The first thing I noticed was the pronouns. Montreal, which marks its 375th anniversary this year and hosts the Canadian Grand Prix today (June 11), is the second-largest Francophone city in the world after Paris, but where its sister city over the pond favours the formal second person plural “vous”, in Quebecois French, strangers will greet you with the familiar informality of “tu”. In fact, Montreal is a very “tu” kind of city.

My visit began, fittingly, with an over-spilling container of poutine - a messy pile of fries smothered in gravy and dolloped with chewy cheese curds. The iconic Quebecois dish is ubiquitous and can be bought as fast-food or at trendy specialist vendors such as Patati Patata, my chosen venue, where bearded hipsters chat start-ups over the stodgy snack.

Poutine is ubiquitous Credit: ALLEKO

The next thing I noticed was the “franglais”; highlights of the hybrid lexicon include “c’est vraiment nice”, “c’est chill” and, my personal favourite, “mon chum” which can mean “my friend” or “my boyfriend”.

As a sometime Paris resident - and a committed Francophile - my interest in Montreal was first piqued when I noticed the volume of Frenchies deciding to leave the banks of the Seine, in favour of the land which they once mocked for its distinctive accent and archaic ecclesiastical swear words: “câlisse” and “tabarnak” are both legitimate curse words.

The densely populated Plateau Mont-Royal district is characterised by its colourful residences Credit: ALAMY

Most recent French émigrés can be found in the densely populated Plateau Mont-Royal district, the wide-ranging strip north-east of Downtown characterised by its colourful residences, criss-crossed with outdoor iron staircases, and punctuated by splashes of street art. The area is overlooked to the west by the imposing cross of Mont Royal, a vast steel construction that occupies the spot where Paul de Chomedey, the city’s French founder, first placed a crucifix in 1643. The settlement became the trading hub of “New France”, before coming under British control after the Seven Years’ War in the mid18th century, and the two identities have tussled and overlapped ever since.

Street art in Montreal Credit: deizmat - Fotolia

French was made the sole official language of Quebec in 1976, causing swathes of the Anglo-orientated population to leave. Industrial downturn in the 1990s was followed by a knife-edge independence referendum in 1995. But as the 20th century drew to an end, an overhaul of the local economy - with a focus on technology and media - accompanied a thawing in tensions, with increasing numbers of Montreal’s young population speaking both French and English. These days greeting people in English won’t ruffle many feathers, especially not in the younger population.

It is in the Plateau district that my orientation of the city begins. I am in the capable and perfectly manicured hands of Carrie MacPherson. Originally from Saskatchewan in the Canadian Prairies and now a lifestyle blogger and guide, Carrie has been an adopted Montrealer for 17 years.

The imposing cross of Mont Royal, a vast steel construction that occupies the spot where Paul de Chomedey, the city’s French founder, first placed a crucifix in 1643 Credit: tyler74 - Fotolia

We start out where any tour of this bilingual city logically should, on Boulevard St. Laurent - also known as “The Main” - the wide seam that runs across the island bisecting its traditionally French-speaking contingent to the East and anglophone residents to the West. These days, the road bears signs of the many immigrant populations that have come to inhabit it and shape its character. 60 per cent of Montrealers speak French at home, just over 20 per cent speak English, while 20 per cent speak neither. The city is home to a thriving Chinatown, as well as significant Portuguese, Arab, Haitian and Jewish communities.

Our first stop is the hip Mile End neighbourhood and the warm bustle of open-all-hours St-Viateur Bagel, considered one of the best spots to sample the city’s signature cuisine. According to the affable Morena family who run the place, their bagels are better than those you might find south of the border in New York. Prepared and cooked in an open kitchen, these honey-boiled treats cost less than a dollar and are completely delicious. The walls are covered with 60 years’ worth of press cuttings, tinged with sepia, and black and white photos of famous patrons, including local Leonard Cohen.

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Once we’ve fuelled up on bagels, we’re back in Carrie’s car and heading up The Main to the Mile-Ex neighbourhood, an up-and-coming area where former warehouses have been transformed into social hubs by young creatives, priced out of the area we’ve just come from. We duck into Dispatch Coffee, a garage transformed into an espresso bar and roastery, which could be straight out of Brooklyn, except that we are greeted with a “hello-bonjour” rather than a “hey there”. Hip credentials are prominent in our next stop, too, Dépanneur Le Pick-up, a working corner shop-cum-hip diner serving gourmet burgers and sandwiches, including the classic bagel, a hamburger and even veggie pulled pork, made from bean curd. Finally, we swing by playfully titled beer-bar Alexandraplatz, founded by Dépanneur’s co-owner Bernadette Houde. “She's awesome”, Carrie tells me. “She was in the band called Lesbians on Ecstasy. Everyone knows her.”

In fact, in this area, it seems everyone knows everyone. Despite being Quebec's most populous city, Montreal's more modest size gave it a distinctly villagey feel. (“It's like a huge, gentrified village,” one local told me.)

