words and images by Robert La Bua
A French attitude toward sex coupled with North American bodies beautiful make for one of the most agonisingly sensual ‘gaystinations’ in the world. In fact, despite the stereotype perpetuated in that sentence, a diversity of world cultures is well represented in the vastly colourful communities that make up the population of Montréal. Often thought of as a French city, it is actually a delightful mélange of Italian, Greek, Chinese, Vietnamese, and more than a hundred other cultures that happen to speak French and English fluently—and probably at least one other language, too. As the City Of Montréal’s flag demonstrates so unmistakably, the founding fathers were not only French, but English, Scottish, and Irish as well. This mix of cultures has endowed the city with the type of egalitarian sophistication that used to exist in Australia before the Howard years separated Australians into Us and Them, so it is very refreshing to re-experience that we have lost in greater society as well as within the gay community, which still retains a true sense of community in its literal definition. Gay people collectively seem to celebrate Life from the heart in Montréal more than anywhere else in the world. Not many gaybourhoods garner their own Wikipedia entry (Gay Village Montréal), and not many countries have totally equal laws regarding marriage of ALL its citizens.
If LGBT visitors can manage to tear themselves away from rue St Cathérine and the gay ghetto, where hip restaurants and nude dancers exist side by side to satisfy a variety of hungers, they would find Montréal offers a near endless number of interesting sights—the wonderful Museum Of Fine Arts, Montréal’s premier museum, for example, and the impressive Redpath Museum, a beautiful building often used as a set for films and photoshoots that is the oldest museum building in Canada. Very close to the Redpath is the excellent McCord Museum, where the permanent exhibit Simply Montréal: Glimpses of a Unique History gives some provocative insight into the city.
With so many cultures as part of the city’s social fabric, Montréal is one of the world’s great food destinations. Only the freshest will do, though; there is a noticeable absence of supermarkets in the city centre because people buy their food at old-fashioned public markets where fresh, local produce grown in an unindustrialised manner are for sale. These markets are located all around the city, with Atwater, St Jacques, Bonsecours, and Jean Talon among the most popular. Shopping for food this way, with friendly merchants offering samples of their products, makes going to the market an amusing pastime rather than another task on the To Do list.
One of the hottest places to stay is W Montréal, a hip and happening place if ever there were one. Located on the edge of Old Montréal in a historic building that formerly served as the Banque of Canada, W is a lively and colourful resident of the Montréal hotel scene. As if the stylish rooms and handsome young things populating the lobby weren’t enough of an excuse to choose this hotel, W’s Away Spa is reason enough to stay here. The discreetly elegant Loews Hôtel Vogue Montréal is another fine choice; the hotel sits on prime real estate located between the shopping of St Catherine St and the cultural institutions of Sherbrooke St.
Yes, some Canadians do think of dressing up as an opportunity to wear new hiking boots rather than old ones, but others work their Armani and Prada attire with the best of them. In fact, pampering the dandies of Montréal is a full-time occupation for the ladies of Mann, a men’s beauty centre with no women clients but an all-women staff. Skin is taken as seriously here as at the sauna, so come to Mann expecting to leave feeling nearly as exhilarated. Perhaps Mann is one reason why Montréal’s well-groomed men are so damned handsome; flawless skin just isn’t fair.
Unfortunately, no one airline can take Western Australians all the way to Mann, but Air Canada offers a fast connection to Montréal with its Sydney-Vancouver nonstop; the magic of timezones allows for arrival in Montréal only a few hours local time after departure from Sydney to this city on the other side of our world. On arrival in Montréal, why not have a friendly face—and a luxury SUV—waiting for you at the airport? Cruz Limousine’s fleet includes the Cadillac Escalade driven by friendly and punctual drivers. For more information, contact Cruz Limousine at info@cruzlimo.ca.
More information about gay Montréal and gay Québec is available on the Tourisme Montréal and Tourisme Québec dedicated LGBT pages, while the Canadian Tourism Commission website offers information about all of Canada. One of the best times to come is during one of Montréal’s many LGBT events; Divers/Cité in July and Black&Blue in October attract visitors from all over the world.
MORE INFORMATION:
www.tourisme-montreal.org/Discover-montreal/Gay-and-Lesbian/
www.bonjourquebec.com/ca-en/voyagergai0.html
www.canadatourism.com
www.aircanada.com
www.wmontrealhotel.com
www.loewshotels.com
www.mannmontreal.com
www.cruzlimo.ca
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