Montréal à la Paris
There’s been a long-time love affair between Montréal and Paris, one easily felt above and beyond just their shared language. Via its cafes, historical streets, bakeries and parks you’ll find Parisian world charm and epic vistas throughout the city. Explore Paris à la Montréal!
Place d'Armes
Place Jacques-Cartier
Montréal is a cosmopolitan hub, boasting a vibrant blend of influences and cultural touchstones mixed into its own unique flavour. And Parisian joie de vivre plays a distinct part in the city’s spirit tweaked à la Montrealaise, full of influences and touchstones that hold their own next to those of Gay Paree. More than just for its first language of French, Montréal is the undisputed Paris of North America, and its lights shine just as bright.
The city’s European flavour shimmers across Old Montréal and the Old Port's cobblestone streets and buildings infused with old world charm, entered in photogenic Place d’Armes, a bustling gathering space since the 17th century. Here not only will you find the heroic statue commemorating the city’s founder Paul de Chomedey, but the Vieux Séminaire stands as Montréal’s oldest building with a postcard-pretty façade.
Cast in bronze, sculptor Marc-André J Fortier’s The English Pug and the French Poodle features a true madame decked out in Chanel and carrying her toy poodle, casting a glance across the street at the Bank of Montréal Head Office, itself modelled after the Pantheon (and well worth a look inside). The towering Notre-Dame Basilica is a world patrimonial treasure, and the immersive cutting-edge AURA Experience transforms the arching interiors into a sensorial thrill ride. We’d like to see Notre-Dame in Paris do that!
A stroll down Old Montréal’s main thoroughfares Saint-Paul and de la Commune Streets feels downright Parisian, packed with galleries, fashion boutiques and fine eateries. Montréal’s French cuisine scene is one of the world’s best, home to mouthwatering bakeries and top-tier restaurants like Bouillon Albert, Buvette Nicole and the classic L’Express (a personal favourite of Anthony Bourdain). And just like on Paris’ boulevards, Montréal’s cafés and bars (particularly during terrasse or patio season) are the perfect spots for a bit of people watching. Did you see what that passerby was wearing? Très chic !
Dive into beaux arts at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, whose collection of French classical arts is guaranteed to thrill side-by-side with special exhibitions of some of the world’s top artists, and get a glimpse of Montréal life with a French twist in the Plateau-Mont-Royal quartier with its distinct architectural flourishes, charming parks, pedestrianized streets and photogenic squares. There’s even a small bit of the Paris metropolitain system in Victoria Square—an iconic subway entrance complete with light fixtures, railings and map sign gifted to Montréal in 1967.
Cap off the day with an evening of games and entertainment at the Casino de Montréal, housed in the architectural wonder of the former France Pavilion of the 1967 World’s Fair, or with some fine live theatre en français putting that Duolingo practice to good use, all with a distinct Montréal accent. And there’s few finer sights than Montréal’s glowing nightly skyline—a true City of Lights you won’t soon forget.
Mark Hamilton
Mark Hamilton is the community director for QueerMTL, an internationally-touring musician with his projects Woodpigeon and Frontperson and a graduate studies student of history researching LGBTQ+ activism in the city. He’s lived in Montréal since 2015, during which time he’s most often spotted atop a BIXI bike usally running a few minutes late.