Montreal: The French City That's Not Quite France
Montreal is French North America's largest city - 4 million people speaking a French that evolved separately from Parisian, flavored with English loanwords, indigenous influences, and Québécois innovation. The city nearly became independent twice, in referendums that failed narrowly in 1980 and 1995; the separatist question has faded but never disappeared. What remains is a city that feels European without being Europe: the café culture, the food obsession, the acceptance of pleasure as legitimate purpose. Montreal is bilingual by necessity and French by determination, maintaining its distinctiveness through language laws, cultural pride, and the simple fact that nothing else in North America feels quite like it.
The Language
Bill 101, passed in 1977, made French the official language of Quebec - and transformed Montreal. Business signage must be predominantly French; children of immigrants must attend French schools; French is required in workplaces over a certain size. The law remains controversial, challenged and upheld, credited with preserving French and blamed for driving English businesses elsewhere. Montreal lost its status as Canada's largest city to Toronto partly because of the language laws; what remained was more distinctly French. The battle over language is really a battle over identity - whether Quebec is a French society that tolerates English or a bilingual province that happens to speak French.
The Underground
Montreal's underground city - the RÉSO - is 20 miles of tunnels connecting metro stations, shopping centers, hotels, and office buildings, allowing residents to travel for miles without facing winter. The system began in the 1960s with Place Ville-Marie and expanded with each major development. On January days when the temperature reaches -30°C, the underground is less convenience than survival strategy. The tunnels are utilitarian rather than scenic - fluorescent-lit corridors, mall food courts, institutional architecture - but they make Montreal livable through winters that would otherwise confine residents for months.
The Bagels
Montreal bagels are smaller, sweeter, and denser than New York bagels, boiled in honey-sweetened water and baked in wood-fired ovens. The two iconic bakeries - Fairmount Bagel and St-Viateur Bagel - have been competing since the 1950s, both in the Mile End neighborhood, both open 24 hours, both producing bagels that partisans consider definitively superior to anything Manhattan offers. The debate is religious: Montreal versus New York, Fairmount versus St-Viateur, sesame versus poppy seed. The bagels are legitimately excellent, regardless of which side you choose, and the best argument for either city is eating one while it's still warm.
The Festivals
Montreal hosts more festivals than any city has a right to: the Montreal International Jazz Festival (the world's largest), Just for Laughs (the world's largest comedy festival), Osheaga (major rock festival), the Montreal World Film Festival, and dozens of others occupying every summer weekend. The festival culture emerged from Montreal's need to make the short summer count - when the weather finally permits outdoor gathering, the city gathers outdoors obsessively. The festivals are mostly free or affordable, street-based, designed for pedestrian enjoyment. The programming is genuinely world-class; the weather, for those weeks, is perfect.
Visiting Montreal
Montreal is served by Trudeau International Airport (YUL). Old Montreal preserves cobblestoned French colonial heritage along the St. Lawrence; the Basilica of Notre-Dame is stunning. Mount Royal, the volcanic hill that gives Montreal its name, offers city views and Frederick Law Olmsted-designed parkland. The Plateau Mont-Royal and Mile End neighborhoods offer restaurants, boutiques, and cultural life. The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is excellent and partly free. Poutine - fries, cheese curds, gravy - is Montreal's contribution to comfort food and should be consumed late at night. The bagel pilgrimage requires visiting both Fairmount and St-Viateur and choosing a side. The experience rewards French appreciation (knowing some helps, but English works) and willingness to indulge in pleasure without guilt.
From the Air
Located at 45.50°N, 73.57°W on the island of Montreal in the St. Lawrence River. From altitude, Montreal appears as an island city - the St. Lawrence visible to the south, the Rivière des Prairies to the north, bridges connecting to the mainland. Mount Royal rises from the center of the island, its cross-topped summit a landmark. The downtown skyline clusters south of the mountain; Old Montreal occupies the waterfront. The Olympic Stadium's distinctive inclined tower is visible to the east. What appears from altitude as a major island city is French North America's metropolis - where language is law, where bagels exceed their reputation, and where European joie de vivre survives 40 degrees north of the equator.