My trip to Canada last year seemed to be so far away now. I’d like to go back to Canada and visit the English part together with the Dutchman. We are not in a hurry though as there are other places planned at the moment, but surely in the nearby future.
In Montreal, I stayed at an auberge in the Le Plateau Mont-Royal borough. It is located north of Vieux-Montreal (old city centre). I carefully chose this place because I read that it’s a hip and charming neighbourhood with beautiful Victorian style houses, apartments and condominiums.
So I thought—Why not stay here? Well, it turns out that I really liked the atmosphere of this borough. You can read and see pictures of my stay at the auberge here: Auberge De La Fontaine
Le Plateau Mont-Royal is not too far away from the old city centre and harbour, and will make a great morning or afternoon walk for visitors and tourists, giving a different face and impression of the city. The atmosphere of this borough has a young and suburban feel. Trees aplenty spruce up the sidewalks of residential areas, and in the busier commercial streets you will be able to appreciate the many out of this world murals decorating this hip neighbourhood. They are a sight to behold! I heard that there are walking tours to discover the borough’s street art scene. Read and see pictures of a blog post I made about these street murals: Stunning Montreal Street Art Mural Painting Scene
The main streets where you can find many shops, cafes, restaurants are Rue Saint-Urbain, Boulevard St-Laurent, Rue Rachel Est, Avenue Papineau, Rue Saint-Denis, Avenue du Mont-Royal Est and Boulevard Saint-Joseph Est. The renowned Schwarz’s Deli is located here on Boulevard St-Laurent. The biggest park is Parc La Fontaine which is right across the auberge I stayed of the same name.
Check out the location of the neighbourhood on the map of Montreal:
In Montreal, I also met up with Pat, an old friend from Cebu who now lives in Montreal with her family. I am glad that she offered to drive us both to Jean Talon Market in Little Italy (in Rosemont La Petite-Patrie borough, just north of the Plateau area) which is not too far away from my hotel. Because of this I was able to sit back and relax, enjoying the ride and the cool housing scenery of Le Plateau Mont-Royal neighbourhood.
Out of curiousity, I checked the prices of the houses and apartments online, and compared to the main cities here in the Netherlands, the real estate here in Montreal seemed to be priced just fine. I really liked the city; it is very cosmopolitan with a European flair. Addtionally I have become fond of this particular borough because of its historical architecture, the green atmosphere due to a lot of grown trees giving shade on the sidewalks and the quiet and low-key surroundings.
The old city centre is also nearby; you can walk from Parc La Fontaine to the old city centre in half an hour and the downtown is just a 5-10 minute drive. It gives you comfort that you are far away from the throng of tourists and chaos of city life, but if you need a dose of it, its just around the corner.
If not for the French language which I do not speak and the bad roads (good news: they are busy upgrading), I am sure I could see myself living here.
Travel Period: September – October 2015
Destination: Plateau Mont-Royal, Montreal (Quebec), Canada
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