Le Festival Montreal En Lumiere -- The Montreal High Lights Festival

The Montreal High Lights Festival is a 10-day party in the dark of February, celebrating all things bright. Claude Dallaire, Provided to the Star Tribune

Montreal: Old Town, New Experience -- Star Tribune

A winter festival illuminates the beauty of Montreal.

Our plane was the last to land; the airport closed minutes later because of the snow. My husband hailed a cab, which fishtailed through Montreal's Vieux Port, overshot our hotel, and had to back up a block; it was just too snowy, the streets too narrow, for the driver to turn around.

By the time we had grabbed our duffle bags and waded up the front stairs of the Auberge Bonaparte, my red knitted cap was sparkling white, and my feet were soaked.

I had not seen snow like this in a long time. It was old-fashioned snow, deep in the unplowed streets, giant flakes sailing past the big windows of our room. As I toweled my damp hair, I looked out at the tall stone buildings of the oldest neighborhood in Montreal. In one direction, I could see the towers of Basilique Notre-Dame, its top windows glowing blue. In the other direction, white lights danced in the sky down by the waterfront. Those lights were not typical. Those lights were the reason we had come.

Read more ....