The last time I visited Montreal was all the way back in 2018 if you can believe it! I skipped 2019 and then of course there was 2020 where the whole world came to a halt and then air travel just looked overly complicated until around 2022. As someone who does not fly well already, routine is really what makes me feel better and having not flown for a few years at this point, I did not feel like doing it anymore. I had to fly to Paris in 2023 for work so that kind of got the juices flowing again, but since then I haven't flown - until last week and all in all everything was fine other than the usual air travel discomforts like Premium Economy being the same leg room as regular economy, delays at take-off and just weird people who treat the plane like its their own.
This visit was all about seeing family, especially our new nephew! We saw him our first full day in Montreal and he is a cutie! We stayed with my mother-in-law so we were well-housed and well-fed and from there it was just catching up with everyone, lots of socializing and lots of eating!
Everyone also had cats so I didn't feel like I was missing Buster and Harper too much though I checked in on them via camera. This cat above is Sisi and she is OG. She is 16 years old now and I last saw her in 2018 looking much more youthful so when I saw her again, I couldn't believe she was still alive and still just as sweet. I am not sure if I will see her again so I made sure to give her extra pets and rubs while I was there.
This is Simba, my brother-in-law's cat and he is a spritely young boy with a massive tail and left us a mouse during our visit.
This was the first time I had poutine in Montreal! A new place called La Belle Province opened and I got to try legit super squeaky cheese curds! Even my husband and his brother thought it was really good so that's high praise coming from native Montrealers!
This is my mother-in-law's cat Figaro who never really let me get to close to him. I am usually pretty good with cats, but this one was a tough egg!
On our 4th day, we planned a lunch on the patio at Le Tap Room at Hovey Manor out in the Eastern townships which is the more "nature" side of southeastern Quebec and it's where many people have cottages, summer homes and want to take a weekend away as it's only about an hour drive from Montreal.
It was an absolutely beautiful day and would be a beautiful place to spend the weekend at! It's not really close to anything so most of your time would probably be spend eating, going to the spa and just walking around nature which I have no objection to!
I wasn't too adventurous with my food choices because I actually getting a sore throat on Day 2 of our visit and though I tried to keep it at bay with sheer willpower, I started coughing a little the day we went and my appetite was fading. I was really trying to stay perky as we were only in Montreal for a short time, so just like I got sick in Paris, my body did its best to keep things in the throat and not elsewhere! The soup above is a tomato gazpacho which was delicious!
I had to try the Abenaki poutine as it was made with duck confit and though it was good, the cheese wasn't squeaky! I thought ALL poutine in Montreal was supposed to have squeaky cheese! I obviously had no appetite for this, but I just didn't want to miss out so I ended up packing it up, but it was super salty as leftovers so I ended up chucking it after a few bites back at home.
Both desserts were refreshing and fruity and I especially liked the yogurt ball sitting on top of a the cookie crumble!
Next, we visited a town called Knowlton about an hour away, but as it was on the way back to Montreal we made the detour just to see the town. We went to a few stores including a thrift shop and of course, I always have my eye out for Birks pieces!
Sadly, my part of the trip ended with this Beef Tartare from Holts Cafe in Montreal as promptly 6 hours later, I was suffering from food poisoning and had to cancel ALL of my plans for the next day which included an afternoon with the Montreal head office team. I am still really upset about it and was so close to going anyway since I am never in Montreal that often, but between fighting off my cold and now full on running to the bathroom, I don't know if I could have survived the transit or Uber ride. Maybe next year? Maybe I was a little TOO excited to go see work people, but I like seeing behind the scenes and this was my chance!
I have to end with my MIL's other cat Poppy, who reminded me a lot of my Harper in look, but was not half as loving as my girl back home. I had no other photos of Montreal thanks to my being holed up in bed, but I am glad to have gone after all this time and hope I can continue to do it every year like I used to! I was most concerned about the cats being on their own with the cat sitter, but they were totally fine and based on video that was sent to us, they moved on fast from us and the betrayal of rubs and lovey-dovey head boops was swift!
Where did you go this summer?
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