Montreal, a city of about 1.94 million people, and if counting the metropolitan area (Greater Montreal), it has around 4.3 million people. Though Montreal is the largest city in the province, it is not the the capital of Quebec.
Montreal is an unique city in North America as it is the only French-speaking metropolis on the continent. Unlike most major North American cities, in Montreal, everyday life, signages, business, and media operate predominantly in French. Based on the Statistics Canada census, 58.4% of the population has French as their primary language while 25-28% speak English. Montreal also has a diverse ethnic population creating a bilingual and multicultural environment where English and French intersect daily.
Though we don't speak much French, we were able to have a fun time in Montreal with few problems.
We enjoyed our visit to this beautiful city! Aside from the Jazz Festival, we visited the waterfront, the Old Town, some great neighbourhoods with pedestrian streets where visitors could just relax in the big chairs and benches or stroll leisurely without worrying about cars. Not sure if it was due to the Jazz Festival, we found that some pedestrain streets were quite lively with a few people still sitting or hanging around on the streets way past 11 p.m. in some part of the city.
We fell in love with the café culture in Montreal! Instead of seeing the usual chain stores and fast food coffee shops and take out restaurants, we found many independent cafés, bakeries, and bistros all over in the city with the food and dining influenced by French lifestyle traditions and more recently with quite a diverse of ethnic food being served up in numerous restaurants.
It would be a crime if we didn't experience the Montreal’s food culture which mixes classic French technique, Jewish immigration history, and local French-Canadian dishes. Some of the famous food items are:
Poutine: A staple made of French fries, fresh cheese curds, and brown gravy.
Montreal-Style Bagels: Wood-fired, boiled in honey-infused water, denser and sweeter than New York bagels.
Montreal Smoked Meat: Brisket cured in spices, smoked, and steamed, served on rye bread with mustard.
We are happy to report that we tried them all at the Jacques - Cartier Square at the Montreal Old Town!
We travel a lot across North America and very often we could not tell the difference between one city from the other as all the cities apparently have the same box stores such as Home Depot, Staples, Walmart, Costsco, Winners, Best Buy, Dollarama, Loblaws etc and the same franchised restaurants and fast food place like McDonald's.
Starbucks, Wendy's, Dairy Queen, KFC, Domino's Pizza, Subway, and Tim Hortons etc.
However, Montreal is different! Yes, we have seen all the familiar big box stores and fast food joints in Montreal. However, the city's unique identity means that local chains like Maxi, Jean Coutu, and St. Hubert often hold a special place in the hearts of Montrealers. Sometimes even outshingin their international competitors!
We love Montreal as it is such an unique city! We were only there for a few days, but we definitely will be back for a longer visit in the future!
RT, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, 072026
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