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In the post-An Inconvenient Truth world, flying has been targeted as one of the larger culprits that contribute to global warming. To counter-act carbon dioxide and other greenhouse-gas emissions from flights, a new breed of business sells carbon offsets; the money is used to help avert climate change, often by planting trees or investing in renewable energy sources like solar and wind power. All you need to do is visit a website and provide trip details to calculate how much greenhouse gas your flight is producing. In seconds, you find out how much to pay in order to be "carbon neutral." While the trend is certainly a positive one, figuring out where to give your money is confusing. A Google search turns up dozens of carbon-offset companies--many of which are for-profit--and it's difficult to determine which are worthwhile. There's little consistency in the way the organizations calculate the emissions generated by a given flight. Prices charged for offsets also vary widely. For example, TerraPass, a California-based for-profit outfit, estimates that a Boston-Los Angeles round trip produces 1.02 tons of CO2, and charges $10 to offset it; German nonprofit Atmosfair, meanwhile, says that the flight creates 2.58 tons of CO2, and charges $65 for the offset. Other carbon-offset outfits request a flat amount without factoring in the exact mileage or the type of plane being flown. Critics point out that offsets fall far short of solving global warming. "It's hard to truly offset your carbon impact," says Anja Kollmuss, the lead author of a recent study from the Tufts Climate Initiative that evaluates carbon-offset companies. "To really make a difference, people need to fly less and make lifestyle changes." Still, while the study cautions that fliers shouldn't see carbon offsets as a way to buy "environmental pardons," it does allow that offsets might help spur innovation--including the financing of carbon-reducing projects--that otherwise wouldn't happen. So which offsetters are most effective and deserve your donations? "It's a mixed bag," says Julia Bovey of the Natural Resources Defense Council. "You have to look carefully at where the money goes." Asking a couple of questions helps narrow the field. How are donations used? Only give money to organizations that will disclose the details of the projects they invest in, the percentage of funds that goes to those projects (versus regular business costs), and their status as a nonprofit (or not). They should also reveal how they calculate offsets--some factor in plane type, seat class, and other details, while others are less precise. Are results guaranteed? Delta Air Lines made news recently by becoming the first U.S. carrier to offer carbon offsets on its website. The airline gives passengers the option of donating a flat $5.50 (for any domestic round trip) or $11 (for international trips) to its partner The Conservation Fund. Most of that money is used to plant trees, however, which is less than ideal. According to Brendan Bell, the Sierra Club Global Warming and Energy Program's representative in Washington, D.C., organizations that invest in renewable energy (like solar, geo-thermal, and wind) have a definite, measurable impact and are therefore a better bet than companies focused on reforestation--because the results of planting trees are difficult to verify. The Conservation Fund, which since 2000 has planted more than nine million trees that'll reportedly capture nearly 13 million tons of CO2, obviously disagrees; for more info, see conservationfund.org. Is there a seal of approval? The fledgling carbon-offset industry is largely unregulated, so before you give any organization money, find out if an objective, trustworthy source vouches for it. Created under the auspices of the World Wildlife Fund, the Gold Standard is the strictest and best-vetted system of verifying carbon-offset projects. Outfits that meet the standard usually mention the fact prominently and display the official seal on their websites. If an organization's projects aren't approved by the Gold Standard, find out if another trustworthy third party has verified the quality. Do you have a pet cause? As with all giving, you should give to an organization that's important to you. Some offset outfits allow people to steer donations one way or another. Carbonfund.org, which has begun a partnership with Orbitz, lets donors direct their money to renewable energy, reforestation, energy-efficiency projects, or some combination thereof. Other outfits are attractive because they focus on certain initiatives--NativeEnergy, for instance, helps Native American farmers. By all means, support your favorite cause: Just be aware that environmental impact varies widely.

