This year’s ASRS in Montreal gave us another chance to revisit French food and culture, but with shorter travel and better weather than Paris. Westley and I arrived Wednesday to check into our upscale AirBnb apartment. Despite limited late dining options, we found a French bistro with respectable onion soup and escargot compared to our recent Parisian experience. On Thursday, we battled hordes of summer campers at the Montreal Science Center to learn Nanualuk skills, perform virtual surgery, and browse comedy wildlife photos. After pho from Pho Bang NY and pineapple buns from Patisserie Coco, we scaled lofty rope courses aboard pirate ship replicas at Voiles en Voiles, where Westley managed to conquer even the double-black diamond course. We shared Nouilles de Lan Zhou for dinner, then mingled with Duke friends at our rooftop reception before Melody arrived. I gave my talk on Friday morning, then joined my family at the Notre-Dame Basilica and at Le Central for lunch with tagliatelle from Ragu and lobster roll and crab poutine from Gaspasie. We shopped for Korean cosmetics in Chinatown and souvenirs on Rue Saint Paul and Marche Bonsecours, then napped until dinner with my auntie Kin at Kam Fung followed by mango slush and dragon beard candy (including a peanut-free version for Westley). We overslept Saturday morning, but made up the lost time breezing through the Biodome, Botanical Gardens, Planetarium, and Insectarium. We remembered the beaver habitat from our last visit here, but the massive French tacos at Chivetos put us to sleep through most of the Black Hole feature. Revisiting Au Pied du Cochon almost 20 years later brought us back to foie gras heaven with foie gras nigiri, duck-in-a-can, and an amazing pig’s foot stuffed with sweetbreads and more foie gras, of course. Our post-dinner Cirque du Soleil show Echo featured high-flying acrobats, comedic box stackers, and a giant red mannequin that kept Westley in giggles and awe. We awoke Sunday to skyline city views from Kondiaronk Belvedere, then hiked down Parc du Mont-Royal’s grand staircase to Mile End. There, we hauled 5-lb of PC cookies from Maxi and compared bagels from Fairmount and St Viateur (we preferred Fairmount’s), before queuing for Marche Hung Phat banh mi, and bargaining for an Inuit basalt muskox and Iroquois soapstone heron at an indigenous art gallery. We watched the FIFA finals on spotty WiFi aboard our VIA rail to Quebec City, then checked into the city’s iconic Fairmont Le Château Frontenac to catch Spain’s win over Argentina at the hotel pool. We passed crowds enjoying the last day of the FEQ festival en route to dinner at Le Hobbit, and supplemented our free beignet dessert with Cows ice-cream while listening to the headliner’s concert from our hotel window. After a breakfast buffet at Place Dufferin, we spent Monday exploring picturesque Quartier Petit Champlain sampling goat cheese soft-serve, touring La Citadelle’s military installations, learning maple syrup production from animatronic beavers, and dining on rabbit pot pie from La Lapin Saute and Quebec-style shepherd’s pie from La Buche. We returned to old town after sunset to snap selfies, watch street performers, and enjoy more ice-cream before calling it a night. On Tuesday, we took advantage of our Chase Edit benefit for another breakfast buffet and take-out lunchboxes, enjoyed a morning stroll along Terrasse Dufferin, then rode the train back to Montreal for our flight home. Between our high-flying adventures, art gallery treasures, and amazing meals, our Quebec journey helped restore our faith in French cuisine and culture.