Montreal

[Wynter]

So is Montreal the giant gay paradise my imagination is making it out to be or should I save myself a few thousand and move to Sydney isntead?

 

I just can't see how a city that holds its own gay olymics and has an entire quarter devoted to the gay community can be a bad thing. Sydney has supposedly gay suburbs and there's a whole street of bars and clubs that vary greatly in style. But it lacks guys with french accents.

 

I live in a small city that bosts... one gay club. I hear there's, like a bar somewhere too. Oh and there's a sauna LOL not going near that thing.

 

Thoughts?

[Mark Arbour]

Wow. Two great choices. I'm not really qualified to tell you about Montreal as I've never been there, but I've been to Canada and the people are awesome. I often look north lustfully (so to speak) at the much more open attitudes, and long for a society that isn't as dominated by religion as the US. I've actually been to Sydney and loved it! Again, great people, and so beautiful. I'm not up-to-speed on the attitudes in Sydney, or Australia, towards gay guys though.

[Tiger]

I have heard that about Montreal. Montreal is very liberal about sexuality. From what a friend of mine said, you find brothels all over the city and there are bathhouses around every corner. New York City and Chicago in the US are said to have some of the best clubbing scenes you'll find anyway. San Francisco is probably the most gay-friendly city in the world. Still, Montreal is a good choice.

[Wynter]

Sydney is well known in Australia for having liberal attitudes toward homosexuality. Sydney itself hosts the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras which is televised nationally on prime time tv.

 

NY and SF sound fun to visit but I have intention of ever living in the US. That's a politically motivated opinion though rather than any feelings towards Americans in general. And so i shan't elaborate

 

Thanks for the input guys

[Conner]

I was born and raised in Montreal. It's a great city. It's been eons since I lived there though. Send a PM to Jack Frost - he's 'da man' in Montreal.

 

Do keep in mind that Montreal has real winters. brrrrrr...

[Jack Frost]

BONJOURRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

This is so my thing... Bragging about my awesome city.

 

We have this. You probably researched enough on the Village. It's not huge... just about several blocks along Ste-Catherine Street (one of the main shopping arteries in the city). I personally prefer to avoid it. Not that it's seedy or anything. Just not my thing and I don't feel the need to be with huge crowds of gays. I haven't been there since September (not my choice..,. my friend made me).

 

http://www.diverscite.org/2009/anglais/index.htm

 

It explains itself if you want to go there during the summer, unless you don't mind freezing your tits off during the infamous long Canadian winters. As I am speaking, -12C outside with wind chill down to -25C, ice/snow on sidewalks and roads, and 30 cm of snow on the ground. Not that I am complaining... I'm used to it. But you, as an Aussie, most likely you will consider 5C as bone-chilling. ;p

 

Montréal has this concept of "la joie de vivre". It means "joy of living". That is, we work so we can live whereas Toronto just lives to work. Hence why Montreal has the best nightlife in the whole country. And that is just not drinking and clubbing, but also eating at restos because the city has the most restaurants per capita in the world.

 

Plus, you'll get a taste of the culture unique in the Americas due to our French past.

 

french accents

If you want to make good friends, it would be much better to call it "Québéois" accent. We love that much more than just the cliché "French accent".

 

 

 

It would help a lot if I know what you are hoping to do (your interests), what you're planning so far (just Montreal? Or also visits to other Canadian cities such as Quebec City, Ottawa and Toronto?), what possible dates, etc. Then I'll brag as usual.

 

And Montreal is very liberal. You won't find a major city that has several of these on its main shopping streets... even if there are kids around and a church next to it.

 

Note that the strip club is over a clothing shop for pregnant women (Lori).

 

Erm... The link to NYT article, I'd like to make a disclaimer.

These regulations are enforced by a linguistic government flying squad known to resident Anglos as ''The Tongue Troopers.''

<

No one never does this today. At least for the Montrealers as morons outside of province keep thinking like this no matter what. Don't worry about the language issue that the article seems to show off. No one really cares as long as you're not being an idiot about it.

Edited January 13, 2010 by Jack Frost

[Wynter]

Connor,

 

I'm aware of the climate, a friend is currently in BC on a work holiday. I've always maintained that I'd rather be cold than hot. Since it was 40 degrees or more most of this week that seems like motivation to move to me. I'm not sure how I'd deal with -25, guess I'll have to try it out.

