Having a Bite to Eat in Vieux-Montréal: Olive and Gourmando, Restaurant Creperie Chez Suzette and Les Délices de l'Érable

The Cajun Chicken Sandwich from Olive + Gourmando

Of course, every adventurer must eat. You could bring a bag packed full of power bars, I suppose, But, that wouldn't be fun!

While researching for our trip to Montréal, I read rave reviews of Olive and Gourmando again and again. Since the restaurant was not located far from Pointe-à-Callière, which we visited earlier in the day, we opted to give it a try. We arrived about 1PM and there was a line nearly out the door. The place to be! When we entered, we noted that Olive and Gourmando is an upscale sandwich shop with invitingly decadent bakery items as well! We knew that we would enjoy our meal here! After a short wait, we sat down at a table and enjoyed the boisterously happy atmosphere. We ordered two sandwiches, a salad, a soup and a raspberry lemonade. {When traveling with a little one, lemonades are a must!} Here is a look at our HUGE and DELICIOUS meal:

The Green Salad--which I loved and had to finish even though I was stuffed!

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Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History: Journey Through Montréal History from the Ground Up

**Disclosure: We did receive complimentary admission for the purpose of conducting a review. No compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own.

During our visit to Montréal, we had the pleasure of visiting Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History and I have to say that our family found the museum to be a uniquely tangible way to learn about the history of Montréal. When you visit Pointe-à-Callière Museum, you descend down below Montréal and in essence descend through time to hear the voices of past inhabitants.

Montréal was founded in 1642 making it one of the oldest cities in North America. Members of the First Nations lived on the island of Montréal for thousands of years, long before the city was founded. With thousands of years of history, the area of Vieux-Montréal is built upon layer after layer of civilization with many stories to tell. Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Museum of Archaeology and History provides an interactive way for families to virtually peel back these layers and see how Montréal has grown into the city it is today.

A spectacular introduction to Montréal:

Upon our arrival, we were pleasantly greeted by the staff who gave us a brief orientation of the site. Be sure to grab a map--we did get turned around a couple of times while exploring so it definitely helps! After, we headed into a theater to watch a movie about the history of Montréal. I have to say that this presentation has to be one of the most well done that I have ever seen! The theater is situated on top of ruins which is thrilling in itself. However, the presentation was truly engaging and exciting. Montréal really unfolded before our eyes through the spectacular use of multimedia!

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Et La Lumiére Fut: And Then There Was Light Ignites Notre-Dame Basilica in Montréal for Families

**Disclosure: We received complimentary admission in order to facilitate this review. No compensation was received. All opinions are 100% my own.

After leaving Burlington, Vermont on our road trip, we ventured further north to Montréal. Montréal is not very far from Burlington--just under 2 hours. While I do highly recommend traveling to Montréal for a vacation on its own, if you are in Burlington it is definitely worth carving out a day or so to visit. Montréal is a city with so much flavor and charm that every visit is a treat. This past visit was our third visit to Montréal and while we felt quite at home, we enjoyed exploring new places along with some of the old. While we were in Old Montréal, it began to snow which was pretty heavenly! Snow kissed Montréal is serene and beautiful!

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Ooh La La--a Lovely Time in Montréal

Thanks to our frequent flier miles, we were able to spend our holiday weekend in Montréal . We visited Montréal last summer and immediately fell in love. We knew we had to go back! Our chance came last weekend and we had beautiful time.

Since we had been to Montréal before, we did not feel too much pressure and were really able just to wander around.  The first thing we did after checking into our hotel was to head over to the French market to load up on food for our stay. I had brought a cooler with us to make it easy to transport food while on our travels. While we did expect to eat at some restaurants on our trip, picking stuff up at the market helped us keep our expenses down. Plus, we really love the choices of fresh bread and cheese we can find at the market. (And, who can forget the pastries!)

Maple tart--a danger to my waistline.

We spent part of two of our days walking around the very picturesque Vieux-Montréal. We loved ambling around on cobblestone streets, eating at crêperies, and popping in and out of stores. The area is also abuzz with performance artists and the clip-clop of horses. One of my favorite things to do--check out the offerings of local artists.

Montréal  City Hall

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Funny Things from our Trip to Montreal

I wasn't sure how we would fare on our quick weekend trip to Montreal. The trip ended up being great with a lot of humor thrown in! We had laughs from beginning to end. Here are ten of our funniest moments:

1.) My daughter insisted on eating at a French bakery before going to Montreal. Hello, we are going to Montreal!

2.) Our flight attendant fell asleep during our 2-hour flight to Montreal. I am sure that she probably was working a long shift, but it was funny to see her sleeping at the front of the plane.

3.) The flight attendant welcomed us to Toronto, not Montreal.

4.) There is something seriously wrong with the squirrels in Montreal. They look you dead in the eye and will not run away until you are about a step away.

5.) We went through US customs at the Montreal airport. There is a "Welcome to the US" sign and then you walk straight into the duty free shop. Why does that seem a little odd to me?

6.) Also at said duty free shop, you still need to pay in Canadian dollars, not US or you will be charged a conversion. I thought the sign said "Welcome to the US?"

7.) We were told by American Airlines that our flight from Montreal to Chicago was not an international flight. I understand that airlines make crazy rules to charge us for our bags. However, the last time I checked, Canada and the US are two different nations.  I am just saying.........

8.) My daughter, who speaks some French, continually tried to wear headphones and listen to music to avoid speaking French.

9.) However, she insisted on singing the alphabet in French as well as a number of other French songs over and over again in the car.  ???!!!???!!!

10.)  The first time we visited Montreal, my husband, who doesn't speak any French, was approached by a gentleman that went on to have a conversation with him in French. We thought that this was not going to happen this time. However, when my daughter and I went to the restroom and left my husband unattended, another gentleman approached him and began having a conversation in French.

We really do love the city and had a great time. The city is absolutely beautiful, the people are great, and the food is phenomenal! Tomorrow, I will share some of the pictures from the trip.

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