By: Marcia Abramson
The Old City with its narrow cobble stone streets, 18th century wooden houses and charming galleries, is a wonderful short cut to see France without jet lag. On my last trip to this region I found it an easy drive, stopping to visit friends in Massachusetts and Vermont on my way to Montreal. (AAA has free helpful maps and guidebooks for members). Fortunately, the infectious SAARS virus wasn't ever a threat in Montreal as it was in Toronto earlier this spring. (The advisory against travel to Toronto, more than 200 miles away has been lifted and no new cases have been reported.) I am looking forward to all the festivities planned for this summer and learned from Bard Norby of the government tourism bureau that the Botanical Garden is abloom with magnificent flora. There are 30 themed gardens; the history of green tea is presented at the Japanese Pavilion until Sept. 1. The Chinese Garden will be the locale for Chinese, Indian, Japanese, Iranian and Turkish song and dance on Wednesday through Sunday afternoons July 16 to 20 and July 23 to 27. An International Fireworks Competition (Le Mondial SAQ) is scheduled through July 30. Eight countries and Hong Kong compete with superb displays along the St. Lawrence River every Wednesday and Friday evening at 10 p.m. Then for 10 days starting on July 10 to July 20 the comics take over the "Just for Laughs" Festival. It purports to be the world's largest comedy festival. It will be celebrating its 20th anniversary this year with more than 2,000 shows, including more than 1,300 free events in the heart of the Latin Quarter, by artists, street entertainers and standup comics from around the world. The performers will include Brad Garrett from "Everybody Loves Raymond," Tina Frey from "Saturday Night Live," Eric Bogosian, Kathy Griffin and Emo Phillips. Until Oct. 6 there will be the Mosaiculture Internationale "Myths and Legends of the World" featuring fabulous floral sculptures, some of them 10 meters high. In recent years more than a million people have been enthralled by this exhibition. The first week in August will have the Tennis Masters with the world's best men's tennis players getting ready for the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows, N.Y. Summer starts winding down with the Montreal World Film Festival from Aug. 27-Sept. 7. Exciting films from more than 60 countries representing well-known and first-time filmmakers are presented. This can be considered the North American Cannes Film Festival. The Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History at Pointe-a-Caliere has a special exhibit in cooperation with the Israel Museum until Nov. 2. It is "Archeology and the Bible from King David to the Dead Sea Scrolls" and has three scrolls recovered from the shores of the Dead Sea. May I remind you to pack comfortable shoes, because Montreal is a delightful walking city, particularly during the summer? The Boulevard St. Laurent and the Rue St.-Denis have cafes and boutiques and excellent promenades. Your sightseeing will include Beaux-Arts and French Renaissance mode buildings around the Latin Quarter and a lovely sculpture garden at the park, Carre St. Louis. Mount Royal Park is the recreational center of Montreal. The park was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead (of Central Park fame) and has the best views in Montreal as well as fine picnic grounds. On the way to the park I stopped at one of my favorite destinations in any city I visit. It is the market, the place to see how the native population goes about their daily life. In Montreal I found the Atwater Market where I bought some excellent and well-priced Quebecois cheese, crusty bread and cider for my picnic fare. I don't know of a better way to see Old Montreal than taking a self-guided walking tour. I was particularly impressed with the gorgeously decorated bank buildings. The exteriors were bedecked with brilliant copper gargoyles and stone dragoons and the interiors have highly polished mahogany walls and marble floors. For further information contact your travel agent or call 1-877-266-5687.Copyright by Marcia Abramson E-mail:mascribe@aol.com
