Deborah Leipziger
August 2025
My daughters have just arrived in Montreal and we are excited for our first Canadian breakfast. I make each of my daughters an iced latte and we head to the boulangerie to select croissants and baguettes. Luckily there is a line which gives us time to ponder what we will select. We are staying in Notre Dame de Grace in Montreal, known affectionately as “NDG”.
Our stop is Boulangerie Premiere Moisson on Avenue Monkland and the choices are endless. Andy selects a pecan croissant, and I the “chocolotine” with almond. My daughters select the “pralinee” which appears to be a chocolate covered croissant. Who knew that was a thing?
We return and eat our croissants and berries on the deck and plan for our first day. I am excited to see the Biodome, which is a museum of ecosystems, located right nearby to the Botanical Garden and the Olympic Village. We head to the Metro and even the station is exciting with its vibrant colors of orange, yellow, red and even some purple.
The Biodome is housed in an extraordinary building in a brutalist style which lets the sky inside. The results are stunning and one feels as though one has entered the future. Our first stop is the Tropical Rainforest which features gorgeous palm trees and bromeliads, birds and even a cobalt blue frog, which is highly poisonous. The first thing we see upon entering are araras or very large macaws—with red, yellow, and blue feathers — who appear to be kissing. We love this tribute to the Brazilian Amazon, and Allie finds the capivara – a very large mammal. As we leave this Eden, pink birds hover over us in the canopy.
Next up is the Maple Forest, with its wonderful scent of sweet pine. Here we see a lynx on a rock surrounded by red flowers over discarded antlers. On this very hot day, we love walking through the Arctic ice and spotting penguins and puffins. Seeing puffins has been a life-long dream of mine.
Afterwards, we wander through the Botanical Garden and delight in the Peace Garden which is made of Turkish tiles with a fountain in the middle. The Olympic Village is also thrilling to visit.