Bonjour à tous!
October was a great month because I worked less days and got the chance to do some leisure travel. I visited a dear friend in D.C. (hey girl hey!!), and spent almost a week with my family back home in Utah. Surprisingly, my stats this month stayed pretty average: I worked 23 flights, I flew through 10 cities, I spent around 100 hours in the air and I enjoyed 6 different layovers.
October’s Layover of the Month was hard to pick. I had some pretty cool layovers, including Las Vegas and Miami. But I visit those both of those cities often enough, I’d rather write about my weekend in Canada. So this month’s Layover of the Month goes to Montréal!
The highlight of my stay was my food tour with Spade and Palacio. We visited several local restaurants and food vendors. In the famous Marché Jean-Talon (the largest open-air market north of Mexico), I tasted cheese, spices, charcuterie (see below), gelato, beer, more cheese, coffee, and we finished with a to-go picnic basket! As a solo traveler, it was great to connect with a couple other tour-goers and be part of a group experience. And of course, it wouldn’t have been a trip to Montreal if I didn’t try the famous poutine! Which was DELICIOUS.
I was supposed spend my last morning climbing the Mont Royal to see a stunning view over the city, buuuut I had already checked out and didn’t even make it half way up the mountain with my suitcase. *le sigh* So instead, I wandered around the Village near downtown Montreal, followed by brunch at The Well in the suburb of Verdun. I had already explored the Village via nightlife (@ Sky Complexe) my first night in town. But it was nice to stroll down the pedestrain street and see the strings of 180,000+ multicolored balls over Sainte Catherine Street (see below).
My current plan is to return to Montréal in the summer to experience the city in the warmth. Any recommendations for Montréal and the surrounding area are most welcome. 🙂
As always,
Sending you all my best wishes from 30,000 feet,
– Paul
I love Montreal! I highly recommend going to Mamie Clafoutis (a chain of bakeries) to get French-Canadian pastries. Everything there is good! The panacotta, the kourignans, the clafoutis…and most of all, the blue cheese walnut loaves!
Tip: Call one of the shops and order a whole bunch of their signature blue cheese walnut loaves. Bring a suitcase and a clear plastic trash bag. Store the bread tightly in the bags and put them in the freezer. You can enjoy them for months this way just reheating them as the mood strikes you.
They stink so you really need the bag to contain them.
Hi Suzy!
Thanks for commenting with this suggestion! I’ve made a note of this, and I will be stopping by Mamie Clafoutis on my next trip to Montreal! I am so excited to try their blue cheese walnut loaf, my mouth is already watering!!