My neighbour on flight AC865 from London to Montreal had something to share with me. As he ensured my drink was a double, Nik, a businessman from Montreal via New Delhi and Hull, imparted his wisdom. 'The best thing about Montreal, my friend, is it is the cleanest and tidiest city in North America. The air is crisp, and the mountains are nearby. There is none of the smog of New York or London.'
He went on: 'But that doesn't take into account the food. It is the best in the world. Friends of mine fly from New York to Montreal just to eat,' he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. 'But, my friend, wait until you see the people. They are the most beautiful in the world. They are lean, relaxed and healthy - like Americans want to be - but they speak French.'
Nik added that when business brings him to Montreal for six months of each year, he dares not live near the city. 'My friend, I have to work some time.'
As the plane hit the runway, Montreal had some expectations to live up to. The largest city in Canada's most fiercely and proudly Francophone province, it sits on an island in the St Lawrence river. It was here that a French soldier, Paul de Chomedey, established a hamlet called Ville Marie in 1642. This, after much squabbling between the British, French and Americans, became the Montreal of today.
As I left the Reine Elizabeth hotel on Rue René Levesque, before me was Mont Royal, the park-cum-hill on which the prestigious McGill University rests. The 90F degree heat bounced aggressively off the street, but on either side was an oasis of calm. It reminded me of Denver: the same quality of life - the clean streets, calm orderly roads and well-oiled infrastructure - but without the neurosis and fear of crime that undermines the American dream in so many cities.
In Canada everyone seems to feel a civic responsibility, pays huge amounts of income tax and cycles if at all possible. There is even a law forcing you to turn off your car engine if you are parked. The squeegee merchants are 'homeless' kids dressed in carefully styled punk gear, who are usually travellers earning pocket money. Elsewhere people smile, and seem to mean it. Yet Montreal exudes the laid-back European attitudes to sex, sustenance and smoking which are lacking in other Canadian cities.
As night fell, the heat lessened, but Montreal warmed up. It is after dark that the city's continental swagger really sets it apart. The main thoroughfare, Rue Saint Catherine, came alive with students and throngs of pleasureseekers. This city pulsates with a sense of sexual liberation that would make the Dutch come over all prudish.
The Canadian Supreme Court recently passed legislation making it legal to touch a lap dancer; there is a huge gay community and consequently an outrageous Mardi Gras. And someone tells me there are three women to every man. Life could be worse.
Rue Saint Catherine provides access to the city's vast underground complex of shops, open late. Then there are the restaurants. You can eat Thai, French, Italian, Indian, Spanish, or Chinese, and the food is invariably fresh and exquisite. On Rue Crescent, the heart of the city's nightlife, the atmosphere resembles Miami's South Beach, but everyone is polite. People flood into the road, flitting in and out of Winnie's bar or the Newtown club, trouble free. I saw two policemen during my entire, six-day stay, and they were on bicycles, giving a parking ticket.
Life is tranquil enough here for the newspapers to carry 200-word stories about a rash of car-on-moose collisions on a particular highway. Canada is, according to the United Nations' Human Development Index, the nicest place to live in the world. And this city, home to comedy, jazz and film festivals, remains its cultural heart.
When my plane landed I felt Nik must have been selling me a line. When it took off again, I reminded myself he had forgotten one thing: this is also the most relaxed city in the world.
If you only do five things...
1. Go up Mont Royal. It's about a 15-minute climb from the grounds of McGill University, but the view from the beautiful terrace at the top, complete with fountains, takes in the entire city.
2. Get lost in the maze-like 'underground city'.This is a huge series of interconnected shopping centres, reaching from basement level to several storeys above ground, stretching for miles. Home to 1,600 boutiques, 200 restaurants and several department stores and cinemas, it is worth a visit even if you aren't a huge fan of credit-card consumerism. The sheer scale of it is breathtaking.
3. Have a drink at 737 Club (00 1 514 397 0737). On the forty-third floor of the Place De Ville Marie, on the corner of Rue René Levesque and Rue Université, this is a favourite hangout for the city's beautiful people. At sunset, the view from one of the highest points in the city becomes breathtaking, as do some of the clientele. Happy hour is from 5-7pm on Thursdays.
4. See the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History, Pointe-á-Calliere, 350 Place Royale (00 1 514 872 9150). A fascinating walk through the city's history, a trail leads visitors through in situ excavations. An introductory film explains the history of the old British settlement, the wars that followed and the spells of peace. Admission is C$9 (£4.13) per adult, free for the under-fives and C$19 (£8.07) for a family ticket for four.
5. Go to the Biodôme de Montreal, 4777 Avenue Pierre De Coubertin (00 1 514 868 3000). Canada's version of the Eden Project in Cornwall, this exhibition re-creates an incredible series of different eco-systems. There are four artificially maintained climates - the Laurentian Forest, the tropical forest, the maritime world and the polar world - each with 'indigenous' wildlife. Genuinely enlightening if you can stand the hordes of screaming schoolkids. Admission is C$10 (about £4.60) for adults and C$5 (£2.30) for children aged between five and 17. The under-fives go in free.
Don't even think about...
· Hiring a car. The public transport is superb - taxis, buses and the metro alike - and you can walk from top to tail in about 30 minutes.
· Not tipping. This may be Canada, but New York rules apply: leave a minimum of 10 per cent.
· Going to a fast food chain. The restaurants, without exception, are excellent.
· Going to the Insectarium, 4101 Rue Sherbrooke Est. There are lots of bugs in glass cases, which, although varied, are all dead and consequently dull.