*Actually, it should really be "Our Montreal" Play Created by two local artists, FRAG on The Main is an ever-growing series of collage plaques mounted on buildings all along St-Laurent; it tells the story of The Main--from the Guilbault Garden to the Montreal Hunt Club--by uncovering its lost and hidden fragments. The one tourist site that's truly central to Montrealers, both literally and figuratively, is Mount Royal Park, designed by Frederick Law Olmsted. There's activity year-round, from jogging and cycling to skating, cross-country skiing, and tobogganing. It's also one of the best places to take a secluded path and escape from the hubbub. More serene still is the wonderfully Victorian Mount Royal Cemetery, which adjoins the park and doubles as a stunning arboretum. Founded by Seagram's heir Phyllis Lambert, the Canadian Centre for Architecture has beautifully curated exhibitions, an internationally renowned architecture library, film screenings and lectures, and a top-notch bookstore. The Lachine Canal, once the cradle of Canada's industrial revolution, is much quieter these days--it's been turned into a National Historic Site and green zone that stretches nine miles from the Old Port to Lake St-Louis to the west. There's certainly no better way to get from the Old Port to Atwater Market, Montreal's other celebrated farmers market, with its iconic deco market hall. Also along the canal is Papeterie Saint-Armand, a small-scale paper mill that's been producing fine papers for over 25 years. And when you're done touring the canal, the place for a refreshment is Paul Patates, where you can have an excellent all-dressed toasté (a grilled hot dog with the works), a poutine featuring the famous fries, and a bracing Bertrand spruce beer, the Quebecois soft drink extraordinaire. On Île-Sainte-Hélène, known for the starring role it played during Expo 67, you can still see traces of Montreal's mod moment, like the Buckminster Fuller Dome, but it's also worth visiting to check out the Moorish towers that anchor the Jacques-Cartier Bridge to the island. Cinémathèque Québécoise houses exhibitions and shows films from around the world, with provincial and Canadian works a specialty. Around the corner is the downtown home of the National Film Board of Canada, a leader in experimental, animated, documentary, and childrens' film production for almost 70 years. The main attraction there is the CinéRobothèque, where a full-fledged robot helps you watch any one of the 9,000 films made or distributed by the NFB. Aprés cinema, our top pick for a bite is a burger and a mocha shake at La Paryse. Thankfully, the hype has died down a bit since Pitchfork, The New York Times, Spin, and others anointed Montreal the latest indie-rock "it" town, but we still have a vibrant music scene. In many ways, ground zero for this explosion of creativity was Casa del Popolo, a café, bar, and performance space that has added an annex across the street that includes a larger, more-glam venue (La Sala Rossa) and a good tapas restaurant (La Sala Rosa). Every June the owners celebrate their good fortune with Suoni Per Il Popolo, a monthlong festival pairing avant-jazz greats with local avant-rock heroes. Come autumn, Pop Montreal, our other indie music festival, rolls out plenty of good cheer, plus a film fest and an alt-crafts fair. Two places that are all about the lazy days of summer are Le Bilboquet, where lines for the ice cream (in flavors like tire d'érable, maple-syrup taffy) stretch down the block, and Gibeau Orange Julep, where you can sample the house elixir in the shadow of a three-story orange built in 1964 (and in the company of hot rods on Wednesday nights). Le Cheval Blanc and Bílý Kun (French and Czech for "white horse") are our two favorite Montreal watering holes. Both combine tasteful eclecticism with microbrew enthusiasm. And while the wine-bar population continues to grow rapidly, the best of the lot is still BU. For those looking to dance, Zoobizarre's hilariously Gothic confines host rock shows and DJ nights by such local notables as Les Georges Leningrad and Ghislain Poirier, the city's reigning beatmaster. Finally, there's no getting around the fact that in Montreal, "Winter is my homeland," as the song goes. Activity doesn't slow down in the least during our long, cold winters, and nothing gets to the essence of life in the city better than ice-skating on Parc Lafontaine's serpentine pond or Mount Royal Park's Beaver Lake, careening madly down one of Mount Royal's hills on a toboggan, or watching a pickup hockey game in one of the countless neighborhood parks. FRAG on The Mainatsa.qc.ca/pages/fragonthemain.asp Canadian Centre for Architecture 1920 rue Baile, 514/939-7000, cca.qc.ca Atwater Market 138 ave. Atwater Papeterie Saint-Armand 3700 rue St-Patrick, 514/931-8338, st-armand.com, Fri. only Paul Patates 0760 rue Charlevoix, 514/937-2751 Buckminster Fuller Dome (Biosphere)biosphere.ec.gc.ca Cinémathèque Québécoise 335 blvd. de Maisonneuve Est, 514/842-9763, cinematheque.qc.ca National Film Board of Canada 1564 rue St.