Montreal

I just had the pleasure of spending the weekend in Montréal.  By good fortune, the Festival Montréal En Lumière was taking place at the time. This provided us with a fireworks show from our hotel window and a party on the streets all Saturday night.

Often when I visit Montréal, I stay at the The Auberge du Vieux Port, located right on the waterfront in Old Montréal.  The location could not be more convenient, especially in the summer when the Old Port is abuzz.  The hotel also offers a number of 1 and 2 bedroom lofts in Old Montréal, all of which are converted heritage buildings with rustic beams, old wood floors, and lots of exposed brick and stone.  I have found the accommodations charming, the prices reasonable, and the staff super-friendly and helpful.

A trip to Montréal is not complete without a visit to at least one of the many Farmer’s Markets.  My two favourites are Atwater and Jean-Talon.

The theme of the weekend seemed to be duck!  At the Jean-Talon Market I bought a dozen blue duck eggs from the Egg Man.  The colour of the eggs was spectacular – a pale blue that would have made Martha Stewart drool.

A long walk up St. Laurent revealed a number of treasures, including a Greek bakery that makes old-fashioned chocolate-dipped donuts.  The woman who served us boasted that the she had been there for 37 years – same ownership all that time!

Further up, we discovered the Lac Brome Duck store – an entire store dedicated to duck products from the Lac Brome region.

You can’t imagine my excitement!  Duck legs, duck breasts, duck liver 5 different ways, duck pies, duck sausages, smoked duck…..and the staff knew their duck!  If you have a question about duck, this is the place to go.

Since 1912, this company has been producing duck and duck products for the Canadian market and for export.  The brome ducks are raised in good conditions and are not force fed.  I think their packaging and marketing is brilliant, and although we have often used Lac Brome duck in our meals, I had no idea the range of products they had to offer.

Our weekend was capped off with a visit to the Strom Spa – a newly built Nordic-type spa on  Île-des-Soeurs.  The facilities’ design is very clean & modern.  The baths and rest areas are plentiful.  They offer a full range of therapeutic and relaxation massage as well as an interesting assortment of body treatments.   After 2 hours of soaking and steaming,  I was scrubbed from head to toe in blueberries and sugar.  It was blissful!

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