Two years in Toronto

Toronto in the summer is a totally different city to the one we found in January. Trees and flowers suddenly burst into life. Patios spring up outside bars and restaurants. And Toronto’s inhabitants, freed from underground walkways and down jackets, reclaim their city with a string of celebrations: parades along Yonge Street marking Pride and Indian independence, festivals by the waterfront for vegetarian food or Canadian literature, and parties in honour of Canada Day, the country’s birthday, with indigenous dance and fireworks. The Toronto International Film Festival, or TIFF, has just come to an end – a ten-day cinematic extravaganza that’s taken over the Entertainment District and seen the arrival of the big screen’s biggest stars. (It’s not every day that you bump into Keira Knightley on the way home from work.) With theatres as well as cinemas overcome by film fans, we headed to the Princess of Wales for one of the first showings of Can you ever forgive me? , featuring M...

Montreal – home to European style, American scale and Canadian charm. Famed for fashion, jazz and bagels, it takes its name from its local landmark, Mont Royal – christened by the explorer Jacques Cartier who sailed here up the Saint Lawrence River in 1535. Despite being surrendered to the English in 1760, Montreal is the second largest French-speaking settlement in the world (a mere 3,419 miles from Paris) – and, although it’s no longer Canada’s most populous city (having lost that crown to Toronto in the 1970s), it remains a thriving hub of commerce and culture. Another month brings another statutory holiday – this time for Labour Day – so we hopped in a tiny plane at Toronto City Airport and within an hour were gazing down at the skyscrapers of Montreal. The first stop for tourists is the old town, including the imposing Notre-Dame Basilica, the industrial Old Port, and bustling Bonsecours Market, all in the shadow of the city’s financial district and Mont Royal. Wandering th...