Growing up in the Ottawa Valley was not especially interesting. It was not as adventurous as Toronto. It was not laid back like Vancouver. It was, however, an hour or so from Montréal, the city that boasts bagels, poutine and dépanneurs with beer-stocked fridges. Being young, penniless and car-free, I never got the opportunity to truly appreciate the cosmopolitan Québécois cuisine.

After I moved to Toronto and saved a little money, my friends and I decided to take a weekend trip to the city. To say that “we did the city right” would be an understatement, as we overindulged in a lifestyle that was decadent, yet affordable. We stayed up until the bars closed at 4 a.m. — an anomaly for Ontarians — consuming riches of wine and martinis, and eating until our bellies rounded. Since then I have not returned, still suffering from the food coma that ensued. That was five years ago.

For me, reading Emma Sloley’s account in The Australian of going “the whole hog” was nostalgic. Although I had not eaten a pig’s hoof stuffed with foie gras or “gooey gratin,” her article still brought back memories of Brazilian beef skewers and all-you-can-eat sushi. It made me remember the grilled paninis avec tomates sechées and poutine piled high with fresh curds and gravy. It reminded me that Montréal’s cuisine was and is dynamic and worldly. (more…)

Now that the World Cup is officially over, outside of Spain, the world is feeling quite a void right now. One spin through your Facebook statuses will prove that. So when Team England bowed out of the tourney, the UK-based Wanderlust had more than enough reasons to create a list of destinations specifically focused to boost happiness.

Got a few days off? Head to Montreal’s standup festival this weekend (July 12-18) where comedians such as Steve Martin, Lewis Black and John Pinette will take over the city. If you’re looking for more of an enlightening experience, head to Mumbai and enroll in a few classes of laughter yoga. You’ll boost your mood through a combination of yogic breathing and laughing.

Will you need more than just a few days? Let your inner hippie run wild: rent a VW van and hit up some festivals. I never saw flower children upset because their teams lost a World Cup game. For a more guaranteed cure, Hawaii’s Aloha Festival (Sept 2-25) will do the trick. Grab your grass skirt, rum cocktail, and hula the nights away. Before long you’ll forget the World Cup even took place.

Whatever you do, avoid the town of Happy, Texas, at all costs. Shedding the World Cup blues can’t be forced.

It was a friend’s birthday weekend. We booked time off work, postponed the completion of our papers, and road-tripped to Quebec’s biggest city, Montreal. Amazingly, I had never been.

By the end of the trip, all I wanted was to prolong our stay for just a few more days (perhaps years), but we had obligations to get back to.

So, when I read this article in The Toronto Star, I was curious: apparently, Montreal has a secret hidden behind its glass.

Being a city full of artists and a certain je ne sais pas, I was not shocked to read that glasswork is a big deal there. As the article points out, there are schools dedicated to the medium (Espace Verre). Right now glass appreciation year is happening, and the city is holding a celebration called “Montréal, Ville de Verre” — City of Glass — with over 100 events.

However, as Carol Perehudoff points out, glass as art is not the only window to Montreal’s soul. Apparently, in two different churches, stained-glass windows have been uncovered. The mystery is why they were covered up, or bricked over, in the first place? Sleuths, bust out the magnifying glasses.

Anyways, Ville de Verre has activities running all year long, and now that it’s summer it should be added to the itinerary. Winters are mighty cold.

In this video I travel to Montréal, the second-largest French speaking city in the world, where I grab some food at the Jean-Talon market, hike to the peak of Mont Royal, and join in on a drum circle at the Tam-tams.

Having just discovered Montreal’s own foray into the modern bike-sharing world with “Bixi,” it got me thinking: Montreal must be one of the world’s top biking cities. And lo and behold, T+L has confirmed my suspicions, with Montreal coming in at number #4 behind, not suprisingly for anyone who’s been there, Copenhagen at #1, followed by Portland and Munich (#2 and #3 respectively.) Click here for the full list.

What more patriotic way to celebrate the 4th of July then to pack up and head to Canada for the weekend? TheExpeditioner.com will be in Montreal for the 2009 Montreal Jazz Festival, poutine, and the Sunday Tamtams. You know, the typical 4th of July kind of things. Postings will resume on Monday.