I started a thread on Gourmet magazine's Montréal issue, but perhaps that was too specific, and there was another about "Ottawa vs Montréal" though it really isn't about rivalries. Fortunately not, because I want people to visit and enjoy any city they can and are interested in!

There is always a lot to see and do in this city and the surrounding area, and now the weather is getting more pleasant - slowly, this year...

There are many festivals and events thorughout the spring, summer and early autumn in Montréal. One of the first, a small but interesting festival that is celebrating its sixteenth year, is the First Peoples' Festival - Présence autochtone in French, featuring arts, films and videos and other cultural events and contributions of Indigenous peoples throughout Québec (Amerindians and Inuit), Canada and the Americas.

Here is the Gourmet Montréal thread; I also discuss university residence summer stays as an economical slow travel option, as you can self-cater.

And thank YOU for the links and information. I look forward to reading them all. My good friends from Alabama tell me, that for them, Montreal is the Paris of North America!

Carol

It's pretty cool, alright...my son lived and worked there for a few years, and I had the pleasure of going to visit and staying with him, and wandering the city while he was at rehearsals. I loved it!
Very pretty, lovely shops, cafes, tree-shaded streets, loads of historical sites and best of all...the warm-hearted people that I met, who went out of their way to help me in any way they could. Here's a really cool hotel...and the website is so beautiful, with soft music!

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive."
~ Robert Louis Stevenson
Brenda

Yes, Hôtel Saint-Sulplice is among the recommendations of the Gourmet team. Elena, the owner of Quincaillerie Dante who gives Italian cookery classes, explained to me the long and scrupulous procedure the Gourmet spy/journalist went through before choosing her course and shop for a feature in the magazine.

Here is a thread from E-Gullet on the Gourmet Montréal issue and other recommendations for Montréal. I don't agree with all of them by any means, nor have I visited all those restaurants. E-Gullet on Gourmet's Montréal. I live in la Piccola Italia near the Jean-Talon market, and agree about le Marché des saveurs - lovely cheeses!

I find Montréal has quite a different mood as compared to Paris. Not only because it is obviously a North American city (an older one, like Boston, and not sprawling, at least on the island) as well as a francophone one, but because the mood changes dramatically with the seasons. The winters are hard here, and I wouldn't say most people are as fond of them as, say, Norwegians seem to be - as soon as the weather warms up, people are out and about on our bicycles (people of ALL ages) and strolling.
There is a very extensive network of cycle paths in Montréal and the surrounding area.