-Denis, 514/496-6887, nfb.ca La Paryse 302 rue Ontario Est, 514/842-2040 Casa del Popolo 4873 blvd. St.-Laurent, 514/284-3804, casadelpopolo.com La Sala Rossa & La Sala Rosa 4848 blvd. St-Laurent, 514/284-0122 Pop Montrealpopmontreal.com Le Bilboquet 1311 rue Bernard Ouest, 514/276-0414 Gibeau Orange Julep 7700 blvd. Décarie, 514/738-7486 Cheval Blanc 809 rue Ontario Est, 514/522-0211 Bílý Kun 354 rue Mont-Royal Est, 514/845-5392 BU 5245 blvd. St-Laurent, 514/276-0249, bu-mtl.com Zoobizarre 6388 rue St-Hubert, zoobizarre.org

*Actually, it should really be "Our Montreal" Shop Nearly every day--particularly if we plan to go shopping later--starts with a poppy or sesame seed bagel ("blacks" and "whites" in the local parlance) from Fairmount Bagel. Not because we're boring, but because we never tire of the world's very best (there, we've said it). Stick to the classics: Only schmucks order chocolate chip bagels. Our life revolves around Jean-Talon Market. We find ourselves there nearly every week, even in winter. Come summer, Jean-Talon is almost a parody of a cornucopia. Two years ago, the market expanded and modernized--and actually came out even better. One reason is Philippe and Ethné de Viennes' Olives et Épices, which offers a truly incredible line of épices de cru--spices of ultrahigh quality sourced around the world by the de Vienneses. Some other reasons are their second store, La Dépense, where you can pick up the market's most delicious snack--fresh carrot-and-leek bahjis--for a song, as well as Havre aux Glaces with its small-batch ice creams and Cochons Touts Rond, featuring artisanal charcuterie. Quincaillerie is French for "hardware store," but such shops are traditionally the place to buy kitchen supplies, too. Quincaillerie Dante adds a twist: It's part kitchen-supply store, part hunting and firearms specialist, and all Italian. Better yet, one of the owners, Elena Faita, and her son, Stefano, run Mezza Luna cooking school out of an apartment next door. Just south of the market and Quincaillerie Dante are Bar Sportivo and Caffé Italia--two primo places to take in an Italian football match and a latte--as well as the city's biggest Italian food emporium, Milano. Les Touilleurs, our other favorite kitchen-supply store, is on a chic stretch of Laurier, tantalizingly close to our apartment. Everything has that ideal combination of style and functionality--right down to the handsome recipe-of-the-month cards--and the retail space is beautiful. Montreal isn't quite the antiquing city it once was, thanks to eBay, but there are finds to be made. Amherst Street has a slew of impressive places for 20th-century antiques; we like Antiquités A-Z. The city's greatest treasure trove, the Marché aux Puces St-Michel, is a real tale of two floors. Downstairs is almost Sanford & Son-ish, but upstairs is a bewildering array of furniture, signage, musical equipment (accordions!), records, china, and more. Despite the fact that we have a blog, those who know us know that we're still very much believers in the world of print and stationery--and we're huge admirers of Nota Bene and its meticulous collection of paper products. You're not going to find any secondhand bookstores claiming to stock 18 miles of books in this town, but we do have The Word, around the corner from Nota Bene. It looks like there are hardly more than 18 yards of books, but somehow we still manage to come away happy every time. When they conducted their market research (yeah, right), the folks at Backroom Records & Pastries in Mile End must have come up with the two of us as ideal customers. They carry the best in used rock, reggae, folk, and jazz, plus the best in homemade pastries, candies, and other sweets. What's not to like? Especially when it's a semisecret store in the back room of someone's home. For men's and women's fashions by more than 30 up-and-coming local designers, Mile End's General 54 is where it's happening, while its sister store, Local 23, specializes in vintage clothing and accessories. Finally, three more hot tips for food. Montreal's most refined selection of imported, Quebecois, and raw-milk cheese is in Outremont, in the gorgeous