Quebec-born author and journalist Marie-Joëlle Parent has not spent a summer in Montreal in over nine years.
She recently came back for an extended visit and joined Global’s Laura Casella to discuss her travel guides, 300 reasons to love New York and 300 reasons to love San Francisco.
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Living in New York City since 2009, Parent said Quebec tourists often ask her for help.
“It’s people who gave me this idea. So many Montrealers sent me emails and Facebook messages asking me for recommendations,” said Parent.
“They wanted to have a Montreal point of view; what to see, what to experience in New York.”
Parent uses her own photos, shot with her smartphone, and features interviews with residents living in the most populated city in the U.S.
The book was so popular among travelers that it went to reprint four times.
Parent said her husband’s family lives in San Francisco, which became her inspiration for her second travel guide.
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She recalls the story of a Montreal couple that met each other in a San Francisco restaurant.
“They were there the same night and they had my book in their hands,” she said.
“This is the biggest reward.”
Parent most recently collaborated on a Montreal 375 edition of Claire Bouchard’s 300 reasons to love Montreal, called 375 reasons to love Montreal, which includes commentary from famous Montrealers.
“Montreal is so lush, I forgot how lush it is in the summer,” Parent told Global News.
What does she miss most?
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