Hi, my name is Smooches and I’m a lurker.
Did I mention I’m new and this is my first posting?
Could someone who lives near Mont Tremblant or is
even familiar with Mont Tremblant or can even do a
pretty decent French accent fill me in?
It’s my first vacation in 5 years and I don’t wanna
be an Ugly American?
Thanks.
Welcome, smooches. I don’t have an answer for you, but I thought I might be able to clarify the question a bit. As I read that, you’re trying to avoid looking rude or uncultured, and you want to know what local customs you should be aware of? Or how to talk like a native? I suspect on that latter note that there’s no way you’re going to get it down quite right without living there for a while.
You mean Mont Royal, right?
Okay, try the following: few Quebecois say “Eh” – that’s a silly stereotype for English Canadians.
Haven’t visited Montreal in a good 15 years so any detials I recall are just about useless, but probably the best things to recall is:
(1) Canada is metric. Don’t whine about it, its a better system any way.
(2) Do try to learn a few basic French phrases and don’t complain about their strange French accent. The francophones speak English fine, but will appreciate your effort.
(3) Try not to make foolish comments about what the money looks like – once you get used to it, you’ll realize all green dinero is boring.
Other than that, have fun.
Thanks, Collounsbury.
but it is called Mont Tremblant.
It’s a ski resort.
I know,la-de-friggin’-do.
I do appreciate your advice though.
I mean, merci.
Native Montréaler here -
Mount Tremblant is a ski resort about 2 hours north of the city. Mount Royal (or Mont Royale in French . . . say it fast . . . get it?) is the geographic and spiritual heart of the city. You should see it out of my office window right now - rising above the gleaming office towers, emblazened in autumn reds, golds, yellows . . . for my money, this is the most beautiful park in any North American city.
What else about Montréal . . . bars stay open until 3:30am, you can still smoke in restaurants (or on the bus for that matter), don’t call it the subway, call it the Metro, no, the province does not want to seperate from Canada, a vocal MINORITY made up largely of academics and politicians want to seperate to further their own legacies (editorial comment intentional), when ordering beer on tap, ask for a Boreal - local microbrew, but be careful if you’re used to Coors light or Bud . . . like most Canadian beers, Boreal packs a punch (twice the alchohol of domestic yankee beers), if you’re singel and you can’t . . . shall we say, ‘make a friend for the evening’, then there’s something wrong with you, never, ever, ever insult the Montreal Canadiens, go to Old Montreal (Metro station Place Victoria) to see one of the oldest ‘city’ quarters in North America (all cobblestones and old brick buildings), don’t feel underdressed - everybody in Montreal wears miniskirts, leather jackets, run-way fashion styles and haute-couture clothes, so go shopping!
And if you do feel the need to say “eh” at least once, remember that it’s a question word requiring agreement, as in “The SDMB rocks, eh?”
I agree with what most of Mealypotatoes said. Another native Montrealer here, I’ve been to Tremblant and it’s pretty cool. It is kinda a touristy area, so you should be okay with the French thing. Just don’t get offended if some French person mouthes off cause you can’t talk French, ok?
I’m assuming if you’re going to Tremblant it’s to ski, and the weather up here does get damn cold in the winter, so as much fun as it would be to “underdress” shivers…
Basically, it’s a lot like American cities, if you’re polite and all, you’re not going to say a normal american word which is really a profanity and get yourself arrested or anything! =>
Collounsbury:
You’re right on the metric: it is a more logical system. I disagree slightly on the “strange French accent”; in any case, smooches probably couldn’t tell the difference if (s)he doesn’t speak the language. True about all green dinero being boring.
mealypotatoes:
Actually, it’s spelled Mont-Royal and it’s heart is a bit geographically off-centered (as all good hearts are). And smooches, I’d say “Feel free to insult the Montreal Canadiens to your heart’s content. I believe you’ll find more than one Montrealer in total agreement with you. They definitely aren’t the powerful machine they were a couple of decades ago!” (no offence, mealy)
LaurAnge:
Quite right in stating the Tremblant is touristy. smooches shouldn’t have any problem using English.
That being said, you should have a great time in Québec, smooches. Quebeckers are real friendly on the whole and will go out of their way to be helpful. But DO make a side trip to Montreal. It’s well worth it.
P.S.: Welcome!!