cabinets of Yannick Fromagerie d'Exception. If tea is your bag, pay a visit to Camellia Sinensis. There's a new location next to Jean-Talon Market, but the original location in the Quartier Latin includes a newly refurbished teahouse. No tour of gourmet Montreal would be complete without a visit to a chocolatier. Our hands-down top choice is Les Chocolats de Chloé. Chloé Gervais-Fredette's attention to detail shows through in everything she touches, not just the small-batch, hand-dipped chocolate but also the shop and the packaging. Fairmount Bagel 74 rue Fairmount Ouest, 514/272-0667, fairmountbagel.com Jean-Talon Market 7070 ave. Henri-Julien Quincaillerie Dante and Mezza Luna 6851 rue St-Dominique, 514/271-2057 Bar Sportivo 6804 blvd. St-Laurent, 514/495-0170 Caffé Italia 6840 blvd. St-Laurent, 514/495-0059 Milano 6862 blvd. St-Laurent, 514/273-8558 Les Touilleurs 152 ave. Laurier Ouest, 514/278-0008, lestouilleurs.com Antiquités A-Z 1840 rue Amherst, 514/598-0144 Marché aux Puces St-Michel 3250 blvd. Crémazie Est, 514/721-7701 Nota Bene 3416 ave. du Parc, 514/485-6587 The Word 469 rue Milton, 514/845-5640 Backroom Records & Pastries 5912 rue St-Urbain (back alley entrance only), 514/495-8046 General 54 54 rue St-Viateur Ouest, 514/271-2129 Local 23 23 rue Bernard Ouest, 514/270-9333 Yannick Fromagerie 1218 rue Bernard Ouest, 514/279-9376 Camellia Sinensis 351 rue Emery, 514/286-4002, and 7010 ave. Casgrain, 514/271-4002, camellia-sinensis.com Les Chocolats de Chloé 375 rue Roy Est, 514/849-5550  

*Actually, it should really be "Our Montreal" The two of us met in Montreal in 1999. Neither of us was born or raised in the city--we moved here at the tail end of the '90s as part of the Great Migration that brought dozens, perhaps even hundreds, from British Columbia to Montreal's thriving Mile End neighborhood. But we both took to our surroundings quickly. We bonded over a number of things (the usual: books, films, cats, etc.), and chief among them was a shared love of food and of Montreal as the perfect terrain for this passion. It's been getting its due again in recent years, largely because of the splash made by a new wave of chefs and restaurateurs, but Montreal has long been a great "eating city"--not just a city with a lot of restaurants, but one that likes to eat and eat well, a city of gourmands. People here appreciate good food, they're willing to spend money on it, they love to cook and talk about food, and they take the time to enjoy it. They're our kind of people. By 2004, things had gotten serious. We were cooking and entertaining more, systematically exploring the city's restaurants, collecting cookbooks, and reading copious amounts of food literature. Our obsession was clearly spiraling out of control. Michelle had even taken the telltale step of quitting her job as a subtitle editor for films and enrolling in pastry school. We did the only sensible thing. One dreary day, we headed down to a Vietnamese restaurant in Chinatown, and over a good bowl of pho, we came up with a name--"...an endless banquet," a phrase meant to convey a sense of the ideal life--and started a food blog (endlessbanquet.blogspot.com) based largely on our relationship with Montreal. For years, we'd prided ourselves on the tours we'd give friends when they passed through, and part of the appeal of creating "...an endless banquet" was that we'd be able to broadcast our dream version of Montreal. Consider this a condensed, lushly illustrated, two-dimensional version of our beloved city. Eat Even an endless banquet has to start somewhere. That somewhere for us was Chinatown, the neighborhood that marks the beginning of the long stretch of Boulevard St-Laurent affectionately known as The Main. You see, The Main--which connects two rivers and divides the city into east and west (and supposedly French and English)--has been something of a corridor used by wave after wave of immigrants as they settled into the city and called it their own; it continues to be one of the city's principal cultural and entertainment hubs. For many of us, it's the wellspring of the city. Montreal's compact Chinatown isn't Vancouver's or Toronto's. In some ways, it's more of a Little Saigon than a Chinatown, but it remains a hotspot for Asian-food aficionados. Two years ago, at Pho Bac 97, we planned the creation of our blog over steaming bowls of pho number seven, which has the most delicious beef broth we've tasted. Above Sherbrooke Street, the terrain levels off as you enter the aptly named Plateau Mont-Royal district. Here, you'll find the remnants of the Jewish and Eastern European elements that defined