Bonsoir, readers. I’m back with a much delayed update! The last two weeks have been very busy for me with schoolwork; I’m currently working on research for two papers: one on the antisemitic rhetoric in the Catholic press during the Jewish Public School debate of the early 1930s and another on how ideological dogmatism led to the tragedy of the Duplessis Orphans. As I learn more and get into the actual writing of these papers, I will be happy to share more. I’ve also been rather distracted by the upcoming Canadian election (I will write a brief overview of Québec and federal politics for you after the election) and the current political crisis back home in the United States. Besides that, I’m juggling Chinese and Portuguese courses (taught in French)! But enough with that, I have some fun things to share!
La Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal (The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts) is the city’s premier art muesum. This is no tiny gallery: the museum boasts a massive collection spanning multiple floors and buildings of Canadian, First Nations and international art, as well as special cultural events. You can easily spend hours in the museum (I spent about 3) and it’s a great trip for a rainy day. It’s located in the Downtown (Ville-Marie) on Rue Sherbrooke near the Guy-Concordia metro station.
The collection of Canadian art is massive (six floors!) and has exhibits spanning from the colonial era to contemporary art. I personally love the art from the impressionist and post-impressionist periods and the museum did not disappoint in that exhibit!
There is also a special exhibit dedicated to the scuplture of Inuit artists. It was very nice to see First Nations representation within the museum and it is a nice gesture to help include their stories into the collective memory.
While Ville-Marie is certainly the cultural center of the city, it is also home to a lot of malls. Unlike the US where the mall has seen a long, slow decay into irrelevance, it is very much still a major part of Canadian life. The malls can get very crowded and you’ll always see somebody on the metro with a big shopping bag. The mall is also where essential services like grocery stores, pharamacies and even post offices are located, so you’re inevitably going to end up in one if you are staying in Montreal for a long period. Some of the more popular stores that you can’t find back in the US include Winners (the Canadian spin-off of TJ Maxx, but with a much wider selection), Dollarama and Canadian Tire (not just an auto parts store, but a full fledged department store!). While you’ll likely save some money on the original price of the item thanks to the favorable conversion rate between US and Canadian dollars, the high sales tax (about 15% with Québec provincial and federal combined) offsets any real savings. There’s a reason that Canadian tourists still come to the US for luxury shopping!
One of the best reasons to come to Montreal, however, is for the restaurants. Montreal is one of the food capitals of North America and cuisines from many different cultures are represented in the gastronomical scene. While I have not been to any high-class five star restaurants (a bit out of my budget!), I’ve had the opportunity to dine at many different places around Côte-des-Neiges and Ville-Marie. Here are just a couple of the foods you can get here:
Anthony à Montréal 