What to See in Montréal
By Frank McNeirney

It’s hard for out-of-towners visiting a world-famous city like Montréal for only a few days to choose which of its many attractions to see in their valuable, and scarce, leisure time. With this in mind, AABB Annual Meeting News asked AABB members in the Montréal-area blood community for their personal recommendations. Their picks are included below and in a separate article on dining in the city.

The Old Quarter
Three members of the medical staff at Montréal’s Ste. Justine Hospital—Drs. Marisa Tucci, France Gauvin and Jacques Lacroix—were quick to point out that the city’s historic district, Old Montréal, is only a few blocks from the Palais des Congrès, and is packed with sites of interest.

For anyone interested in learning more about Montréal’s early days, they recommend a visit to the Pointe-à-Callière Museum of Archaeology and History. It’s at 350 Place Royale in Old Montréal (514-872-9150), at the very spot where the city was founded in 1642.

Old Montréal also houses a wealth of art galleries, restaurants, clothing shops featuring the creations of talented local designers, and, looming over everything, the Notre-Dame Basilica (110 Notre-Dame St. W., 514-842-2925), a masterpiece of Gothic Revival architecture built in the 1820s. Its magnificent interior, sculpted in wood, paint and gold leaf, is chock-full of art works and stained glass windows. It is further enhanced on Tuesday through Saturday evenings by a 35-minute son-et-lumiere (sound and light) show, an experience recommended by AABB members at the Héma-Québec organization.

Art and Science Museums
For those who have time to explore beyond the historic district, the folks at both Ste. Justine Hospital and Héma-Québec recommend a visit to the Biod™me (4777 Ave. Pierre-DeCoubertin, 514-868-3000). “It’s the only place in the world,” Drs. Tucci, Gauvin and Lacroix say, “that represents four ecosystems (polar, marine, tropical forest, northern forest) under one roof. There are over 4,800 animals and 750 plant species, visible in their natural habitat.” The Biod™me is open Tuesday through Saturday.

Also on their list of places to see is the Biosphère Environmental Museum, located on St. Helen’s Island (514-283-5000) in a structure that served as the U.S. pavilion during the 1967 Montréal World’s Fair. Among current exhibits are ones focusing on environmentally friendly transportation and the vast Canadian boreal forest.

AABB members whose interests include modern art may want to catch the current exhibit of Andy Warhol works at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts (1380 Sherbrooke St. W., 514-285-1600). Dubbed “Warhol Live,” it focuses on the role of music in the American pop artist’s life, and includes more than 200 of his paintings, prints and photographs (of musicians like Mick Jagger, Liza Minelli and Grace Jones) plus 80 works on paper (drawings, posters, album covers, magazine illustrations). Appropriate music is piped into each gallery, setting the stage for the presentations therein. The museum is closed on Mondays.

Further down the block is a smaller facility, the McCord Museum (690 Sherbrooke St. W., 514-398-7100), across the street from, and once a part of, McGill University. Its current featured show, closing October 13, is a special exhibit of more than a hundred sculptures by Canada’s Inuit peoples.

Also worth visiting is the restored 1847 Marché Bonsecours at 350 St. Paul St., once Montréal's city hall and now a public arcade featuring boutiques, art galleries and terraces. “Whether sipping a cappuccino at an outdoor cafe, gambling at the Casino, or exploring Old Montréal,” says AABB member Guy Isabel of Ovo Biosciences, “you can’t escape experiencing the excitement and energy that pervade this vibrant, culturally diverse and cosmopolitan city of two million inhabitants.”

What’s more, he notes, the timing of AABB’s meeting couldn’t be better. “October is the most beautiful month—we call it the color festival,” he says. “The month has been very sunny and dry the last couple of years, and the temperature very comfortable.”