Montreal Travel: A Visit to Olive et Gourmando

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• published: 04 Jul 2011
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During the last few hours in Montreal on Day 5 of our trip (Feb 22, 2011) I managed to get a few more things in. After a tour of the nicely stacked wine cellar of the Restaurant Bonaparte, I walked a few minutes west on Rue St-Paul to "Olive et Gourmando", a hugely popular café / bakery. By 10:30 in the morning it was already packed. I had a chance to interview co-owner Dyan Solomon who created this lovely eatery 14 years ago when Old Montreal was still a run-down part of town. Today her business has 35 employees and at noon time you have a hard time getting inside! Then I walked down a few steps to Place d'Youville to the Centre d'Histoire de Montreal, Montreal's municipal history museum. Historic guide Tyler Wood showed me through the whole museum and I enjoyed the exhibits that explain the five different areas of Montreal's history. The temporary exhibitions on the second and third level of the museum were also worth a visit: "Made in Montreal?" on the second floor portrays consumer goods made (or not) in Montreal. "Montreal Moderne" explores Montreal's huge collection of modernist architecture. And in a few months they'll have an exhibition coming up of all of Montreal's lost neighbourhoods, places that were destroyed to make way for highways, parking lots etc. Definitely gotta see that... After a delicious lunch at Olive et Gourmando, I finally popped into the Marché Bonsecours and stopped at the Café des Arts for an icecream. Co-owner Michelle Hernandez showed me the beautiful paintings and pieces of art that she has in her café / gallery and gave me an overview of the special events and presentations that are going to be held in her café in the near future. Then it was time to say goodbye to Montreal and hop back on the train to Toronto. Via Rail train no. 67 whisked us back to Toronto in less than 5 hours and we had some great chats with the staff on board. Montreal in the winter has been a wonderful adventure, and I can't wait to visit the city again.