We have a swap home in Montreal's Plateau neighborhood for a week and a half. The location is great and the house is perfect for our family. It is huge, at least by our standards as Manhattanites. Like our home, it has three bedrooms and two bathrooms, but on two floors, so it seems larger. There are laundry machines right in the house, something few Manhattan residents enjoy.
The swappers left their vintage Porsche in the garage, so I had to find street parking. My French is passable, but perhaps not up to deciphering exotic parking signs. Still, I found a spot two blocks away, and it may even be legal. It's still nice to have access to a garage. It made unloading our car easier and we parked our bicycles there, as well as the trailer in which we pull the children.
To pick up groceries for the coming week we headed to an American company we are familiar with: Costco. Since it pays fair wages, Costco is my preferred "big box" retailer. And it has a local flavor in each country.
The quality of the food is far better here than in a US Costco. There are several cheese aisles and the milk comes in annoying bags instead of stable jugs. The food court sells poutine (fries with gravy and cheese curds) just the way the Quebecoise like it. Another big seller is the Montreal smoked meat sandwich. There are more organic items for sale than in the US.
A big draw if you have young friends would be the large selection of children's books and games in French. I always enjoy buying simple foreign-language books for my own children. The "Bob L'Eponge" (SpongeBob SquarePants) how-to-draw book with dry erase pens was a huge hit with our last giftee of a certain age.
An older crowd might enjoy the fine quality European chocolates or Canadian microbrews or wines we saw at Costco. There were interesting bar-b-que accessories such as cedar grilling planks. We saw some artisinal Canadian products as well, such as cryopacked smoked salmon from British Columbia. The selection of watches and jewelry were of a higher quality and lower cost than I have seen in any US location.
If you come to Canada, don't go home without a jar of Double Fruit preserves. So much better than sugary jam.
Everywhere we go there are cute little boutiques that appear to be stocked by local products. This is especially evident in the Plateau and near McGill University. But you can enjoy Montreal without spending a dime. I'll tell you about our car-free, cash-free tour next time.
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