Question(s) for the Canucks - Montreal

[CraKaJaX]

I'll by flying into MTL airport Thursday afternoon for a surprise birthday party. The GF of one of my college roommates got an airbnb in downtown MTL (Mont Royal St) and asked all of his old roommates to join in for a long weekend of eating and drinking. So.... I'm there.

My question is ... what is the easiest way to get from the airport to that street? It seems the STM & 747 bus takes you directly downtown: http://www.admtl.com/en/access/transports/buses-747-express

Is that too far to walk? Is a cab easier?

Also, what are some recommendations on food places, bars, strip joints, touristy places, hiking (?), parks, etc. Poutine is obviously number one. Number two is some sort of smoked meat sandwich thing that I briefly read about. Schwartz's Deli is noted. We also might hit the Canadiens/Coyotes game Thurs night - wearing our NYR gear of course. Will I die?

Any fellow ATOT Canucks in the area are welcome to join in on the weekend-long bender.

 

[Imp]

Vous voulez parler avec les Québecois.

 

[KMFJD]

There are some amazing 'hands on' peeler bars on Rue Saint Catherine

https://www.reddit.com/r/montreal/wiki/bestofmtl

https://www.reddit.com/r/montreal/wiki/todo

 

[Iron Woode]

Mmmm...Montreal Smoked Meat Sandwiches!

similar to pastrami but tastier in my opinion.

 

[brianmanahan]

Vous voulez parler avec les Québecois.

personne ne veut parler aux québécois

 

[cbrunny]

Take a cab. How is that a question.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Make sure you speak only French to the cabbie. They do not take nicely to square heads! Maudi tabarnak de tete care! (excuse the lack of accents I'm not setup for that on this machine)

Actually I think Montreal is decently English too. Been a long time since I went, I think I just spoke French to everyone by default knowing I was in Quebec.

 

[brianmanahan]

do english canadian schools make everyone learn french as a second language?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I think it's an option but I don't believe it's default, but I went to French school so I would not know for sure. English was part of the French curriculum though.

 

[Imp]

do english canadian schools make everyone learn french as a second language?

Up to grade 9 here which leaves them with sub-kindergartner's language ability.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Make sure you speak only French to the cabbie. They do not take nicely to square heads! Maudi tabarnak de tete care! (excuse the lack of accents I'm not setup for that on this machine)

Actually I think Montreal is decently English too. Been a long time since I went, I think I just spoke French to everyone by default knowing I was in Quebec.

I did take 3 years of French in HS, however I'd be surprised if I could even speak an entire sentence of it now. I can understand way more than I can speak it.

I've been to Montreal a few times since where I went to school was about a 1.5 hour drive, and at that point you didn't need a passport/enhanced license to cross the border. The majority of those trips were 1) drink cheap beer cause everyone was poor 2) pick up ladies. This trip I actually want to see the city more, hit some decent restaurants, do some shopping, check out unique/local things there, etc.

I guess a cab is easiest. I hope he understands English.

 

[Eug]

English is not a problem for taking a cab from the airport. And they'll treat you the same as everyone else. Same goes for going to the restaurants and bars downtown.

Not knowing French in that context is not a problem. It becomes a problem if you want to talk to a provincial government drone (cuz some have attitude problems against anglos) or if you're outside of downtown Montreal and the airport.

Ironically, when I was taking a French course in Montreal, whenever I tried to speak French in downtown Montreal, everyone wouldn't immediately switch to English when speaking to me. They'd instantly recognize my crappy accent and I guess just didn't want to wait for me to struggle through my broken French.

Note also there still is an airport bus I believe. It will drop you off downtown for a fraction of the price of a cab. However, it's a lot more expensive than public transportation, and takes longer than a cab, and only drops you off at specific locations (like certain hotels and the train station) so it's up to you to decide.

 

[zCypher]

Make sure you speak only French to the cabbie. They do not take nicely to square heads! Maudi tabarnak de tete care! (excuse the lack of accents I'm not setup for that on this machine)

Actually I think Montreal is decently English too. Been a long time since I went, I think I just spoke French to everyone by default knowing I was in Quebec.

lmao! sadly it is true that a lot of people give poor service to english speaking individuals there, hopefully you won't encounter that though, it's not all bad. Montreal is a highly multicultural city in a French province. There is only one official language recognized by the province - French. English is only an official language at the federal level, which means that only federal institutions are actually obligated to serve you in English there. Be that as it may, you can usually get by just fine with English only in Montreal - everyone is bilingual or trilingual or more. Even French Quebecers that claim not to speak English usually do so in English, and not terrible English either! The language thing can be a touchy subject depending on who you talk to. I lived in Montreal all my life till recently, half my family is French, I don't speak *perfect* French because I grew up in English schools, mostly English friends and work environments, mostly English at home etc - but even being from there and speaking relatively good French, I still got the shit treatment from people far more often that I care to admit. And that's not just from government drones, it's from random people serving you in places. It's thankfully not everywhere, but it's certainly a thing.

Language issues aside, there is so much to do and see in Montreal. Weather forecast shows it's still 12c-23c depending on the day, some rainy days and some sunny days - it's probably one of the best times to visit, humidity should finally be tapering off a bit, so it should be really nice and comfortable.

For hiking - definitely go to Mount Royal. There's tons of paths there and nice lookouts. If you're staying on Mont Royal, depending on where exactly, you could walk down Mont Royal to Parc Ave, and you have entrypoints into the "mountain" from there.

For drinking, I don't know what type of places you and your friends are into, but some of my favorite spots include Les 3 Brasseurs (Crescent/St-Catherine or McGill/St-Catherine), Brutopia (Crescent between Rene-Levesque and St-Catherine), Dieu du Ciel (Laurier/Clark, right next to St-Laurent st) and a new one that is from Perce which recently opened up in Montreal called Pit Caribou (Rachel/Mentana, right by the poutinerie La Banquise close to Parc Lafontaine). These are microbreweries/brewpubs. Personally I love the IPA at Pit Caribou, and the white at 3B. At 3B you can order 1L of beer for around $10. Pretty decent. Brutopia usually has very good prices compared to many other places too ($5-$6/pint).

There are always a lot of shows and things going on, depending on your taste. I've never really been into the strip clubs, but I have friends that perform in some burlesque shows at the wiggle room (on St-Laurent st) - it's a small venue, so look into reserving a bit ahead of time if that sort of thing piques your interest. It's always a really good show there. The Comedy Nest on St-Catherine is usually a good show too if you're looking for some standup comedy.

 

[CraKaJaX]

Awesome info.

I've been eyeing the weather - it's on and off. Rain jacket will definitely be packed, but I'm hoping I won't have to use it. Either way it won't stop us from a good time.

Here's the place she got - https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/6249151?eluid=0&euid=b01c8dd0-d479-5f8d-1ebc-731001a14dfe
If we have to walk to an entrance from there, no big deal. I noted the cross streets for the entry point you mentioned. Will it be obvious, or is it kind of hidden?

I like how the drinking list is considerably long I looked at Brutopia briefly. It seems like each pub up there brews its own beer - is that right? There wasn't really any breweries like here in the States, but just named off a bunch of bars/pubs. Brutopia was one of them. I'm a huge IPA fan, so I'll have to definitely stop in at the Pit and see if you're right or not. From the bars mentioned, do any of these offer live music? All of us going are huge fans of that, so anywhere with it would be preferred over the rest.

A comedy show is a great idea I would have never thought of. Good recommendation!

Is it Thursday yet?