I checked my Apple map. This seemed to be the right place. But where was my hotel? My wife and I were booked for two nights at Le Petit Hotel Notre Dame in Old Montreal. Our Uber driver stopped on Rue Notre Dame, just steps from Notre-Dame Basilica, but I didn’t see our hotel. I know enough French to understand Le Petit means small hotel, but I literally couldn’t see it. Finally, I spotted a small (ahem) sign in a window of a building on the north side of the street that said “Petit Hotel.” We got our carry-on bags Read more
Old Montreal
With U.S. President Donald Trump seemingly bent on imposing stiff tariffs on Canadian goods sent to the States, and with lingering talk of Canada becoming a 51st state, Canadians are increasingly looking to stay home and explore their own country this year. With that in mind, here’s a story I posted a while back on Montreal, one of the great cities of the world. It’s a wonderfully cosmopolitan destination with a remarkable history, amazing neighborhoods to explore and a wonderful waterfront. We’re all trying to save money these days, so here are five things to do in the city for Read more
The jazz was great. The acrobats were wonderful. And the Barbu Foire Electro Trad was like nothing I’d ever seen. I spent a long weekend in Montreal earlier this month, mostly checking out festivals during the night and exploring neighborhoods during the day. It was, as always, an extraordinary trip to one of the world’s great cities. We started out with a show by Jesse Cook at the Montreal International Jazz Festival, which wrapped up July 9. Cook and his band were utterly sensational; playing a mix of Spanish/Flamenco style guitar with marvellous percussion work, as well as a great Read more
Jim Byers photo A cruise ship departing St. John’s, Newfoundland is saluted by an officer at Signal Hill. I used Twitter on Canada Day to post a whack of my personal favourite photos that I’ve taken over the years in this great country. Here’s a sampling of them, iin no particular order. I hope you enjoy the show! Feel free to write back to me, of course: jim@jimbyerstravel.com. If I left your favourite place out pf my gallery, my apologies. I don’t have time to post all 10,478 photos in my laptop, and there still are many parts of Canada Read more
