By Melissa Coleman

The upcoming warm months are an excellent time to visit Canada, what with the dollar so strong and the prime minister so hip. Its first- and second-largest cities, English-speaking Toronto and French-speaking Montreal, offer a refreshingly international flavor.

Montreal 

Montreal’s bilingual allure is evident the moment you hear the melodic transitions by locals from French to English. The same can be said for the architecture, with French Second Empire buildings side-by-side with English Georgian. This unique heritage is referenced on the license plate, “Je me souviens,” the beginning fragment of the line, “I remember/That born under the lily/I grew under the rose,” a nod to both its French (lily) and English (rose) foundations.

Continue reading …