Pique-nique au lac aux Castors

Fifteen minutes from downtown, you suddenly feel like you're somewhere in the Laurentians: Beaver Lake, dug in **1938** at the top of Mount Royal, is Montrealers' great Sunday refuge.

Climb up with a blanket, market cheeses and a baguette, settle on the big sloping lawn and watch the ducks, the kites and the families putting the world to rights.