Montreal has a jazz festival in early July for 10 days. Over 300 acts for free and about 150 for a fee. We had a ball in downtown Montreal going to 3 days of jazz on the streets. We did buy one ticket to Ben Harper and Charlie Musslewhite which was well worth the money.
In Montreal we also were very fortunate to go to the Barbie Expo. Barbie’s came out in 1959 when I as a young girl. They were the hot new toy and I loved them. The first outfits were made by Parisian designers. So this expo had over 1000 Barbie’s all dressed by current designers here are a few.
Another must see is the Notre Dame Basilica. It was first built-in 1642. It is very pretty and has a good free tour in English. They have an organ with 7000 pipes. It takes 5 rooms to hold all the pipes.
What I like about Canada
- The exchange rate is great now. 1 Us dollar buys $1.33 Canadian.
- Most everyone speaks English.
- The same voltage for electricity.
- Same time zones.
- Everyone is very kind and accepting of all people.
- Canada is very clean.
- Canada is very safe.
- The 3 day metro pass in Montreal is only $19 Canadian.
Mont Tremblant is a little Ski resort town north of Montreal that hosts a 10 day Blues festival. So we had 3 days of jazz in Montreal and 3 days of blues in Mont Tremblant. One of my favorite lines from one of the blues songs was “money talks but it does not speak!
I like the small town feel and closeness of the stages. What I did not like is that it is a very steep uphill climb to the top, we did find a nice free lift at the end of our stay but it closed at 8 when all the bands played.
I loved a little cafe called Couleur Cafe. It was a nice break to get out of the maddening crowds and go to a quiet little sandwich and soup shop that made the best food. We licked the soup bowl clean!
We also loved the oldest farmers market in north America.
