Vieux Montreal
After we left Niagara, we headed to Montreal! This was a stop we debated on. It was out of the way, so to speak. But also close enough we didn’t want to skip it. When considering what to do with kids in Montreal, we really thought about what we wanted to kids to takeaway from this city. One important thing I wanted to the kids to understand was the rich history of the settlement of Canada AND how it tied into our local history as well. There was definitely no shortage of choices to do this!
We started at Château Ramezay, a historic site and museum depicting 500 years of Montreal history. It is located in Vieux Montreal and the building itself was built in 1705. It is on the Canada National History Places list. The museum has rooms telling stories from the settlement of Canada, including First Nations history through settlement and colonial times to independence. The basement held some very cool interactive exhibits for the kids.
After we visited the museum, we visited the beautifully appointed colonial-style gardens. Beautiful day for it.
After our visit to the Château, we walked around Vieux Montreal and enjoyed the gorgeous old part of the city. (More on this in a separate post!) Then we made our way to the Pointe–à–Callière Museum.
This museum is another history museum but it is more like a complex. It covers three archeological sites as well. There are exhibits on First Nations, how they interacted with French and British settlers, and then on through settlement.
A cool aspect of the museum is the archeological aspect. You get to experience archeological remains from every period of the city’s past firsthand. We walked through remains of the settlement Fort Vielle Marie as well as the first sewers. The interpretation of the history from these points was very cool. They used colored lights and neon lights to show where the original boundaries were and how it grew and changed over the years. Very interesting and engaging visual for the kids AND for me.
We made our way through the complex. There was a temporary exhibit on Vikings and their history, culture, and link to Canada. This was a favorite of the kids!
I will say that this was a little tougher. MANY things were in both French and English, but not all of the interactive things were. So I served as an interpreter, and it was all gravy!
Another favorite of the kids was the pirates exhibit! Then upstairs there was a music and communication technology exhibit. This museum seriously had TONS of cool exhibits through which we learned a ton about Canadian history and culture and it was visually so interesting.
After the museum, we enjoyed the city and went over to the Notre-Dame basilica for a concert.
This was such an amazing experience! The concert was also a light show where they darkened the cathedral and they had lasers and projections on the walls of the inside of the cathedral. Spectacular and unique, unlike anything I had seen before. In London a few years ago, there was something like this but on the outside of the buildings. This was a totally different experience being combined with music and the interior. Very very cool! We all enjoyed that.
Then a night on the town!