Where to eat
Fast and filling: Le Jardin de Panos,521 Duluth Est (00 1 514 521 4206). Attractive Greek restaurant on a huge terrace. The food is basic Greek fare, pleasantly done. Bring your own wine. Moussaka for about C$11.40 (£5). Around C$22.80 (£10) a head.
A safe bet: La Colombe, 554 Rue Duluth Est (00 1 514 849 8844). Local cuisine, which is a blend of French cooking coupled with the American penchant for inventiveness and huge portions. About C$45.60 (£20) a head. Superb. Bring your own wine.
Totally sinful: Restaurant Julien, 1191 avenue Union (00 1 514 871 1581). Superb French menu. Confit de canard is C$18.10 (£8), catfish with mango and avocado salsa C$18.80 (£8.80). Wine served here.
Room for the night
Luxury: Fairmont Le Reine Elizabeth, 900 Boulevard Rene-Levesque Ouest (00 1 514 861 3511). C$179 per room (£79.25) including breakfast. Very classy and central. A little early Eighties in grandeur, but still tasteful.
Mid-range: Aux Passants du Sans Soucy, 171 Rue Saint Paul Ouest (001 514 842 2634). From C$120 (£53) a night, including breakfast.Delightful B&B with nine rooms in a historic house with wooden floors, stone walls and open fire places.
Budget: Marmelade, 1074 Rue Saint Dominique (00 1 514 876 3960) C$75 (£33.20) including breakfast. A beautiful Victorian townhouse near Chinatown with five rooms and a family feel.
Objects of desire
· Tickets for the city's top-class shows and festivals including: the Montreal International Jazz Festival, North America's largest, which runs from late June to early July; the world's largest comedy festival Juste Pour Rire (Just For Laughs) in mid-July; and the Montreal World Film Festival in late August. For tickets and events listings contact Admission (00 1 514 790 1245).
· Good local produce such as duck, smoked meats, bagels, and huge salmon steakscan be bought at Le Marche des Saveurs du Quebec, Jean Talon market, 280 Place du Marche du Nord (00 1 514 271 3811).
· The antique hunter's Mecca is Rue Sherbrooke in Westmount, a road full of the city's finest antique shops.
Behaving badly
The best bars in town all seem to be in Rue Crescent: Thursdays, 1449 Rue Crescent (00 1 514 288 5656), is widely considered by some to be 'the best place to meet people', though others see it as a 'meat market'. Drinks are cheap and, like everywhere else, it is open until 3am. Winnie's, next door, is equally popular. New Town, 1476 Rue Crescent (00 1 514 284 9119), is a pleasantly abrasive house club, with an almost unhealthy dose of mirrors. Still, the clientele sparkles in compensation. The Vatican, 1432 Rue Crescent (00 1 514 845 3922), just a few metres down the hill, is for a younger crowd, say 18 to 24, and is livelier.
In Old Montreal you can experience the 'real Quebec'. Aux Deux Pierrots, 104, Rue Saint-Paul Est (00 1 514 861 1686). Live music ranges from Quebec folk singing to American rock. L'Air du Temps, 191 Rue Saint-Paul Ouest (00 1 514 842 2003), is a delicate jazz club.
Getting there
· Air Canada (08705 247 226) flies London to Montreal from £375 midweek and £465 at the weekend.
· Travelscene (020 8424 9648) offers three-night weekend breaks to Montreal. From £464 per person in the three-star Days Inn and from £524 in the four-star Queen Elizabeth Hotel. Prices are based on two people sharing and include accommodation, return scheduled flights from Heathrow, and UK taxes.
Getting around
· Use the cheap metro, or walk. Taxis are cheap (Try local firms Co-Op on 00 1 514 725 9885 or Diamond on 00 1 514 273 6331). Daytrippers can use the city's many scenic bicycle paths.
· You can buy a carte touristique for three days' travel on the bus or the metro for C$14 (£6.20). There are no 'zones' on the island so you can travel everywhere, and the passes are valid at peak hours. Single bus tickets require the exact change.
· If you prefer a bike, try Vélo Adventure Montreal (00 1 514 847 0666), from C$22 for one day.
Get out of town
· Head for the rapids at the south of the island. Pole Des Rapides (00 1 514 732 7303) organises cycle trips and watersports. Between June and August it offers rafting and kayaking on the Lachine Rapides as does Les Descentes sur le St-Laurent (00 1 514 767 2230). A few hours tour costs about C$40 (£17.70). It costs C$20 (£8.85) for a kayak for the day.
· There are more than 400 miles of cycle paths in and around the city. Take a bicycle over to the west of the island to the Cap-Saint Jacques nature park, a spectacularly beautiful and remote corner of the island, with all the tranquillity of the nearby nature reserve. Pole Des Rapides rent bicycles for C$7 (about £3.10) an hour, C$22 (£9.75) for an eight-hour day and C$25 (£11) on Saturdays and Sundays. They have tandems, and rollerblades (C$25 for an eight-hour day) too.
· Take a train trip to Québec City, and experience the spectacular views en route. In coach class a return ticket is C$106 (£47) and a first-class return is C$196 (£86.75). This includes your meal and drinks. It leaves from the Gare Central underneath the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, Fairmont, and takes three hours. In Québec City the train departs from the Gare du Palais in Basse-Ville (00 1 888 842 7245).
What the tourist board doesn't say
· A little bit of French will go a long way. Although Anglophones are welcome, there is a slight frostiness from some Montrealers if you don't approach them in French.
· There's a C$15 (£6.65) 'Airport Improvement Tax' to pay when you leave. It funds refurbishment of the terminals.
Find out more
For further information contact Tourism Montreal (00 1 514 844 5400) or Tourism Quebec (00 1 514 873 2015)
Lonely Planet publishes a guide to Montreal for £9.99.
