21 Nov MTLGO: Discovering Montreal with National Bank Mastercard !

Last September was one of my busiest month ever. From going to the Oktoberfest in Germany, to road trip across Moncton to Halifax in addition to the multiple collaborations I did with Narcity Media (Mcdonalds and Motorola), one big event that I didn’t mention to you all yet was the day I spent with National Bank Mastercard. The day was This day full of activities was called ”MTLGO”

In the video above you will see a glimpse of the day I spent in Montreal, but in addition, I will give you details on how to be able to enjoy the same type of day in my beautiful hometown. So ladies and gents, be ready to learn more about my MTLGo experience and see how you can create your own!

A night in the city

The day started at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth hotel downtown Montreal where my friend Cyusa and I were sharing the same room. To my surprise, as soon as I walk in the room, there’s a rack full of clothes from Simons and extra MTL GO swag. This was the best way to start the experience because we were already in the middle of the action and that made things so much easier considering that I live in the West Island of Montreal.

With the help of google or Expedia, you will find different option of place to stay in the heart of the city but I can say that the hotel that we stayed at was a great hotel and they had great service (and a really comfortable bed).

Picture at the hotel of my friends for the day for MTLGO

Guided tour of Jean-Talon Market with Cooking lesson with Chef Antonio Park

We left the hotel early in the morning to go to the Jean-Talon Market. To be honest with you, the Jean Talon Market deserve his own blog post to explain to you why this is one of the most amazing place in Montreal, but for this post, I will keep it light. The Jean-Talon Market is one of the place that you MUST visit in Montreal. It is a farmer’s market in the little Italy that has over 150 merchants. While this sounds like a lot of merchants to visit, we had a food tour of this marche from a local tour guide that told us about the history of some merchants and made us try the different products from the merchants.

However, our tour became epic went Montreal’s very own chef Antonio Park joined us to get some fresh cheese and vegetables to cook our lunch, see pictures below!

The Jean-Talon Market is a free activity that is available to do year long. However, if you would like to experience this market the same way we did, you definitely need to contact a connoisseur of this market. For this experience, we had Spade & Palacio Tours to help us around. Now to have Antonio Park to cook for you, that I have no idea how much it is but it must be expensive (haha) but you can always contact him on his social media channel or e-mail.

Discovering the Jean-Talon Market

Cooking with Chef Antonio Park

Discovering Montreal by bike

After the lunch, we went to the top of the Mont-Royal Mountain where there were bicycles lined up for us. I lived in Montreal my own life and I must admit that the bike tour that we did around the city showed me Montreal from another angle. During this bike tour, we discovered the North of the Plateau, Mile-End, and more.

Discovering Montreal by bicycle also makes you love the city even more because we went to different roads that are not accessible by cars and the ride was really smooth. I felt that we were going downhill the whole time and time FLEW.

If you would like to discover Montreal the same way, do not hesitate to contact Fitz & Follwell. It was the company that organize the bike tour for us and on their website you can discover more about the different tour that they offer in the city.

Chilling on a bike!

Intimate Concert with Franklin Electric

So the day started with a private tour of the Jean-Talon Market, a cooking lesson with Chef Antonio Park then we discovered Montreal by bicycle and at this point, I was wondering how the day could be better? Well National Bank Mastercard had a nice suprise for us, we went  to this beautiful house in the Plateau where food and the band Franklin Electric was waiting for us. If you are not familiar with Franklin Electric, they are a Alt-Folk-Pop group from Montreal and they are VERY TALENTED. If you would like to know more about them, you can visit their Facebook Page here.

Enjoying a live show from Franklin Electric

Having a live show from a band always brighten up the day, if you can get Franklin Electric for your personal event, well you won’t regret it!

Discovering Montreal roots at Pointe-À-Callière Museum

After the private concert, we headed to Pointe-à-Callière Museum in the Old Port of Montreal.  This is THE museum that you need to visit in Montreal if you would like to know more about this beautiful city. Once we arrived at the Museum, we had a guided tour that helped us understand Montreal’s story and we tested our new knowledge with a treasure hunt. This activity was fun and for those of you that know me, I am a competitive person and took this challenge seriously. WE LOST. But I must admit that it was a cool activity.

The museum is open for everyone and it is a nice place to spend the evening. It also offers competitive rates for private rentals, you can go on their website to learn more here!

Cyusa and I trying to find an answer for the Treasure Hunt

Zipline and Quick Jump in Montreal’s Old Port

At this point of the day, I was not even tired, I was just happy to be experiencing this! We went to do some Zipline and Quick Jump in the old port of Montreal. I will be honest with you, I didn’t try that because I am SCARED of heights but the other seemed to have enjoy this. (In my defence, I ziplined (if that is even a verb) this summer in Mexico and this was enough for me for this year so maybe I will do it next year).

After this experience, we headed over a beauty salon where the ladies got pampered and I got a manicure and pedicure. Personally, you already know my thoughts about nails treatments, and if you don’t, read this article after!

If you want to zipline and do quick jump in Montreal, head over MTLZipline’s website to book your experience. 

Dinner at L’Auberge St-Gabriel

The day was coming to an end but it was ending on a spectacular note, and by spectacular, I mean LITERALLY SPECTACULAR. We went to Auberge St-Gabriel, this restaurant has been hosting the formula 1 event for the past 6 years. Owned by Marc Bolay, Garou, and Guy Laliberté, we were treated with contemporary circus during our meal. From athletic waiters making side flips to hostess that did ballets, I saw someone that put a fork in his nose and then was holding himself on a chair that was standing on 3 bottles… just see the photos below!

I highly suggest trying out L’Auberge St-Gabriel. It is a great restaurant in the old port of Montreal and they also have a night club inside called Velvet. See more details here.

So here’s how you can create your own Priceless Experience in Montreal. Let me know what you think of it!

P.S. I would like to give a huge shoutout to the team of Momentum for organizing and coordinating this awesome day!