical, city of possibilities.
We strolled for miles on the cobblestone streets of Old Montreal, pausing in the Place d'armes to admire the imposing Notre-dame Basilica, along Montreal's oldest street, Rue Saint-paul, and into the Place Jacques-cartier for lunch in Jardine Nelson's courtyard behind a centuries-old inn.
We crossed the Rue de la Commune to Old Port, the former industrial heart of the city turned tourist attraction. There we hopped La Grande roue de Montréal, the huge Ferris wheel, for panoramic views of the city's skyline, the St. Lawrence River and Saint-helene Island replete with the landmark Biosphere dome.
MTL Zip line, the country's longest urban zip line at 400 metres, also called out to us for an exhilarating aerial transit over the crowds and the Bonsecours Basin below.
Also at Old Port, we caught La Bateau-mouche for an afternoon cruise into the St. Lawrence, glass of sparkling wine in hand.
Yearning for yet another mode of transportation, we joined guide Daniel Bromberg on Fitz and Follwell's 16-kilometre Hoods and Hidden Gems bike tour.
We pedalled through trendy Plateau Mont-royal; past stunning murals such as the threestorey-high `Secret Garden'; leafy Outremont; eclectic Mike Ex and Park Ex; and Little Italy; before ending up at Marche Jean-talon, the largest outdoor market north of Mexico.
Our home away from home in Montreal was the circa-1912 Ritz-carlton, the original landmark in the hotel chain. It's 11 floors of all-out luxury with sumptuous rooms and suites, a rooftop pool and terrace.
It was from the Ritz-carlton's grand ballroom that Alexander Graham Bell made the first transcontinental telephone call in 1916 from Montreal to Vancouver.
The Ritz-carlton is also where Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton married the first time and the Rolling Stones, Queen Elizabeth, Barack Obama and Sophia Loren, have stayed there.
The Ritz-carlton is also the home of Maison Boulud by celebrity chef Daniel Boulud, Montreal's finest restaurant.
Kerry and I felt like Liz and Dick dining there in the hidden garden courtyard on foie gras and halibut paired with Karim Vionnet rose.
The Ritz-carlton is celebrating the return of Canadian travel with special staycation rates including overnight accommodation, food and beverage credit and a welcome glass of bubbly.
Air Canada flies to Montreal non-stop from an array of Canadian cities such as Vancouver, Victoria, Kelowna, Calgary, Edmonton, Toronto and Ottawa.