By George Medovoy, Editor

My wife and I were strolling up the rue St. Mathieu in a very fashionable downtown neighborhood of Montreal, when an old woman leaned over the balcony of her house, eyeing us as we passed.

Suddenly, almost on cue, she tossed us a rose and smiled a broad smile.

I looked back and returned the smile. Nothing was said, but in that very brief moment, we understood everything…

I’ve always remembered that old woman’s loving act as a symbol of the warmth and charm of this very special North American city with a distinctly French accent.

Montreal has a certain carefree ambiance, a wonderful joie de vivre, which makes it a unique part of North America.

One good way to get to know Montreal is literally from the top down, starting on Mont-Royal, the wooded mountain, which rises up our of the city’s urban center. Joggers and bicyclists, strollers and nature-lovers descend on this urban outcropping, which is graced, by birch, maple and elm trees and lovely neo-Tudor and neo-Georgian homes hugging the mountain’s slopes.

One of the best things about Montreal is the food, the wonderful food…and of all varieties, not just French. Indeed, I’ve often said that it’s next to impossible to get a bad meal in Montreal.

I remember one cold and snowy night descending with friends on a small restaurant just before closing time in Montreal’s cozy Chinatown. The family who owned the place had locked the doors and sat down themselves to dinner – but not before serving us a tasty steamed fish with plentiful bowls of rice.

From Chinese, you can go Jewish with The House of the Original Fairmount Bagel, a hole-in-the-wall bakery with bags of flour piled high near the counter at 74 Fairmount Street West in a once-Jewish neighborhood now mostly Greek.

Opened in 1919 by Isador Shlafman, a Jewish immigrant from Russia, the Fairmount is a still goring strong, as evidenced by the long lines that form outside at all hours of the day and night, come sunshine…or snow.

"As far as we know," says grandson Irwin Shlafman, who carries on the elder Shlafman’s profession, " Isador started the first bagel factory in Canada."

Next, try Montreal’s famous smoked meat, a specialty introduced by Eastern European Jews. It may look like corned beef or pastrami, but it’s better!

Then there are Montreal’s open-air markets. One of my favorites is the Jean Talon Market in the heart of Little Italy, where farmers sell fresh produce near neighborhood butcher shops and cheese counters. You will also find great Italian restaurants in this neighb0orhood. With more than 4,500 restaurants to choose form, Montreal is one of the world’s great restaurant cities.

Some of the best French food is found in Old Montreal, in 18th-centiry buildings within the cobblestone quarter near the old port. Meanwhile, any eating experience here must include a taste of a traditional French-Canadian dish called "poutine" (poo-teen).

I say "taste" because poutine requires a bit of getting used to – the mixture consists of the unlikely combination of French fries covered with warm choose curd and hot barbecue sauce – not quite haut cuisine, but very Quebecois!

For brochures on Montreal, contact Tourisme Quebec at 1-800-363-7777, or visit www.tourism-montreal.org. Air Canada flies to Montreal from many gateway cities.

WHERE TO STAY:
King Edward VIII called her "The Grand Dame of Sherbrooke Street."

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were married here, checking into the Royal Suite with a request, dutifully honored, for two crates of champagne and a dozen glasses.

She is none other than Montreal’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel, a classy establishment that forms an integral part of the city’s history. The nine-story landmark hotel at the corner of Sherbrooke and Mountain Streets near the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is recognized for a refined elegance and an unmatched attention to service.

An example of the service, given in "No Ordinary Hotel," a history written by Canadian writer Adrian Waller, recalls a request by actress Sophia Loren, who was staying in the Royal Suite with her husband Carlo Ponti, and their son during the filming of "Angela" in Montreal.

Ms. Loren had asked the housekeeper for some pots and pans so that she could cook her own pasta.

"No problem at all," replied the housekeeper, and the hotel promptly sent someone out to but Ms. Loren a brand new set of cooking utensils. "Believe me," said the Italian actress, " this is no ordinary hotel."

The Ritz-Carlton opened in 1912, the creation of Montreal’s well-to-do families, who lived in what was then known as the Golden Square Mile. Their aim was to build a hotel to match their tastes. The hotel has 157 rooms and 43 suites.

One of my favorite ways to enjoy the hotel is to partake of the tea service, a Montreal tradition served in the Ritz Garden in warm weather and inside when it gets colder. The garden dining area, transformed to look like New York’s Russian Tea Room for the movie "Dreamworld," surrounds a small duck pond with 12 ducklings.

For more information about the Ritz-Carlton, call 1-514-842-4212, or visit www.ritzcarlton.com.