http://www.sitebits.com/canada/ Canada en Copyright &copy; 1999-2008 Gromco, Inc. Mon, 13 Oct 2008 20:36:14 EDT Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:30:00 EDT info@sitebits.com info@sitebits.com A bewildered American tourist who vacationed in <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/">Montreal</a> this summer recently wrote a letter to the Gazette, the local anglophone daily, wondering why announcements on the métro are delivered only in French. <br/><br/> The newspaper's response and the quotes it extracted from various officials highlighted an interesting contrast in policies between Montreal and Paris public transportation services. While in <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/france/paris/">Paris</a>, announcements are routinely delivered in three languages (French, English and a rotating third major language), Montreal metro will only play a pre-recorded bilingual tape in an emergency situation ("fire! get out!"). "Routine" messages such as announcements of delays are delivered only in French as a matter of policy... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/metro-passengers-lost-with-no-translation-7914177.html Mon, 13 Oct 2008 14:30:00 EDT You gain some, you lose some. While the city is busy adding thousands of hotels rooms (we <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/2008/new-hilton-garden-inn-centreville-5610323.html">wrote</a> about one new project last month), some in the hospitality business decided they'd had enough of the Montreal market. <br/><br/> The management of the Omni Mont-Royal hotel on Sherbrooke street has announced its decision to close the 32-year old 299-room property (which had previously been operated under the brands of Westin and Four Seasons) on Dec 10th, citing "operational difficulties"... Gromco http://www.sitebits.com/2008/omni-mont-royal-to-close-1146256.html Fri, 03 Oct 2008 17:40:00 EDT The voting process for the name of Montreal's citywide bike rental program is over and the winner is chosen. The system is going to be called "BIXI". <br/><br/> Over the next month, demo bikes will be wheeled around the city and public demonstrations will be held. According to the city's mayor, <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/people/gerald_tremblay.html">Gérald Tremblay</a>, by next spring Montreal will count 2,400 bikes at more than 300 solar-powered stations... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/bixi-bike-taxi-montreal-7408304.html Mon, 22 Sep 2008 15:30:00 EDT Construction crews are still crawling over the central tower of the new <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/hotels/mtl-hilton_garden_inn.html">Hilton Garden Inn</a> on Rue Sherbrooke, but the hotel is already open for business, as made evident not only by the banner that says as much, but also by a quasi-permanent line of cabs picking up departing guests... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/new-hilton-garden-inn-centreville-5610323.html Tue, 16 Sep 2008 14:45:00 EDT I've been looking for the perfect breakfast crêpe in Montreal for a long time. It hasn't been easy, but I think I've just found it. <br/><br/> This treat is called "Bonne Journée" and comes from the kitchen of "Café Crêpe" - a small café that is named after what it makes best. Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/bonne-journee-from-cafe-crepe.html Sat, 06 Sep 2008 19:00:00 EDT Back in July, Apple opened a flagship store in Montreal of which yours truly has already had an opportunity to be a customer. <br/><br/> The store is ninth in the list of Apple's flagship stores world-wide (the others are in San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, London, Tokyo, Osaka and New York) and the first of the kind in Canada... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/apple_opens_montreal_flagship_store.html Wed, 03 Sep 2008 12:45:00 EDT Montreal will soon get its own city-wide bike-rental system clearly modeled after Paris' Velib. It will work almost exactly the same way as Vélib: you pick up your bike from any of the stations, pay at the station or simply swipe a card, use your bike and return it to any station you deem convenient. </p><p> The only (minor) problem is, the system is still to be named. So, the city is asking everyone's opinion. Here are the options: BIXI, Bycik, MontVélo, VélO2 and VillaVélo... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/montreal_bike_system_looking_for_name.html Wed, 13 Aug 2008 23:13:00 EDT The Montreal Jazz Festival 2008 has just finished and the city is already fevereshly preparing for the 2009 edition. You might think this is an overstatement - after all, there's almost a year left! But in fact, in this short year, one of the most important concert spaces, the plaza between Place des Arts and Rue de Bleury will have to be completely redone. The models and renderings for the new Place des Festivals were made public a few days ago and the city's mayor took the opportunity to assure everybody the project is "on schedule, on budget"... