CARNET

It makes me feel like I’m in Naples. If you want a real Italian coffee, this is it. The music is just loud enough, and the baristas always smile.

You may think it’s for kids. It’s not. A princess asks for the moon, and the king’s wise men each explain why it can’t be done. Only the jester thinks to ask her what the moon is. Find an edition with Louis Slobodkin’s original drawings.

What is the moon to you?

Sometimes you just need to stop and let the world go by, somewhere no one can find you. No one will here. It will be you and maybe a bird or two, and that is all you need. Quiet lets thinking happen. I’m sure I saw a “no phones” sign the last time I was there.

I could afford it even as a student. I’d pull out my big carnet de chèques to pay. The tables were full of Parisians. It was good then and always will be. Go, and soak it in.

It popped up on the Lachine Canal for the summer, and it felt like walking out of Montreal and into Venice Beach. A dream, the way Montreal summers can be. Rumour has it they’re opening on Monk. Maybe it wasn’t a dream after all.

Guaranteed to make you smile when you walk in. And don’t get me started on the wall of Swedish pick & mix. I may be a bit biased, but I do know all the words to The Candy Man. Childhood wishes, granted.

One of those if-you-know-you-know places. If you don’t, you’ll be sorry. Go in the morning. Listen to the people at the next table, whether you understand them or not. I’d take a scooter to get there if I were you. And no local will ever call it a “cornetto ischitano.” It’s just a cornetto. Order two.

I happened on it by chance, just off Sherbrooke. It’s only been open a few months. It goes from teas to skincare, but it was the linen placemats and napkins and the cashmere scarves that got me. The wall of teas is endless. And Claire herself will help, with advice for whatever ails you.

I’m not sure which is my favourite, Saline or Colombier. But the hike down to Colombier, past the goats, is definitely the road less travelled. I’ve rarely seen a soul on the beach, which may be why the Rockefellers built their house overlooking the bay. Bring water and sunscreen. If you forget anything, you’re not walking back up to the Moke for it.