We're looking forward to 8 days of great jazz and great food in Montreal

A tour group from Virginia exploring the Place des Arts In Montreal as preparations continue for the city's International Jazz Festival, which begins today and runs through July 9.

By VICTOR E. SASSON
EDITOR

MONTREAL -- After a good night's sleep and a big breakfast, we are looking forward to seeing and hearing Gregory Porter, the American who took a 2014 Grammy for best jazz vocal album.

This French-Canadian island city is hosting the 37th edition of what is often called the best jazz festival in the world.

Porter will perform tonight in Theatre Maisonneuve, one of the concert halls in the Place des Arts that make up this city's bigger and better version of Manhattan's Lincoln Center.

We also have tickets to see Joey Alexander, the Indonesian child prodigy who released his first jazz album in 2015 at age 11; singer Lauryn Hill and others through July 7.

We're also looking forward to exploring restaurants and markets in a city with world-renowned food. 

Hundreds of free concerts at outdoor stages and in tents begin at 11 a.m. and end at midnight during the 11-day festival. Ticketed concerts are in halls, nightclubs and other venues in or near the Place des Arts, above.

The Hyatt Regency, headquarters hotel for the festival, is part of the Complexe Desjardins, above, a link in a vast network of shops, restaurants, offices and subway stations known as Underground Montreal. 

A bowl of yogurt, granola, dried fruit and nuts is available as part of a groaning-board breakfast at the hotel.

The breakfast includes made-to-order omelets, ham, string beans and much more.

Montreal sights and sounds (when we weren't eating)

Frequent visitors say going to French-speaking Montreal is like flying to Europe without the jet lag. But there are plenty of high prices on restaurant meals and gasoline to remind you of the Continent. Regular gas was selling for about $5.25 a gallon in Montreal, an island city like Manhattan with about 1.7 million people.

Restaurant checks at sidewalk cafes in Old Montreal, above, and in the rest of the city include taxes totaling 15%, more than twice what we pay in New Jersey.

In front of City Hall, the media interview a member of the opposition about a corruption scandal.

A McDonald's in Old Montreal. Even in French, the food is of the lowest quality possible.

The entrance to a large public produce market in an area of the city settled by Italian immigrants.

A produce stand just outside the market.

Bison hamburgers and duck hot dogs are among the offerings at this stand in the market.

Children from a day camp enjoy the lake in Mount Royal Park.

Bistro SAQ was one of the pop-up cafes in the Place des Arts, the vast open plaza where many free concerts were given during the 10-day Festival International de Jazz de Montreal that ended last Sunday.

Venues ranged from the main stage, above, to Club Soda, below, a nightclub setting where we saw the wonderful jazz singer Gregory Porter, backed by a quartet.

Porter mysteriously wraps a scarf around the sides of his face and under his chin.

Le Dixieband, above, and Hot Club de Ma Rue, below, are two acoustic bands that performed in Lounge Heineken.

Elizabeth Shepherd, a bilingual singer from Ontario, also performed at Club Soda.

On the main stage between performances.

In Montreal, the subway or metro boasts some beautiful stations and rail cars that ride on rubber tires.

Montrealers love their outdoor cafes. To escape the city's bitter winters, residents can retreat to a vast network of underground stores, restaurants, food courts and movie theaters linked by the subway, such as a three-level mall with 110 stores and restaurants, entrance below.

The Holiday Inn in Montreal's Chinatown is topped off with pagodas.

On June 30, we saw a Jewish wedding at our hotel, the Hyatt Regency Montreal, where both the bride and groom were women.

A modern part of Montreal.

A monument in front of Notre Dame Cathedral commemorates the French victory over the Iroquois, a native tribe, more than 3 centuries ago.

An Iroquois warrior.

In the rear of the old cathedral is a modern chapel.