{"id":1119,"date":"2026-05-15T17:47:21","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T21:47:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/?p=1119"},"modified":"2026-05-16T10:34:31","modified_gmt":"2026-05-16T14:34:31","slug":"montreal-april-3-8-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/2026\/05\/15\/montreal-april-3-8-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal, April 3-8, 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

April 3, 2026<\/strong>
\nThe Betty Beavers Truck Stop & Diner<\/a> is still there in Lewis, New York, just off of I-87, though minus a diner:<\/p>\n

\"Betty<\/p>\n

April 4, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

First, Fairmount Bagel<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Fairmount<\/p>\n

\"Fairmount<\/p>\n

Then the Ateliers & Saveurs Macarons Class<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Ateliers<\/p>\n

\"Ateliers<\/p>\n

\"Ateliers<\/p>\n

Then a bagel taste-test following a return visit to St-Viateur Bagel<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"St-Viateur<\/p>\n

\"St-Viateur<\/p>\n

Parc du Mont-Royal\/Mount Royal Park<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Kondiaronk<\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

\"Mount<\/p>\n

The AirBnB was in a great spot in Vieux Montréal\/Old Montreal<\/a>, so we were able to explore around there a lot. The nautical Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Chapel<\/a>, for example:<\/p>\n

\"Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours<\/p>\n

\"Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours<\/p>\n

Place Jacques-Cartier<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Place<\/p>\n

\"Cabane<\/p>\n

Rue Notre-Dame<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Rue<\/p>\n

We tried to eat mostly Quebecois food and Caribou Gourmand<\/a> features many exotic meats, including seal (!):<\/p>\n

\"Loup<\/p>\n

April 5, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Spade & Palacio Beyond the Basilica Essential 101 Montréal Walking Tour<\/a> is very good and as the name implies, takes you “beyond the Basilica” into Chinatown, up Boulevard Saint-Laurent, into fun stores and snack spots and showcases various Montreal’s murals between the Place des Artes and Plateau Mont-Royal . . . <\/p>\n

Place d’Armes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Maisonneuve<\/p>\n

Basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal\/Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Basilique<\/p>\n

Rue Saint-Jacques<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Théâtre<\/p>\n

\"Old<\/p>\n

Royal Bank Tower<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Royal<\/p>\n

RÉSO<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Berlin<\/p>\n

Palais des Congrès de Montréal<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Palais<\/p>\n

Chinatown<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Boulevard<\/p>\n

Esplanade Tranquille<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Esplanade<\/p>\n

\"Esplanade<\/p>\n

Eva B<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Eva<\/p>\n

\"Eva<\/p>\n

Boulevard Saint-Laurent<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Boulevard<\/p>\n

\"Boulevard<\/p>\n

\"Eva<\/p>\n

\"Boulevard<\/p>\n

Schwartz’s<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Schwartz's<\/p>\n

\"Schwartz's<\/p>\n

\"Jackie<\/p>\n

\"Leonard<\/p>\n

For dinner, Au Pied de Cochon<\/a>, where everything is remarkable. This is squid ink poutine topped with calamari:<\/p>\n

\"Squid<\/p>\n

Sea urchins and foie gras nigiri:<\/p>\n

\"Oursins\/Sea<\/p>\n

\"Foie<\/p>\n

Veal brain:<\/p>\n

\"Cervelle<\/p>\n

And their famous “Canard en Conserve” — Duck In a Can:<\/p>\n

\"Canard<\/p>\n

\"Canard<\/p>\n

\"Canard<\/p>\n

April 6, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The aforementioned Schwartz’s is great but Smoke Meat Pete<\/a> in nearby L’Île-Perrot is worth the trip:<\/p>\n

\"Smoke<\/p>\n

\"Smoked<\/p>\n

The Oratoire Saint-Joseph-du-Mont-Royal\/Saint Joseph’s Oratory<\/a> up on Mont Royal is a beautiful spot:<\/p>\n

\"Oratoire<\/p>\n

I have never seen so many candles as there are in the votive chapel:<\/p>\n

\"Votive<\/p>\n

\"Basilica,<\/p>\n

\"Basilica,<\/p>\n

I am partial to nice views, which was one reason I wanted to come here:<\/p>\n

\"View<\/p>\n

\"Oratoire<\/p>\n

A return visit to Marché Jean-Talon<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Marché<\/p>\n

\"Marché<\/p>\n

Les Délices de la Mer<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Les<\/p>\n

Great local oysters at La Boîte aux Huîtres<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"La<\/p>\n

\"Oysters,<\/p>\n

April 7, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cabane à Sucre Constantin Grégoire<\/a> in nearby Saint-Esprit is a festival of all things maple syrup:<\/p>\n

\"Cabane<\/p>\n

The meals at the sugar shacks (“cabane à sucre”) are huge and seemingly everything incorporates maple syrup:<\/p>\n

\"Menu,<\/p>\n

\"Jambon<\/p>\n

\"Desserts,<\/p>\n

Tire:<\/p>\n

\"Tire,<\/p>\n

\"Tire,<\/p>\n

\"Tire,<\/p>\n

\"Tire,<\/p>\n

Of course they also produce maple syrup, and the spring is when the trees basically aspirate the raw sap — producers need daytime temperatures above freezing to induce a freeze-thaw scenario that moves the sap through networks of hoses:<\/p>\n

\"Maple<\/p>\n

\"Maple<\/p>\n

Rue Saint-Paul<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Rue<\/p>\n

\"Rue<\/p>\n

\"Rue<\/p>\n

\"Rue<\/p>\n

The joyful Gibeau Orange Julep<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Gibeau<\/p>\n

\"Orange<\/p>\n

\"Gibeau<\/p>\n

April 8, 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

A morning run around the Vieux-Port de Montréal\/Old Port of Montreal<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Tour<\/p>\n

\"Parc<\/p>\n

\"Plage<\/p>\n

\"Quai<\/p>\n

\"Quai<\/p>\n

A winter’s worth of slowly disintegrating chunks of snow and ice looked almost sculptural:<\/p>\n

\"Promenade<\/p>\n

\"Lachine<\/p>\n

Place d’Youville<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Place<\/p>\n

A final lunch at the elegant Gibbys<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Gibbys,<\/p>\n

\"Soupe<\/p>\n

These were the best escargots I’ve ever had:<\/p>\n

\"Escargots<\/p>\n

\"Tartare<\/p>\n

\"Steak<\/p>\n

On the way back home, the IGL Duty Free<\/a> at the border:<\/p>\n

\"U.S.-Canadian<\/p>\n

And back into the U.S. via the Lacolle-Champlain Border Crossing<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\"Champlain\u2013St.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

April 3, 2026 The Betty Beavers Truck Stop & Diner is still there in Lewis, New York, just off of I-87, though minus a diner: April 4, 2026 First, Fairmount Bagel: Then the Ateliers & Saveurs Macarons Class: Then a bagel taste-test following a return visit to St-Viateur Bagel: Parc du Mont-Royal\/Mount Royal Park: The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-out_of_town"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1119"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1128,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1119\/revisions\/1128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bridgeandtunnelclub.com\/bigmap\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}