 

Jack,

 

My apologies for mislabelling "Québéois" as French. I have plans to begin French lessons this year (Will be useful travelling to Europe or Canada)but my plans for moving are fairly flimsy at the moment. I just graduated from university so I'd be planning to come with a work visa intitially and then see what I think. My prime motivation, I'll admit is the gay community. I've only been out to my friends for a year or so now and my first three trips to the local gay bar have left me underwhelmed. Note, it's the ONLY gay bar in the state. Australia is roughly similar in size to the US and our states are generally bigger so we're talking thousands of km between gay bars. Which isn't to say that it's a BAD bar, it's just got too many women (read: lesbians, straight girls hiding from straight men and drag queens) and nowhere near enough guys in the 18-25 range.

 

South Aus is also fairly redneck when it comes to a lot of things. We were the last state to introduce 'domestic partnership agreements' which are basically gay marriages in code so the religious groups don't get upset. Adelaide, our capital (read: only city within several thousand km) is called 'the city of churches', sometimes nostalgically, other times with considerable sarcasm by the more metropolitan cities. We have churches powerful enough to get their own ministers appointed to the senate and that seems to be getting more common.

 

Basically, I want out.

 

It's funny, but there are a LOT of people I've spoken to who see Canada as some magical place we can run away to. I've focused my sights on Montreal because I want to live somewhere where there's big pool of gay guys to ummm 'fish' from . Also because it just seems generally awesome. I don't have many plans to look at the rest of Canada, maybe to visit but not really to live in.

 

I'm gonna stop now coz I've already erected a wall of text.

 

Wynter

Edited January 13, 2010 by Wynter

[Mark Arbour]

Connor,

 

I'm aware of the climate, a friend is currently in BC on a work holiday. I've always maintained that I'd rather be cold than hot. Since it was 40 degrees or more most of this week that seems like motivation to move to me. I'm not sure how I'd deal with -25, guess I'll have to try it out.

 

Jack,

 

My apologies for mislabelling "Qu

[Jack Frost]

I don't think the Village will disappoint you, but remember... It's only a small part of the city. If you spend a week, you're going to get bored with it. We have loads of other great stuffs. As a local, I will be very happy to help you out pointing out to places/events that meet your needs. I'm traveller too. I would even recommend visiting places outside of the city because Canada is pretty much 90% of nothing, yet full of wonderful sceneries.

 

For the Village event, I would recommend Mado Lamotte: www.mado.qc.ca

 

But this drag queen (I f**king love her... she's so damn hilarious) always does her shows at her own club in French. Actually... French could be a misnomer because she always speaks in full-blown Québécois.

Edited January 14, 2010 by Jack Frost

[Wynter]

I don't think the Village will disappoint you, but remember... It's only a small part of the city. If you spend a week, you're going to get bored with it. We have loads of other great stuffs. As a local, I will be very happy to help you out pointing out to places/events that meet your needs. I'm traveller too. I would even recommend visiting places outside of the city because Canada is pretty much 90% of nothing, yet full of wonderful sceneries.

 

For the Village event, I would recommend Mado Lamotte: www.mado.qc.ca

 

But this drag queen (I f**king love her... she's so damn hilarious) always does her shows at her own club in French. Actually... French could be a misnomer because she always speaks in full-blown Qu

[Mark Arbour]

Hmmm that raises and interesting point Jack. Is Qu

[Mike46]

More of a question than a comment... My understanding was that Qu

[Cynical Romantic]

Wow, haven't been here in a while, and then I see a whole thread devoted to my home city.

 

So, I'm a Montrealer and I've been to Sydney. Both awesome cities. Montreal's probably closer in feel to Melbourne than to Sydney, though. Very arts-and-cafe culture here. And no beach. Sydney has a beach. And hot weather. Very hot weather. Montreal has very cold weather. And lots of snow. And hockey, of course. So if you prefer the cold to the heat (like me), then you'll probably prefer Montreal. Just don't underestimate the brutal winters - they'll kick your ass.

 

Montreal's a very liberal, multicultural city. And yes, very GLBT-friendly, though nobody really makes a big deal about that anymore. It's sort of live and let live, you know? My friends are a very mixed bunch. It's been years since anyone has batted an eyelash in my circles, anyway. Yeah, there's the Village (though most of the people moving in lately are young straight couples with kids) and there's Divers/Cite and the festivals and stuff, but it's just sort of a part of the incredibly diverse fabric of the city. Summer is nonstop festivals anyway, and everyone kind of gets into the spirit of things. People are more likely to pay attention to whether you're a vegan cycling activist who eats organic than to your sexuality, whatever it may be. It's just a non-issue, unless you want it to be.

 

Quebecois/French is sort of like Australian English/American English. Same language, but just barely. The accents and expressions are very different. But don't worry about it too much; if you were to spend any length of time here, you'd adapt. English is widely spoken, too. And new immigrants to Quebec can get free French lessons from the government.