Mont Tremblant has its own web site: http://www.tremblant.ca/e/index.html
My wife and I honeymooned in Montreal. Here are some tips:
[list=1]
[li]If you go shopping:[/li][ul]
[li]Keep all your receipts. Upon crossing back to the US, you get your sales taxes back, both provincial and national.[/li][li]If you go to a department store, try to make 1 big purchase instead of several little ones. The above tax refund can’t be given for receipts under $50.[/li][li]Use your credit card. You’ll get the best exchange rate.[/li][li]If you need cash, get about $100 at a time. Less than that and the service charge will wipe out any exchange rate deals.[/li][/ul]
[li]If you go touring:[/li][ul]
[li]No matter what the concierge says, walking to the top of Mount Royal is not a good thing to do. Take a cab.[/li][li]Take horse-drawn coaches for romantic tours, especially in the Historic district and atop Mount Royal.[/li][/ul]
[li]Most service people are bi-lingual. If they greet you in French, make it apparent you speak English, politely. I usually said, “Good afternoon, hello.” That was cue enough for them to switch to English. Don’t say, “Do y’all spreken zie English?”[/li][li]No tipping at the Casino.[/li][li]Cab drivers there are crazy. Pretend you’re on a roller coaster and have fun.[/li]When VLB and I were riding in a cab down from Mount Royal to our hotel, the driver was going down a rather windy road rather fast, weaving out of traffic rather erratically. I peeked over the seat and looked his speedometer. I told my wife, “I know it’s metric, but isn’t 120 kph still pretty fast?”
[/list=1]
Another Montrealer here. I don’t know a whole lot about Mont Tremblant as I don’t ski much but if you are heading to the city here’s some info for you:
What mealypotatoes said is pretty much true except that the bars stay open until 3:00 AM and if you smoke on the bus or Metro you will get a ticket.
Convenience stores here are called Depanneurs.
As long as you stay west of Boul. St. Laurent you will have virtually no problems with language issues.
I highly recommend that you refrain from wearing any Toronto Maple Leafs shirts or hats.
When driving you can’t turn right on a red light. Beware of Montreal drivers…they are maniacs.
Expect pretty crappy service in restaurants. (Great food though.)
If you want to see what’s going on in the city (shows, museums etc.) pick up a copy of The Montreal Mirror newspaper. It’s free at most depanneurs.
If you want to go to a bar there are many, here are a few:
-The Cock n’ Bull Pub…my personal favorite. Amazing Chinese food, cheap beer, good music and very anglo.
-Peel Pub. Cheap food and beer. Mostly a college crowd.
-Cheers. Meat market, expensive beer.
-Foufounes Electriques. For the wannabe cutting edge crowd. Pseudo punks, cheap beer, asshole bouncers and disgusting bathrooms…but it has its charm
-Cafe Campus. Pick up easy French chicks here.
-Pub St-Paul. Cool bar in Old Montreal.
-The Sphinx. For the Goth crowd.
After you’re done partying may I suggest heading to Picasso’s on St-Jacques for late night eats.
The don’t have no stinkin’ slurpies there in frenchy land! However, try poutine. Mmmmmmm!
NEver been to Montreal so I could only tell you what I see on TV. I live in Northern NY (the hell hole that it is)and we get TV commercial for one special place. Club Super Sex (someone told me it was the biggest strip bar in North America, but I couldn’t valify that) The TV tells me all my fantasies will come true there…why would TV lie?
Ohh and you need to be 18 to drink! I know that mattered to me a few years ago! (but we went to cornwall)
My experience has been that Canadiens are happy to speak English to you when they realize you’re an American not a Canadian.
I had the pleasure of finally visiting Montreal last summer. It is a city I’ve been obsessing on seeing for years and I was not dissapointed. I also have some business friends from Montreal.
[QUOTE]
**[list=1][ul]
[li]No matter what the concierge says, walking to the top of Mount Royal is not a good thing to do. Take a cab. [/ul][/list=1] **[/li][/QUOTE]
Tsk. Walking to the top of Mt. Royal is the ONLY way to go. You’ll be there in 20-25 minutes, unless you miss the obvious shortcut along the way or you have a gimpy leg or something. Take a cab on the way down, if you must.
Or, if you’re going during the snowy months, you can also ski your way to the top – groomed trails and all that. Swoosh.
Well, the day we were to walk, it was on the warm side (early September '96). We’d only walked 2 blocks from the subway stop to near the base, and my new bride was already in a bad mood (her shoes hurt, it was hot, etc.). So we took a cab up. Then it was another mile walk to the observation plaza. Fortunately for me, a handsome cab came by. Turned a disaster into a nice romantic afternoon.
Ah, ok, I didn’t include the walk from the nearest metro stop to the base of the mountain, which probably adds close to an extra mile to the hike.
But if you take a bus from downtown to the base of the mountain (the #80 will drop you right there), it really is a nice walk up to the top, even in the middle of winter.