The Main for most of the 20th century. For generations, the most essential, most mythologized eatery on The Main has been Schwartz's, a temple to the city's single most important gift to the world of cuisine: smoked meat. Our preferred combo is a regular smoked-meat sandwich, fries, a half-sour pickle, and a Cott black-cherry soda. On Duluth, just off St-Laurent, sits Reservoir, a smart, contemporary brasserie with microbrewed ales and lagers. The innovative kitchen turns out excellent bar snacks and light meals, including the city's best brunch. "The closer to church, the closer to God," or so we recall hearing. Well, there's no place that's closer to Santa Cruz, Montreal's central Portuguese church, than Rotisserie Portugalia; in a city thick with skilled Portuguese grills, this hole-in-the-wall is our chosen one. Call ahead and order your chicken "extra spicy," then pick up a basket of fries from teeny-weeny Patati Patata down the block, and you've got the makings for a perfect picnic in Jeanne-Mance Park. The most hallowed stop on the Mordecai Richler tour of Montreal is Wilensky's Light Lunch in Mile End. The thing to order is the Wilensky Special, a hot, pressed-bologna, salami, and mustard sandwich on a bun. Have yours with Kraft cheese, a freshly made soda or egg cream, and a half-sour. Our beloved Euro-Deli Batory is a Polish store and diner where we regularly get in touch with our Eastern European roots via the borschts and pierogies. Little Italy starts just to the north of Mile End. The bright new star there is a world-class pizzeria, Bottega. Meanwhile, the Villeray district, north of Little Italy and Jean-Talon Market, is notable for its very good Lebanese eateries and bakeries. Chez Apo, our favorite, specializes in lahmajoun, Armenian-style flatbread topped with spiced beef and baked in a wood oven. There are dozens of South Asian restaurants in Park Extension--our favorite is Malhi Sweets. The Punjabi menu includes an irresistible malai kofta, a superior channa samosa, and the city's finest pakoras. The Côte-des-Neiges neighborhood, specializing in Caribbean cuisine, is another of Montreal's melting pots. Mr. Spicee, a Trinidadian takeout, makes outstanding patties and "doubles"--curry-loaded sandwiches, starting at $1.50, that are smothered in tamarind sauce and hot sauce. When it comes to greasy-spoon breakfasts, we go to Cosmos in Notre-Dame-de-Grace for the counter-service-only charm and a lineup that includes two legends: the Mish Mash (scrambled eggs with bacon, salami, ham, and cheese) and the Creation (a BLT with fried egg and salami). Our top three? Easy. Restaurants specializing in small plates have been ascendant over the last couple of years in Montreal, as they have been elsewhere. The best is Tapeo, where the Spanish menu includes spicy clams with chorizo, bacon-wrapped pan-seared scallops with quince marmalade, and the most heavenly tortilla we've encountered. The Plateau is known for its cozy neighborhood restaurants, and La Montée de Lait might be the quintessential one--it's also got the most imaginative prix fixe in town, a breathtaking selection of cheeses, and a surprisingly large wine list. Chef Martin Picard's famous Au Pied de Cochon--with its deep-fried foie gras fritters, foie gras poutine, and pied de cochon topped with (what else?) foie gras--has been the sensation of Montreal's culinary renaissance. Picard's sugar-shack chic is no gimmick--it's an homage to the elemental combination of meat, fat, and fire, and it's a perfect snapshot of Montreal's particular joie de vivre. Pho Bac 97 1016 blvd. St-Laurent, 514/393-8116, pho $5 Schwartz's 3895 blvd. St-Laurent, 514/842-4813, schwartzsdeli.com, sandwich $5 Reservoir 9 rue Duluth Est, 514/849-7779, brunch from $7 Rotisserie Portugalia 34 rue Rachel Ouest, 514/282-1519, BBQ chicken $10 Patati Patata 4177 blvd. St-Laurent, 514/844-0216, fries $2 Wilensky's Light Lunch 34 rue Fairmount Ouest, 514/271-0247, Wilensky Special $3 Euro-Deli Batory 115 rue St-Viateur Ouest, 514/948-2161, pierogies $4 Bottega 65 rue St-Zotique Est, 514/277-8104, bottega.ca, pizza $11 Chez Apo 420 rue Faillon, 514/270-1076, flatbread $4.50 Malhi Sweets 880 rue Jarry Ouest, 514/273-0407, malhisweets.ca, malai kofta $6 Mr. Spicee 6889A rue Victoria, 514/739-9714, sandwich $1.50 Cosmos 5843 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, 514/486-3814, Mish Mash $7 Tapeo 511 rue Villeray Est, 514/495-1999, restotapeo.com, clams $8 La Montée de Lait 371 rue Villeneuve Est, 514/289-9921, prix fixe $36 Au Pied de Cochon 536 rue Duluth Est, 514/281-1114, restaurantaupieddecochon.ca, fritters $3 each.