There are mornings when Montreal feels smaller. The same coffee, the same street, the same routine. This Saturday: take Highway 20. Heading to Quebec. Two hours, and the world changes format.

7 AM: DEPARTURE FROM MONTREAL

Get up early. Not out of discipline: out of instinct. The best days start before the city wakes up. Take the A-20 East, or the A-40 if you prefer to follow the river earlier. The exit to Quebec comes quickly when you have coffee in your veins.

MIDDAY: COFFEE AND HERITAGE

Arrival at Petit-Champlain. Carrera Café for the midday coffee: a well-pulled espresso, maybe a charcuterie plate. The terrace facing the river sets the tone for the rest of the day. Then, the Upper Town: the ramparts, the museums, Saint-Jean Street as you wish.

EVENING: THE FINISH LINE

Last coffee before heading back. Old Quebec at night has something impossible to reproduce: the stone facades that catch the golden light of the street lamps, the calm that settles after the tourists leave for the day. Then the road back, satisfied.