Summer Sundays are still sacred in Montréal but are no longer a strictly Catholic affair. The day's main events are brunch (whenever) and Tam-tams, an all-afternoon drum-circle with dancers and a hippie crafts market at the Monument Sir George-Étienne Cartier at the foot of Mont-Royal.

Weekend brunch spots do brisk business on Saturday and Sunday. Most places serve breakfast specials until late in the afternoon, so there's absolutely no rush to get out of bed. And no one does. You see plenty of mussy-haired, rosy-cheeked couples grinning sleepily at each other and their menus.

Try to have brunch on rue Bernard in Mile End. If you start in front of the Théâtre Rialto, with its striking Art Nouveau facade and marquee, you can take your pick of excellent brunch choices. After your nth refill of coffee, make your way back to the intersection of rue Bernard and avenue du Parc. Turn south on avenue du Parc and walk toward downtown. Feel free to meander a block or two off avenue du Parc and you'll find lots of small shops on both sides of the street, gorgeous town houses, an upscale shopping district, and more.

When you're through window shopping, head south along avenue du Parc, until you come to avenue Mont-Royal ("The Mountain") on your right. A bit farther, beyond the lights, you come to the Sunday ritual of Tam-tams, which has grown to such an extent that tour buses now stop to gawk.

Beginning at 2 p.m., drummers and percussionists from all over Montréal converge here and their beats roll up "The Mountain's" slopes and drone on for the rest of the afternoon. A crowd of dancers forms in front of them, and people keep coming from every direction armed with blankets, Frisbees, dogs — the works — and they set up camp on the grassy hills. It is a veritable circus, and everyone gets in on the act, including children. Out on the fringes, there's even a group of Dungeons and Dragons kids whacking each other with foam and duct-tape swords.