A beauty of a weekend at Montreal's Botanical Garden

When you combine a summer half-day road trip from Toronto, a spectacular international exhibition, and a bit of affordable luxury aux Québécois, you’ve hit my perfect travel trifecta. It all came together when we headed off to Montreal to visit the spectacular Mosaicultures Internationales exhibit at the city’s Botanical Gardens. The bonus was we used this excuse to indulge in the boutique hotel experience that is Le Germain – and thanks to the recommendation of their concierge, André Cloutier, a taste of some pretty fabulous risotto, too.

First up: Montreal’s Botanical Gardens

We had barely crossed the provincial border into La Belle Province, when we reset Señor Garmin (our GPS) to bring us directly to Montreal’s Botanical Gardens to view the horticultural competition, Mosaicultures Internationales, a juried exhibition where 20 countries install fantastic garden interpretations of a common theme – this year’s being ‘Land of Hope’.

Lord of the Rings’ Treebeard bears a striking resemblance to something in the gardens:

The Green Man: one of several magical Spirits of the Wood

I first heard about this in an article in the Toronto Star months ago when I spotted a photo of one of the garden ‘sculptures’ that looked to me like a vision of a J.R.R. Tolkien tree spirit.

I am definitely no gardener, as my slug-eaten hostas and abandoned impatiens will attest (sorry, plant spirits, I tried), but this international exhibit is definitely my kind of gardening.

The Bird Tree – Six stories tall and filled with birds and birdsong

As we strolled through the paths, the exhibition’s Land of Hope theme was brought to life in every manner of creature and creation. Larger than life in every aspect (in some cases soaring 6 stories or so above the ground), each of the sculptures was impressive not only in the use of plant materials, but in the scale of the work, and the integration of each piece within its field or forest setting. Here are a few of my faves:

Mother Earth, complete with waterfall and floral tresses

China’s entry, based on a legend of a girl who loved cranes.

Finding Nemo in this Japanese entry

To see more photos of the horticultural exhibit, click here.

Next up, the Boutique experience

Large, loft-style rooms with a little bit of luxe.

After touring the garden exhibit twice in 3 hours, we headed to Le Germain for some much needed R&R. In this case, R&R turned out to be Red wine and Risotto, thanks to Le Germain’s diligent concierge, André Cloutier, who had stayed late in anticipation of our arrival to offer some suggestions for dinner. In fact, it was on André’s recommendation of their to-die-for risotto that we chose Le Club Chasse et Pêche for dinner, and we weren’t disappointed. (I’m sure it was also thanks to him that we found ourselves with a great table at a great restaurant, last-minute on a busy Friday night – so merci, André!)

The food and service at the restaurant were both wonderful and the ambience (a cozy semi-subterranean space with thick stone walls providing a rustic-chic vibe) was the perfect marriage of old-world-meets-modern-Montreal – exactly the kind of place I would have spent hours searching for, but in this case the work was done for me.

There's something about a comfy robe that feels like home.?

There’s something about a comfy robe that feels like luxury.

Each room has its own custom-etched water glasses

Two hours later, after a full day of Garmin, gardens and gastronomy, it was a treat to return to the hotel’s loft-like serenity, snuggle up in a comfy robe, and stretch out on the pillow-top for some much-needed pillow time. And Le Germain gets it right. From its urban chic decor to the luxury of the room’s supersized tub, this is a place you can relax in style. This brand promises that ‘no detail is spared’, and I have to admit, when I noticed the water glasses were etched with our room number, I was impressed. And a little sorry that our stay was so short.

With a complimentary breakfast to start us off the next day, and armed with André’s suggested itinerary for a drive along the south shore of the St. Lawrence, we were off to explore charming villages and scenic lookouts, leaving Montreal’s le Jardin botanique and Le Germain behind us. Both lived up to our expectations and their individual promises of unique and boutique, and while the exhibit has closed with the onset of fall, the doors of Le Germain are always open.

TIP: Driving into and around downtown Montreal can be a bit of a challenge with traffic, one-way streets, stoplights every 50 feet or so, and trying to find that elusive parking spot. Better to leave the headache of parking to the hotel valet as we did and take the Metro or a cab. Plus then, you can drink!