Bonjour Tout Le Monde

Last week I dropped a post about my trip to Montreal. Well, now I'm back and I had a fantastic time in Montreal. I didn't hit any strip joints and I didn't even hit a club/lounge for that matter, but I had a great time!

A few things you might want to know if you ever plan on visiting:

1. Everything is in French and English. Makes for some interesting navigation around the city.
2. Everybody starts speaking French to you until they realize you're an American or you don't speak French, whichever comes first.
3. Downtown Montreal is a lot like most popular U.S. cities (NYC, San Fran, D.C., etc.). There are always lots of people walking around, shops and restaurants everywhere, Starbucks and McDonalds are frequent sites, and the occasional homeless person begs you for money. But it also has a very European feel (as if I really know) to it as well.
4. Shyt is expensive! I paid $1.39 (Canadian currency) for a TWIX bar. WTF? I assume it's even worse over in Europe, but I couldn't help but notice how everything seemed a bit pricier.
5. They sell Cuban cigars in Montreal. That's all Imma say about that (hehe).
6. The women of Montreal (at least the ones in downtown) are very pERTY.
7. The stereotype that Canadians are nice does not apply to the women referenced in #6 above, though they're not mean either. But pretty much everyone else is cool.
8. Be sure to get a little Canadian cash at the airport when you arrive. Even though you can use your credit card pretty much everywhere, it comes in handy to have cash.
9. Downtown Montreal is a very walkable area. Not once did I feel like I could be in danger (then again, I live in Bmore so my barometer is probably really low).
10. Did I mention that they sell Cuban cigars and that the women are beautiful?
11. Most black people that you see there are from Africa. I found this interesting but I guess this is a result of my not having traveled abroad a lot. I'm used to seeing Black people and actually seek out Black folks when I go out of town. Don't waste your time with that in Montreal because I'd put money on it that most of the people there were either first or second generation Africans that moved to Montreal. And to belabor the point a little bit more, it's almost sad how the role that race plays in the U.S. has me someone conditioned to actually pay attention to this shyt in other places. Other countries don't appear to have the same racial biases that we do.
12. Visit the Olympic Park if you go to Montreal.
13. Visit Old Montreal.
14. The Best Western Europa in Downtown Montreal is worth every penny!

Check out some of the flicks after the jump...