TRES BON TRIP TO QUEBEC – PART UN

We wanted to keep it Canadian this year so we chose to visit the French folk. We flew direct from Vancouver to Montreal, the largest city in Quebec. It’s a culturally rich and diverse city with loads of art and historic charm. The Old Port area is picturesque and full of bygone architecture. Everything is made of brick. It reeks of history. It was November so the weather was quite brisk and the snow started the morning we left.

We got a Passeport MTL Winter attraction pass because there are a gazillion touristy things to do in Montreal and this saved a bunch of $$. Our first stop was the La Fabuleuse FAB Exposition located in the Eaton Center near our hotel. It’s a pop culture explosion of twenty immersive worlds spread out over 3 floors. If you need social content there is no better place.

Props to Mathieu Collette, owner of Les Forges De Montreal and one of the best tour guides we have had the pleasure of encountering. He has set up a school and permanent exhibit to highlight the history and evolution of Canadian blacksmithing. He is a passionate master artisan and taught mon petite choux so much about creating forged objects. During our trip the road was closed due to construction. We parked in a neighboring lot and trespassed down the train tracks until we reached the old, stone, riverside pump station. I suspect Les Forges was closed to visitors but Monsieur Collette graciously welcomed us and ran an impromptu, private demonstration. He banged his forged tools and made the kids a couple of custom nails to take home as a souvenir.

Basilique Notre-Dame is Montreal’s mother church and Canada’s first Gothic Revival. The ol’ Sulpicians from France chose this location in 1672 and then went WAY over budget during construction. They had it open by 1683. It’s an amazing mash up of art and religion. During our stay we attended a performance of Mozart’s Requiem with the choir and orchestra of the Société philharmonique du Nouveau Monde. The group of 200 musicians was insanely talented. The venue was eerily silent like a church during breaks. We were getting over colds and I had a cough. We seemed to have 2 of the only bébés in the audience of thousands. Every time we made a peep people turned and looked at us. We lasted about an hour and then bailed. Thank god my little devils are generally well behaved. I just wanted to feed them some god damn culture.

Oasis Immersion was located in the downtown area. You sit in large rooms and are completely submerged by rapidly changing projections and images on all the walls and ceiling. There was 2 programs and we chose Root For Nature. I was secretly worried this one might not land with l’enfants but there were no complaints. It was kind of a surreal and inspiring experience that took around an hour.

Jett had been requesting to try indoor skydiving for years. We don’t have anything locally so he was in luck when I ran across iFly World while I was planning. Le garcon freaking loved it. So did la fille and le mari. We did a mid range package of 4 flights each. I would have been just fine with one. You pay an extra $25 for them to take you up high. Each time. Per person. The pics and video are extra. You can’t take your phone in with you so I propped it up outside the tube on a chair and let it run while we were flying. Google or ChatGBT for promo codes because I found one for 25% off and this is not a cheap excursion.

Montreal has a myriad of delectable cafes, bistros and restaurants. We ate well on this trip. Matt devoured more than his fair share of poutines. The aroma of the freshly baked bread and desserts from charming, locally run, pâtisseries is something that has disappeared on our west coast. It was a pleasure to adventure through the French culinary scene.

Next stop…. Quebec City. Stay Tuned.

NOVEMBER 2025

KIDS AGES: 9 + 11