Shopping A-Z

Antiques

Some of the city's quirkier antiques shops have disappeared in recent years, thanks, probably, to eBay. But there are dozens of tempting shops along "Antique Alley," as it's nicknamed, on rue Notre-Dame west of Vieux-Montréal. They're especially concentrated between rue Guy and avenue Atwater.

Antiques can also be found downtown along rue Sherbrooke near the Musée des Beaux-Arts, on the little side streets near the museum, and in the Village on rue Amherst.

Antique Alley & Marche Atwater -- This is a great walk to take if you 1) are in Vieux-Montréal and want to get outside the tourist orbit into a nearby, interesting neighborhood; 2) like antiques shops; 3) are looking for a stroll that concludes (preferably at lunchtime) at one of the city's two great farmers' markets.

The walk itself is simple: Start in Vieux-Montréal on rue Notre-Dame and head west. About an hour later, if you don't make many stops, you'll reach Marché Atwater, a farmer's market that in summer is lined with stalls and stalls of fresh fruit, vegetables, flowers, and snacks, as well as indoors cheese and meat shops, cafes and food stores that stay open year-round. From rue McGill, the street at the western side of Vieux-Montréal, the walk is about 3km (2 miles).

You first come upon a tangle of highways, where the downtown skyline is displayed in a great expanse. After that are some of the city's newer (and then older) condominium complexes.

After about 20 minutes, the gentrified "Antique Alley" begins. The first sign is no. 1510 rue Notre-Dame ouest, the Thamar tea room, which serves cakes and chocolates (tel. 514/937-2222; www.thamar.ca). The next corner is at rue Guy, and here's where the antiquing really begins. Little shops door to door on the next few streets are chock-a-block with every kind of high- and low-end antique under the sun. Business has been tougher of late thanks to eBay, but antiquers will find loads to look at. Michel Richard Antiquaire, at no. 1700 (tel. 514/933-0314), is one of the grandest stores, housed in a former post office with pillars outside and chandeliers, marble tables, and overstuffed divans inside. Pick up the Antiques Art Galleries guidebook here for free -- it prints ads for many of the shops on this street.

The antiquing stops for a few blocks but picks up again at rue Vinet, on which there are some culinary highlights. At no. 2491 is the seafood-and-meat neighborhood joint Joe Beef (tel. 514/935-6504), whose oyster bar is especially acclaimed, and two new adjacent operations run by the same folks: Liverpool House (no. 2501), an Italian gastropub, and the McKiernan luncheonette and wine bar (no. 2485). Graphic-design fans will appreciate the old-fashioned type used by all three properties with the oversight of typographer Glenn Goluska, who also designs for the Canadian Centre for Architecture.

In the next block, itsi bitsi, at no. 2621 (tel. 514/509-3926; www.itsi-bitsi.com) sells designer cupcakes and gelato; the latter comes in flavors like mojito and chocolate-wasabi.

Barcelona has its Boqueria market, Venice has the Rialto fish market, New York City has the Union Square Greenmarket, and Montréal has Marché Atwater, at 138 av. Atwater, www.marchespublics-mtl.com (and, further north, near Little Italy, the Marché Jean-Talon). The market has been in business since 1933 and is housed in an Art Deco-style brick tower building.

One of the must-sees is Première-Moisson (tel. 514/932-0328; www.premieremoisson.com). It's the first bakery to use wheat flour made from wheat grown in Québec, but even without that fact, it's easy to be drawn deeply into the bakery's orbit, with its cases and cases of pastries and cakes; look for breads, sandwiches -- and the Piquant Truffé, a many-peaked concoction dusted with chocolate. In the rest of the market, more than a dozen butchers and cheese shops do business, along with boutiques that sell chocolates, bonbons au miel (honey drops), gourmet packaged goods, and high-end condiments. Eat your snacks at one of the small Parisian-style tables or outdoors. Even the pizza is worth traveling for, piled high with fresh mozzarella and veggies. And of course, in the warm months, the market is flush with fresh fruit and vegetables.

The Lionel-Groulx Métro stop is only 3 blocks away, north on rue Atwater toward downtown Montréal. The paths of the Lachine Canal are just a few blocks south, where kayak and pedal boat rentals are available in summer.

Arts & Crafts

Some of Montréal's best crafts stores are in museums.

Books

As is the case with arts and crafts, some of Montréal's best bookstores are in the city's museums.

Clothing for Men & Women

Montréal's long history as a center for the fur trade buttresses the many wholesale and retail furriers, which have outlets downtown and in Plateau Mont-Royal. Nowhere are fur shops more concentrated than on the "fur row" of rue Mayor, downtown between rue de Bleury and rue City Councillors.

Montréal's fur-trading past buttresses the many wholesale and retail furriers, which maintain outlets downtown and in Plateau Mont-Royal. Nowhere, though, are fur shops more concentrated than on the "fur row" of rue Mayor, downtown between rue de Bleury and rue City Councillors. If you're buying, watch out for PETA protesters.

Department Stores

Montréal's major downtown shopping emporia stretch along rue Ste-Catherine from avenue Union westward to rue Guy. Most of the big department stores here were founded when Scottish, Irish, and English families dominated the city's mercantile class, so most of their names are identifiably English, albeit shorn of their apostrophes. The principal exception is La Baie, French for "the Bay," itself a shortened reference to an earlier name, the Hudson's Bay Company.

Edibles

The food markets described in "Picnic Fare" carry abundant assortments of cheeses, wines, and packaged food products that can serve as gifts or delicious reminders of your visit when you get home.

Wines & Spirits

The food markets described in "Picnic Fare" at the end of chapter 7 carry a good variety of wines, which are also sold in supermarkets and convenience stores. Beer is also available in these venues.

Liquor and other spirits, on the other hand, can only be sold in stores operated by the provincial Société des Alcools du Québec (SAQ). Though it was once as bureaucratic as most state-run agencies, successful upgrade efforts have made its stores more inviting and given differently named stores different personalities. The SAQ website, www.saq.com, provides a wealth of information about Québec wines and area outlets.

One of the largest outlets is the downtown SAQ Selection at 440 bd. de Maisonneuve ouest west of rue de Bleury (tel. 514/873-2274), a veritable supermarket of wines and liquors, with thousands of labels. Prices run from C$10 (£5) to way, way up for Bordeaux vintages. The downtown SAQ Signature at 677 Ste-Catherine west in the Complexe Les Ailes (tel. 514/282-9445) is one of SAQ's boutique shops, featuring a smaller selection of rarer wines and fine liquors.

The VQA logo, for Vintners Quality Alliance, is given to wines that meet the state's quality standards.

Québec's unique ice cider (cidre de glace), made from apples left on trees after the first frost, can be purchased in duty-free shops at the border in addition to the stores listed above. One top producer is Domaine Pinnacle (tel. 450/298-1222; www.domainepinnacle.com), based about an hour and a half from the city; it's a regular gold medalist in international competitions.