 

Is there bullshit to deal with here? Sure there is. The language politics crap crops up every once in a while, usually when politicians are trying to stir up shit for votes. The economic woes have led to a massive population migration to Toronto over the past quarter-century for jobs. If you don't speak French it can be a bit tricky to find gainful employment, though contacts help here. Our roads have potholes the size of, well, Australia, and we just re-elected a massively corrupt mayor because the other choices were even worse. Not to mention, it was minus-30 last week. So it's not paradise here, by any means.

 

All that being said - and I'm biased because I adore my city - but, having traveled all over the world, I really believe this is the best place in the world to live. Come visit, check it out, see what you think.

 

(By the way: The guys with French accents? Highly overrated. IMHO, the guys with Australian accents are much hotter. But, the grass is always greener and all that, right?)

Edited January 15, 2010 by Cynical Romantic

[Wynter]

Hello

 

I am from and living in Montr

[Cynical Romantic]

Weather-wise, I'll admit to having no experience in truly cold climates. Adelaide is one of the hottest and driest places in the world. Spring and Autumn are lovely, Summer makes me want to find a hole and hide for a few months. I assume you've been to Bondi? Frankly it's a pretty sub standard beach. I've been through Northern Queensland and the Whit Sunday Isles, you want to see a beach google White Haven or Mission Beach.

 

I've only been to Melbourne once and Sydney never. I hated Melbourne but the weather was terrible and I was sick most of thetime so my opinion may have been clouded.

 

Don't get me wrong, we have summer too, and it does get hot here. Maybe not Adelaide-hot, but it gets humid and sticky and climbs over the 30-degree mark regularly.

 

But if you have no experience at all with cold winters, don't underestimate them. I have friends who have come here from Australia with their "winter clothes" and, upon arriving here, chucked them all out, shaking their heads at how naive they were.

 

I haven't been to Bondi beach but I've been to St. Kilda in Melbourne and to Manly in Sydney. And yes, I've been up to Mission Beach and the Whitsundays - it was just after Cyclone Larry, though, back in '06, so the area around Mission Beach was pretty much a mess. Went sailing in the Whitsundays, got absolutely massacred by mosquitoes and got sick and it rained the whole time and I probably had an experience similar to your Melbourne one (i.e. clouded opinion). I was in the Sunshine Coast area for a bit (Noosa, etc.) and that was awesome. Agree in general that the beaches in Queensland are superior to those in NSW, from what I've seen... other than the whole jellyfish issue, of course. But I digress.

 

Much as I do love a freebie I'd like to be fairly fluent before I arrive, particularly as I'd be there on a temporary basis to begin with and moving permanently is something I'm still unsure of. I also see what you mean about expressions, I have no trouble understanding American or British accents but the way the language is used can vary a lot. For example, Americans seem to like 'How are you doing?', Aussies say 'How are you going?'. It's a minor difference but I've seen American actors remark on it in interviews. One way focuses more on personal health, the other on the progression of your life as a whole. It's a small difference but the concept is quite different.

 

The difference between French from France and French from Quebec is much more marked than that. No matter how much French you learn ahead of time, I can guarantee you'll have a hard time understanding people here when you first get here. But that's all part of the fun of travel, isn't it?

 

Best way to learn a language? Get yourself a hottie French boyfriend.

Edited January 15, 2010 by Cynical Romantic

[rknapp]

 

There's a ZO6 on every corner??

 

I'M THERE!! I can get over the whole French thing!

 

 

 

What? I don't see anything else in that picture... do you?

[Wynter]

But if you have no experience at all with cold winters, don't underestimate them. I have friends who have come here from Australia with their "winter clothes" and, upon arriving here, chucked them all out, shaking their heads at how naive they were.

 

Duly noted.

 

 

I haven't been to Bondi beach but I've been to St. Kilda in Melbourne and to Manly in Sydney. And yes, I've been up to Mission Beach and the Whitsundays - it was just after Cyclone Larry, though, back in '06, so the area around Mission Beach was pretty much a mess. Went sailing in the Whitsundays, got absolutely massacred by mosquitoes and got sick and it rained the whole time and I probably had an experience similar to your Melbourne one (i.e. clouded opinion). I was in the Sunshine Coast area for a bit (Noosa, etc.) and that was awesome. Agree in general that the beaches in Queensland are superior to those in NSW, from what I've seen... other than the whole jellyfish issue, of course. But I digress.

 

That's a shame, I spent 10 days on a Catamaran in the Whitsundays and loved every second of it.

 

Best way to learn a language? Get yourself a hottie French boyfriend.

 

WILL DO

 

Well I'll try at least. It's definitely on the top of my list of things to do upon arrival.