Montreal’s Chinatown (蒙特利尔唐人街) is quite small: it’s mostly one pedestrian street with an arch and many little shops and restaurants along the narrow alley, parallel to the René Levesque boulevard. It seemed to be a tight-knit community: I saw many posters advertising for activities, as well as a few associations headquarters.

The “vieux Montréal”, the old Montreal, definitely has a European feeling to it. Far from the tall buildings and the endless boulevards that stretches across the “other Montreal”, the area nearby the old port feels homey and historic.

The temperature has since gone way up (it was 25°C over the week-end) but last week was still bitterly and unexpectedly cold in Montreal. I was caught by surprised and had left my winter coat in Ottawa – I had to buy a long scarf in a desperate attempt to at least block the wind.

Rue St-Catherine is the primary commercial artery of downtown Montreal. The endless street that stretches over the city crosses the central business district from West to East. It is home to many flagship stores, such as Apple, Roots, Chapters, Future Shop etc. It also features some of Montreal’s prominent department stores, including Hudson’s Bay Company and Complexe Les Ailes.

On Saturday morning, I escape from work for an hour to go visit a church I had noticed the night before, as I was pacing St Catherine street up and down looking for food. St-James United Church is a national historic site of Canada and a Quebec religious heritage building. The church was hidden behind commercial buildings for 70 years before they were finally demolished in 2006. The church was thereafter opened to St Catherine, in the heart of Montreal, and came to life again.

Little Italy was our last stop in Montréal. I wanted to go back to the famous marché Jean Talon, a farmer’s market located in this area.

The open air market is occupied by about 300 vendors, selling fruits, vegetables, cheese, meat etc. There are many other food businesses in the area, including bakeries, fish and meat stores and restaurants.