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/new-plaza-in-2009.html Thu, 17 Jul 2008 09:30:00 EDT As many press outlets have reported, the <b>Waldorf=Astoria</b> hotel will open a Montreal outpost some time in 2011. A 250-room, 76-residence monster (officially named The Waldorf=Astoria Hotel & Residences Montreal) will rise a few blocks west of the <b>Montreal Museum of Fine Art</b>... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/waldorf-astoria-to-open-in-montreal.html Sat, 05 Jul 2008 17:10:00 EDT Many tourists (not to mention the residents) find the lack of direct transport links between <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/districts/downtown-montreal.html">Downtown</a> and <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/districts/old-montreal.html">Old Montreal</a> inconvenient. Sure, the métro is there, but because of the U-shaped configuration of its lines, a traveler who wants to go from centrally located Peel Street to no less central <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/districts/old-montreal.html">Old Montreal</a> would have to travel a few stops west (or east) on the green line, switch to the orange line, then essentially come back to the geographic center of the city albeit 10-15 blocks south. Annoying. <br/><br/> Fortunately, the city is aware of that - in fact, many recent proposals for building a tramway line cited this very inconvenience as the major reason for building it. Well, the tramway, if it's ever built, is still years away, but something much more feasible is already coming, the Gazette reported: <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/districts/old-montreal.html">Old Montreal</a> and <a href="http://www.sitebits.com/canada/montreal/districts/downtown-montreal.html">Downtown Montreal</a> are to be linked by a new bus route... Gromco http://www.sitebits.com/2008/new_bus_route_downtown_old_port.html Wed, 04 Jun 2008 13:06:00 EDT With few exceptions, I never order anything that I can cook well myself. Thai is one cuisine that I would love to wow guests with. Its distinguishing feature is the use of coconut milk, lemon grass, peanuts and chilli peppers in harmonious constellations for consumption. But sadly, I've never actually done anything about studying it, maybe because I am a regular at Restaurant Thaïlande. Let's face it, we're a lazy species, and if others can do it better, why not go to them? Andrea http://www.sitebits.com/2008/high-on-thai-restaurant-thailande.html Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:40:00 EST There are many restaurants in this town proving their worth by hiring the right chef, PR agency or interior designer, attracting the "in" crowd or serving the most "creative" (sometimes absurdly creative) nouvelle cuisine dishes. <br><br> And then there are restaurants that don't need to prove anything: as long as they stay true to their mission and character, they will be deservedly popular. <br><br> L'Express at 3927 rue St-Denis belongs to the second category. In the 20-odd years that the place existed, it slowly transformed its status from that of a "cool new thing" to that of a Montreal institution... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/l-express-way.html Sat, 09 Feb 2008 18:25:00 EST I am not exactly a frequent visitor at tea salons - a fact pretty much ensured by the very presence of the Y chromosome in my DNA. </p><p> Yet, since about a year ago, I regularly find myself at a place that ranks suspiciously well on the tea connoisseurs' list of Montreal cafés and restaurants. And what do I order there? Tea. And cookies... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2008/tea-at-nocochi.html Tue, 08 Jan 2008 00:15:00 EST I am here to clear up the confusion and defend the merits of Habitat 67... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2007/habitat-67-2007.html Fri, 09 Nov 2007 02:20:00 EST My mission for the night: to have a decent terrace meal in the Old Port and enjoy a nice conversation with my dining partner (who happened to be another SiteBits contributor). Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2007/aszu.html Tue, 18 Sep 2007 00:05:00 EDT Nota Bene sells an amazing array of imported designer stationery items – mostly of European and Japanese origin. If you're the type who prefers to think with a pen or a pencil in their hands, chances are you're going to love this store... