Montreal Diary - Part 1

08.07 pada mama Labels: travel

I feel such a genuine happiness when I travel. There is just something about being in a new place, with new people and experiencing a new culture that I can't seem to get enough of. This year I've been blessed with the ability to travel more than I ever have before and truthfully, if I could be in a different place every month then I would do it. Taking a road trip with my mom to Montreal was one of the best decisions that I could have made. I was only there for two and a half days, but I fell in love with it and plan to go back again soon. The architecture, the food, the people, the vibe... I just loved it all. This post is going to be a compilation of photos from my trip including the hotel, food, scenery, outfits and amazing memories created with my mom. I wanted to make sure that I captured it all! :)

We stayed at the highly recommended Le St-Martin Hotel Particulier in downtown Montreal, a beautiful boutique hotel right in the heart of the city. I couldn't have asked for a better location. We were in walking distance of so many restaurants, shops, bars and directly across the street from a bank to exchange our money AND an underground mall. (more on that later) We were also only about a 10 minute cab ride to Old Montreal, which I highly recommend checking out on your next visit. I loved that it was a boutique hotel because it gave us more of a cozy and welcoming atmosphere the minute we stepped inside. Everyone there was extremely friendly & helpful to us during our stay, especially the concierge.

Le St-Martin has a wonderful restaurant, L'Aromate, that we got to enjoy plus a fitness center, heated pool all year round and lovely spacious rooms with a fireplace and great view. There is both a walk in shower and bathtub with a TV. So relaxing! Even though it's a smaller hotel, they still have a lot to offer. They also give all their guests complimentary coffee & water in the rooms, which was a nice touch! They have valet parking too, in case you rent a car and take a road trip like we did. I definitely recommend this place if you ever take a trip to Montreal! You will not be disappointed.

The first day was a bit of a struggle. We had 2 hours of sleep and drove 7 hours to Canada. It took every bit of my energy to not jump onto that king size bed and pass out! But after drinking a ton of coffee and checking into the hotel, we did a quick change and felt refreshed. It rained all day which sucked, but we made the most of it. I rather be stuck in the rain in Montreal than in Jersey!

We started out with breakfast at this amazing little spot called Eggspectation.

After eating, we went to check out the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. It is absolutely breathtaking! Then we hung out in Old Montreal for a little while checking out some of the shops. Unfortunately, we did not have rain boots!

After getting rained on, we head back to the hotel to relax and get ready for dinner. We decided to stay at Le St-Martin and had drinks at L'Aromate then checked out the pool. A bunch of people on instagram recommended that I try poutine, so I mentioned it to one of the bartenders and she had them whip it up for us. It was so good! Poutine is french fries with gravy and cheese curds. This one also had some BBQ sauce on it as well. It reminded me a little of what we call "disco fries" here in Jersey, only the poutine is so much better.

After this super long day and several outfit changes, it was time for bed :) Hope you enjoyed photos of my first day in Montreal. I'll be sharing the second half of my trip tomorrow!