Back to Crêperie Notre Dame
Our third full day in Montreal started with a return visit to Crêperie Notre Dame, this time with Ben and Maria. Scott and I had enjoyed breakfast there so much the day before that we knew we had to take them back and let them experience it for themselves. When you find a great breakfast spot while traveling, sometimes there is no reason to keep searching for something different, especially when fresh crepes are involved.
After breakfast, we decided to retrace some of our steps from the previous day so we could show Ben and Maria a few of the places Scott and I had discovered while wandering around Montreal. It was actually fun seeing everything again with them because there is so much architecture and history throughout Old Montreal that you notice something different every time you walk through the area.
Exploring More of Old Montreal
One of our first stops was the Bank of Montreal & Museum, which is an impressive historic building and feels almost like walking into a museum. The architecture alone is worth stepping inside to see, and it is another example of how many beautiful buildings you can stumble across simply by walking around this part of Montreal.
From there, we continued through the historic district and stopped again at the basilica before slowly working our way back toward the waterfront. Along the way, we walked through the World Trade Centre Montréal, which was another unexpected discovery. The interior incorporates historic architecture into a much more modern space, and it was definitely worth taking a few minutes to walk through and look around.
Our route eventually brought us back toward Rue Saint Paul, one of the main streets running through Old Montreal. This quickly became one of our favorite streets because there is always something to look at, whether it is a restaurant, boutique, art gallery or one of the historic buildings lining the street.
Place Jacques Cartier and Montreal City Hall
While walking along Rue Saint Paul, we came across Place Jacques Cartier, which is one of those areas that immediately makes you want to slow down and explore. The pedestrian friendly street is lined with restaurants, ice cream shops, jewelry stores and plenty of places to stop for lunch or simply sit and people watch.
At the top of Place Jacques Cartier, we noticed a massive and very impressive building, which turned out to be Montreal City Hall. Naturally, we walked all the way up to take a closer look and considered going inside. Once we realized we would need to go through security, we decided we had already seen enough impressive architecture for the morning and continued on with our exploring instead.
We headed back down Place Jacques Cartier and made our way toward Bonsecours Market. Before visiting Montreal, we had pictured this as a large public market filled with food vendors and stalls, something perhaps similar to Pike Place Market in Seattle. That really is not what it is. There are some boutiques and shops inside, and the building itself is beautiful, but it is much smaller and more retail focused than we had expected.
Heading Down to the Old Port of Montreal
We still had plenty of the afternoon left, so we crossed over toward the Old Port of Montreal and the St. Lawrence River. This area has a completely different feel from the narrow historic streets just a few blocks away. There is a large promenade along the waterfront along with parks, attractions and plenty of activities for visitors.
During our visit, Cirque du Soleil had a huge tent set up near the waterfront, and nearby you could also find the Montreal Observation Wheel, zip lining and several other attractions. Even if you do not plan on doing any of them, it is a fun area to walk around because there is always something happening.
Of course, being Boating Journey, Scott and I were especially interested in the St. Lawrence River. The current was absolutely wicked. Standing along the waterfront and watching how quickly the water moved, we could not believe that smaller boats regularly navigate this river. It certainly made us appreciate the power of the St. Lawrence and reminded us just how different boating conditions can be from one destination to another.
Notre Dame de Bon Secours Chapel
While exploring the Old Port area, we spotted yet another church and naturally had to go inside. This time it was Notre Dame de Bon Secours Chapel, which is much smaller and more intimate than the massive basilicas and cathedrals we had already visited.
Even though it did not have the enormous scale of Mary, Queen of the World Cathedral or Notre Dame Basilica, the interior was beautiful and had a completely different atmosphere. By this point in the trip, visiting churches had almost become an unofficial part of our Montreal itinerary. We had not planned on seeking them out, but there were so many beautiful ones throughout the city that it was hard to walk past without taking a look inside.
Dinner at Stash Café
After spending most of the day walking, we headed back to the hotel to shower, change and get ready for the evening. Dinner was once again on Rue Saint Paul, this time at Stash Café, a Polish restaurant that we had made reservations for before arriving in Montreal.
The food was fantastic and, of course, we could not go to a Polish restaurant without trying the pierogies. Ben, Maria and Scott all ordered schnitzel topped with an egg, while I went with the beef tips and gravy. My dinner was absolutely delicious and exactly what I wanted after spending most of the day walking around the city. By this point, our strategy of making dinner reservations before the trip was continuing to pay off because we were finding some really great restaurants throughout Old Montreal.
Drinks and Ghost Stories Before Our Tour
We had a ghost tour scheduled for later that evening, but after dinner we still had about an hour before it started. Rather than head back to the hotel, we stopped at Porto Mar, a Portuguese restaurant nearby, and grabbed seats at the bar.
This ended up being one of those spontaneous stops that we really enjoyed. The bartender was fantastic and started telling us all kinds of ghost stories about the area, which seemed especially appropriate considering what we were about to do. We actually wished we had more time because the service was great and the restaurant had such a welcoming atmosphere. It definitely would have been fun to return for dinner on another night.
Another Montreal Ghost Tour
When it was finally time for our tour, we headed back out into the streets of Old Montreal. Apparently we were not the only ones interested in ghosts because there were several different ghost tour groups wandering around that evening.
Our tour lasted about two hours and took us through some of the historic streets while sharing stories about Montreal’s past. Unfortunately, somewhere around the halfway point, the tour started to lose us a little. We have tried several ghost tours during our travels lately, and for whatever reason we have not had much luck finding one that really keeps us engaged from beginning to end.
Maybe we are becoming difficult ghost tour customers, or maybe this is finally our sign that it is time to retire from ghost tours for a while.
Either way, it had been another full day of exploring Montreal. We had walked through Old Montreal, visited the waterfront, checked out more incredible architecture, enjoyed another fantastic dinner and somehow managed to squeeze in even more ghost stories before heading back to the hotel.
Coming Up Next on Boating Journey
Montreal had already given us several very busy days, but there was still much more to see. In our next Boating Journey blog, the four of us head up to Mount Royal to see Montreal from above. We also continue exploring some of the neighborhoods outside of Old Montreal and experience another side of the city that we had not seen yet.
Be sure to follow along as our Montreal and Quebec City adventure continues. As always, thank you for following our blog and journey. Follow us on social @BoatingJourney and also on our YouTube channel (link below). Cheers, Scott and Ally