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2007/nota_bene_2007.html Mon, 13 Aug 2007 00:02:00 EDT One of my favorites (not only for its nice building, which I really like) is the Atwater Market, situated very close to the Lachine Canal path, making it the perfect stop after a walk or a bike ride. Alban http://www.sitebits.com/2007/marche_atwater.html Mon, 06 Aug 2007 17:00:00 EDT If you know anything about Ottawa you probably know it as the capital of Canada and not much else. That's most of the story. Unless you work for the government, there's not much to do in Ottawa, particularly after sunset, aside from an all-you-can-eat lobster dinner and a cozy bed... Alban http://www.sitebits.com/2007/ottawa_i_came_i_saw_i_left.html Tue, 17 Jul 2007 10:50:00 EDT Located right in the middle of Plateau Mont Royal, L'Inspecteur Épingle is a bar where a variety of characters congregate to drink affordably priced pints of beer. Fernanda http://www.sitebits.com/2007/l_inspecteur_epingle_raise_your_pint.html Fri, 11 May 2007 21:30:00 EDT Pi Café (Café π) is basically a mixture of coffee shop, workplace, gallery, chess venue and a place for tranquility. Fernanda http://www.sitebits.com/2007/pi_cafe_coffee_tranquility.html Sun, 22 Apr 2007 02:25:00 EDT Somebody on the site mentioned that Le Grand Comptoir is one of the few restaurants in Montreal with friendly, non-pretentious “single person" table service and I would agree with them. What I mean by that is that going there by yourself doesn't necessarily present you with the typical dining-alone nuisances, like having to sit at the counter and thus forgo being able to relax in a chair, or being subjected to attitude from the host(ess) and the server. (After all, you're taking up a whole table and you'll only leave one person's tip!) <br><br> Like I said, Le Grand Comptoir is a fortunate exception to those experiences. You can go there alone at almost any time of day (except the lunch hour: too busy) and find more than a handful of individual tables to choose from... Slavito http://www.sitebits.com/2007/alone_at_le_grand_comptoir.html Thu, 15 Feb 2007 23:20:00 EST When I say the words "General Store", what do you think of? I bet it's the television show "The Waltons", isn't it? And then maybe the image of a dusty-shelved, small-town shop with some outdated products in faded packages and maybe one of those huge jars of pickled eggs on the counter, surrounded by locals, gossiping and chatting. Not exactly the kind of thing you'd think you'd ever find in downtown Toronto. And on that count, you'd be both right and wrong... Sheryl http://www.sitebits.com/2007/good_catch_general_store.html Wed, 14 Feb 2007 14:00:00 EST I was always under the impression that "tapas" was a Spanish word meaning small bites or small plates. In Spain, tapas is something you eat after work with a drink or two before heading off to dinner, sometime between nine or ten o'clock. Those little bits of snacks and olives, maybe some bread, are meant to tide you over until the big meal. <br><br> Not so in Toronto, where tapas bars have morphed away from Spanish snacks and drinks to full meals of every genre, at high-end prices. Problem is, you've got to eat a lot of little dishes to come up with the equivalent of a meal. <br><br> When Boom Shiva opened on the West Queen West strip last summer, they were the hit of the season -- finally, a bar with exclusively vegetarian food. Local critics sang the praises of the crusty old bar revamped into a fun and funky space with live music, tasty cocktails and a knowledgeable beer menu... Sheryl http://www.sitebits.com/2007/boom_shiva_2007.html Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:30:00 EST Certain restaurant reviewers in Toronto have a longtime habit of instantly dismissing the service at any Queen West establishment as having too much attitude. Maybe I'm immune to it, or maybe the black leather jacket and dark sunglasses I've worn for decades make me attitude-repellant, but it's a complaint I've never seen the merit of. </p><p> With one exception. I have walked out of the Queen Mother café almost as many times as I've eaten there, unwilling to put up with the <i>really</i> crappy service. I keep coming back, though, because the food makes it all worthwhile... Sheryl http://www.sitebits.com/2007/queen_mother_2007.html Mon, 29 Jan 2007 01:00:00 EST How many more blockbusters would you be willing to drop 13 bucks for? Personally, I'm done with it. <br><br> However, I love cinema and will be the first one to admit that renting movies is not the same as going to a movie theater. A movie theater gives you the atmosphere, the sound and the focus. In the coziness of your seat, you are "inside" the story unveiling on the screen. For good movies (and I mean <i>guaranteed</i> good movies), you have to go to one of Montreal's <i>répertoire</i> (or repertory) cinemas, the best of which is Cinema du Parc. <br><br> I assumed Cinema du Parc had closed its doors a while ago, which I thought was unfortunate because it had left fewer available alternatives to watch good cinema. However, it recently reopened with a vengeance... Fernanda http://www.sitebits.com/2007/cinema_du_park_winter_07.html Mon, 22 Jan 2007 01:00:00 EST