The highlight was that we were there for the legendary International Montreal Jazz Festival. As it was held a few blocks from our hotel, we often stopped by. Saw several exciting jazz artists, and it was always crowded.
During the day, when Goldy had meetings, I was ready to explore Montreal myself. However, I remembered that I knew someone who lived in MTL, Patrick Emond, from the Friends Zone! So I emailed Patrick, and we hooked up!
We went to seven museums in 2 days, courtesy of a visitor's pass that allows entry to 25 museums in that time. At $20 (which I figured was approx. $14 USD) we still got more than our money's worth.
We checked out art museums, natural history museums, political history, and a famous resident's old house. In the evening, we saw a concert with a famous jazz player (different than the Jazz Fest), and I checked out Montreal's nightlife. I found it surprisingly liberal, with several gay spots, and several adult spots included among the standard clubs on the scene.
Had a blast, Patrick was a valuable source of info and camaraderie, and I will never forget Montreal's famous meal, fries with cheese and sauce (oops except I already forgot what it is called :( )