This year our Summer travels took us to the Canadian Province of Québec. We started off in Montreal on a beautiful Saturday afternoon, walking around the Quartier des Spectacles and Rue Sainte-Catherine.

The next day we rode the Métro to the Parc Olympique, where a funicular took us to the top of the Montreal Tower, a fun experience for our little guy. It was a great way to get a bird’s-eye view of the city.

After riding the funicular back down we headed to the Biodôme, where we made our way through four ecosystems found in the Americas. We started with a tropical forest and ended at the sub-polar region, where we had fun watching the penguins and puffins.

The following day we joined our friends Lucy and Olivier, our awesome local guides, on a visit to Vieux Port and Old Montreal. Here we walked, people-watched, enjoyed good food and live music at Jardin Nelson on Place Jacques-Cartier, and had an overall wonderful day. We ended up at Pizzaiole, where we dined on some great pizza.

Our mornings in Montreal were very relaxed, we found a brunch spot close to our hotel with excellent coffee and fabulous food, it was a great way to start the day. We enjoyed walking around, taking in the beautiful architecture and hearing not only French, but many other languages as people passed us by. The Metro was a treat for our four year-old, who loves riding anything that remotely resembles a train.

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We ended up riding a real train for a three-day visit to Québec City, a fun experience for everyone. Once we were back in Montreal, we decided to pay a quick visit to the Marché Jean-Talon. I love visiting farmer markets wherever I go; walking around seeing all the produce and flowers, the people at work and buying and tasting good food, fresh fruit and vegetables, it just makes me happy.

After buying some produce and making a quick stop at St-Viateur Bagel to get Montreal style bagels (which, I must say, are pretty tasty), we headed with Lucy and Olivier to a lovely cabin in Bromont, where we spent a couple of days of relaxation and good company before continuing our travels with a fun week in Michigan visiting family.

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We had a grand time on our first family trip to Montreal, and with dear friends living there, we hope this will not be our last.