The Garden contains many beautifully landscaped specialty areas—alpine, flowering stream, lilac, rhododendron, shade, aquatic, Turkish, marsh and bog, and rose gardens. It also houses an insectarium and butterfly house, which we did not have time to visit, and features a First Nations garden that highlights the Indian cultures that existed in the Montréal area long before European settlers appeared. But the Garden's star attractions are probably the Japanese and Chinese gardens. 

The Japanese Garden harmoniously combines water, rocks, and plants. Arched bridges link islets where visitors can pause to appreciate the serenity of the scene. Orange koi and blotched carp swim lazily in lily-covered ponds. In the garden's pavilion is an extensive bonsai collection.

The Chinese Garden, the largest of its style in North America, is inspired by those of the 14th- to 16th-century Ming Dynasty. Water and stone are the primary elements: more than 3,000 tonnes of yellow stone were excavated from nearby St. Helen's Island to create a mountain large enough to host a waterfall and two pavilions, and 500 tonnes of stone shaped by the waters of China's Lake Tai were transported from China to enhance the landscape. 

Each one of the Garden's ten greenhouses offered a walk through different beauty. The Celestial Greenhouse displays the largest collection of Chinese penjings outside of Asia.  We saw miniature trees as old as 150 years!  The Tropical Plant house contains over 125 species cultivated for their economic benefit, including cocoa, banana, coffee, vanilla, cinnamon, and quinine. The orchid house contains over 1,500 species, hybrids and cultivars. The Hacienda house [above] grows cacti and succulents amid a Spanish colonial setting. Other greenhouses contain ferns, medicinal plants, and begonias. The Main Exhibition house showcased an exhibit of Mediterranean fragrances and aromatic plants from around the world. Walking through the room, rubbing some of the leaves between our fingers, was an olfactory feast. 

The 56,000-seat oval stadium is covered with a kevlar roof supported by cables stretching from the 190-meter leaning tower, the world's tallest. 

We rode a cable car to the top of the Tour Montréal to get a bird's-eye view of the city, much like visiting the top of the Space Needle. 

The cable car takes 2 minutes to ascend 270 meters to the observatory. The view from the funicular window was terrific [below left]. In 1976 the pyramid-shaped buildings at the base of the tower housed the Olympic Village, where the athletes were housed. 

One woman, obviously afraid of heights and standing as far from the window view as she could get, was not reassured by a sudden jerk and stop a few feet from the top. Even we had brief, claustrophobic visions of being precariously trapped inside the car, hanging on the side of the tower, for hours—but we quickly began moving again and reached the observatory. Whew!

From there, we could see up to 80 kilometers away: the Appalachians to the south, the Laurentians to the north, the St. Lawrence River to the east, and to the west, downtown Montréal and Mont-Royal. 

The foot of the tower houses the swimming pools of the Olympic Complex, while the nearby former cycling track, known as the Vélodrome, has been converted into an artificial habitat for plants and animals called the Biodôme.

The silhouette of St. Joseph's Oratory, built on the northwestern slope of Mont Royal, is impressive [right]. We arrived on foot at the main gait and were struck by the wide 283-step stairway, the center of which is reserved for supplicants to climb on their knees [below]; the lush landscaping; and the basilica with its giant dome, the largest in the world after St. Peter's in Rome.  

The cornerstone of the Oratory was laid in 1924, but its history begins with a chapel built by Brother André on the spot in 1904. Brother André (beatified by Pope John-Paul II in 1982) was known for his worship of Saint Joseph and his healing abilities. When he died in 1937 at the age of 91, more than one million mourners filed past his body over seven days and nights. Today his body rests in a simple tomb inside the Oratory's sanctuary. 

However, we found other spaces much more welcoming. The votive chapel, or Hall of Prayerful Thanksgiving, is a long, softly lit hallway flanked on both sides by alcoves filled with 10,000 vigil lights. The central alcove, holding 3,500 lights, is watched over by a tall statue of Saint Joseph. The pillars of the hallway are interestingly hung with hundreds and crutches left at the shrine by grateful pilgrims when Brother André lived. We watched many light candles and offer prayers in this peaceful and comforting space.

The crypt church sitting at the foot of the basilica, vaulted by flattened arches, is also a warm and much more intimate space (seating 1,000). Built in 1916, it has dark wood pews, traditional stained glass windows, and a main altar incorporating a Carrara marble statue of Saint Joseph sculpted by A. Giacomini.

We walked back down the hill, catching a bus to the Metró stop and returning to our hotel and car.  We then drove to Parc du Mont Royal (created in 1870 and designed by Frederick Law Olmsted), stopping at Belvédère Camilien-Houde, a scenic viewpoint along the mountain road overlooking the entire eastern portion of Montréal. We could see all the way to the St. Lawrence River [left]!