<p>I’ve been to that tourney several times (both the men’s and the women’s tourney.) It’s a nice tourney and you usually can show up the day of and get ground passes - which get you onto any court except the stadium. We used to stay at Lowes Vogue downtown (before we swtiched to B&B’s) and one night we were going out to dinner and Steffi Graf was sitting in the lobby reading. </p>
<p>I also stayed at the Marriott (the one with the roof top pool) one year when it was the player’s hotel. The guys were everywhere - at breakfast, in the bar at night, in the elevators, etc., etc., etc. I felt like a stalker (but in a good way!)</p>
<p>While you can certainly get by in English in both Montreal and Quebec, my experience is that increasingly there are residents who really are not bilingual, and who genuinely only speak French. They are not in the tourist industry, so you will be fine. But if you do have some French, you may find yourself using it.</p>
<p>The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has a small but very good collection. The biosphere is also good fun.</p>
<p>I’m not sure what kinds of lodging you are planning, but if it’s a b&b, be sure there is air conditioning. Despite the far north latitude, August can bring a week here and there of oppressive heat/humidity that resembles D.C.</p>
<p>If you need to switch from social greetings in French to your English to get some real communication, it sometimes helps to mention you’re American! This was our experience. A Canadian who can’t speak French well is a source of frustration to the francophone community. They don’t expect Americans to be fluent in French.</p>
<p>You may want to keep an eye on the news before you come up to Montreal this summer. Today is the 100th day of student protest and %90 of them have been in downtown Montreal. They have been violent in the sense that hundreds of students have been arrested, and many local stores and such have been vandalized. They (students) are promising a summer of protests so it may be worth you keeping and eye on the news.</p>
<p>The June/July 2012 issue of National Geographic Traveler magazine just arrived toady and voila! it has a feature article “A Taste of Montreal: 25 Ways to Savor the City.” I can’t find the article online - check your local library for the NG Traveler magazine - but I did find this online city guide for Montreal: [Montreal</a>, Canada – National Geographic’s Ultimate City Guides](<a href=“Travel”>Montreal Travel Guide). If you scroll down below the photos, you will find a trip planner with Must-Dos, free things, & walking tours.</p>
<p>My family loved Montreal. It is an extremely bicycle-friendly city & we bicycled EVERYWHERE, including up to the top of Mount Royal, which nearly did us in on a hot August day. Fortunately they sell ice cream at the top of Mount Royal. :D</p>
<p>The protests in Montreal may have interest to CC folks because they’re focused on the rise of college tuition to $4,700 by 2016 to bring it more in line to the Canadian norm of $5,300.</p>
<p>I go to Montreal every year. In my experience, if a native speaks English to a storekeeper/retail clerk/ticket clerk that person will respond in French. If an American (or a Brit) speaks English to the same person, they will respond in English. Most folks in Montreal are bilingual. Whether or not they use English is up to them. If you are trying to spend money, I guarantee they will speak English.</p>
<p>We were in Quebec City right before the election on secession and found it very difficult not speaking any French and the people were in no mood to accommodate us. I also believe in QC a large proportion of the population does not speak any English. </p>
<p>Montreal, OTOH, has always had a large English speaking population and so the French speaking citizens are much more likely to speak English. I do, however, know many older English Montrealers who speak no French.</p>
<p>I actually ended up in a shop in Montreal several years ago where the owner genuinely spoke no English. My French is quite decent, but I didn’t know all the terminology for the specialty item I was trying to purchase. Fortunately, I knew the words in Portuguese (which luckily turned out to be loan words from French), and we managed fine. But if I had had to rely solely on English, there would have been no sale.</p>
<p>When we were in Montreal, I remember hearing French all around but it seemed so DIFFERENT from the French I learned in HS. I think it would be like plunking a new English learner down in Georgia or something. LOL</p>
<p>But yes, most people could switch at the drop of a hat.</p>
<p>We took the subway out to Greektown (?) and had dinner. The public transit system seemed very accessible (DH is a pub trans natural.)</p>
<p>The oldest section of downtown was also fun…they had street performers to entertain the tourists.</p>
Fortunately they sell ice cream at the top of Mount Royal. :D</p>