But if it is a relatively petite metropolis, Montreal punches above its weight in terms of its culinary offering: the city boasts the most eateries per capita in North America after New York City, which makes for a fast-moving and competitive restaurant scene. “We are very spoiled for good restaurants,” Carrie tells me. “There is a high turnover - if a restaurant lasts more than a year, it's doing all right.”

If a year is good-going, then Toqué!, considered by many to be the best place to eat in Quebec, is positively geriatric. Opened in 1993, its owner Normand Laprise is credited with creating a new kind of Quebecois haute-cuisine, characterised by a close relationship between chef and local producer (previously, high-quality ingredients would be imported from France). The freshness of ingredients is evident in the taste of the pan-seared mushrooms I sample there, drizzled with the most intense of smoky sauces, as well as crême brulée cheesecake, accompanied by a blueberry sorbet that tastes just-picked fresh.

A post shared by Restaurant Toqué! (@restaurant_toque) on Oct 28, 2015 at 1:48pm PDT

After dinner, Laprise, a chatty and down-to-earth chap in a sweater and trainers, takes me on a tour of the kitchen which he delivers with a bouncy openness that belies his phenomenal success. The Quebec native has single-handedly created a dining scene in his image, with Toqué! alumni going on to found hugely successful restaurants in their own right. Montréal Plaza, the creation of Laprise’s former chef de cuisine Charles-Antoine Crête, is booked most nights, while former Toqué! staffer Martin Picard’s Au Pied du Cochon “sugar shack” - located outside the city in rural Mirabel – has months-long waiting lists for its indulgent maple and pork specialities, fresh from the farm.

If the city’s gourmet standing is relatively new, its reputation for the arts is long-established. From Arcade Fire to Cirque du Soleil, via the power ballads of Celine Dion, Montreal has proved itself a hotbed for creativity. The city’s cultural institutions, anchored in the ultra-modern Quartier des spectacles district, are pulling out all the stops for anniversary year.

Arcade Fire Credit: +f

Nearby, the newly opened Au Sommet Place Ville Marie in downtown, a cultural centre, 600 ft up, where sightseers can view the city in 360 degrees from a glass-walled observatory is seemingly made for Instagram photo shoots - and after taking in the sunset from the viewing platform, visitors are invited to visit an interactive exhibit where they can generate a personalised tourist itinerary based on their interests, 'collected' on a little electronic card.

The hi-tech hi-jinx continue into the city’s Old Montreal with Cité Mémoire — a series of projections on the side of buildings telling the story of Montreal via video and sound installations. Narration is provided by a free app, which visitors are encouraged to download on their phone; lovers meet to the soundtrack of Cohen’s Suzanne, while a set of loquacious beavers explain the 17th-century fur trade.

I recuperate from exploring the area with a visit to Bota-Bota Spa Sur l'eau, a former river ferry housing two “water circuits” – sauna, ice bath, rounded up with on-deck hot tub overlooking the port.

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Finally, I head to Place d'Armes, the historical heart of the city, and another monument to Paul de Chomeday, founder of Montreal. On one side of the square sits Notre-Dame Basillica, an immense neo-Gothic construction, and opposite it the sturdy grandeur of the former Bank of Montreal headquarters. Two statues – an elegantly dressed man and woman with comically upturned noses – sit on two of the plaza’s corners. The woman, who I learn via a small plaque is French, looks disdainfully at the bank, symbol of English power, while her male equivalent, who is English, gives a superior look to the church, a symbol of the influence of French Canadians. Meanwhile, each holds a small dog, looking excitedly over at its counterpart, wanting to play - which seems a bit closer to where we're at these days.

Getting there

Air Transat (00 800 872 672 83 / www.airtransat.co.uk) offers a return Economy Class flight direct from London Gatwick to Montreal from £354 per person. Based on travel in May 2017.

Staying there

Ritz-Carlton Montreal (1228 Sherbrooke St W). Double rooms from £468.

For, advice and information on visiting Quebec call 0800 051 7055, email: info@quebecoriginal.com or visit: www.quebecoriginal.com

How Montreal is marking its anniversary

There will be over 175 cultural events in 2017 to mark the 375 year anniversary. Here are some highlights.

Cité Memoire

Vignettes of the city’s history will be projected on to buildings and in other public spaces across the Old Town.

À Nous La Rue street theatre

Throughout July, 60 street theatre troupes from across the world will take over the Quartier des Spectacles performing over 800 shows in the largest event of its kind in North America (July 6-30).

A Crack in Everything

This much-anticipated multidisciplinary exhibition exploring the art and legacy of Leonard Cohen will span visual arts, performance art, music, the written word and film. (November 9, 2017 until April 1, 2018).

Illumination of the Jacques-Cartier Bridge

The city’s iconic bridge is the canvas for Living Connections - intelligently programmed illuminations that change according to the hour of the day, season and “energy” of the city, based on local news, traffic reports and weather.

Aura, Notre Dame Basillica

Light and orchestral music interplay with the splendour of the 19th century church to create a multimedia journey through one of the city’s most famous attractions. (Until September 30).