When planning a picnic or a meal to eat back in your hotel room, consider a stop at La Vieille Europe, 3855 bd. St-Laurent near St-Cuthbert (tel. 514/842-5773), a compact storehouse of culinary sights and smells. Choose from wheels of pungent cheeses, garlands of sausages, pâtés, cashews, honey, fresh peanut butter, or dried fruits. Coffee beans are roasted in the back, adding to the mixture of maddening aromas. A stroll to the north along St-Laurent reveals other possibilities for mobile edibles.

You'll find similar bounty underground at Les Halles de la Gare, an accumulation of food stalls, delis, and cafes beneath Le Reine Elizabeth hotel and adjacent to the main concourse of the railroad station. Among them is an SAQ wine store. Downtown, the Mövenpick, at the corners of Cathcart and University and Mansfield and René Lévésque, sells just about everything from its various food stalls for takeout, including sushi, panini, fruits, baked goods, cheeses, pizzas, and grills.

Better still, make the short excursion by Métro (the Lionel-Grouix stop) to Marché Atwater, the public market at 3025 St-Ambroise, open 7 days a week. The long shed is bordered by stalls of gleaming produce and flowers, the two-story center section given to wine purveyors, food counters, bakeries, and cheese stores. The best representatives of the last two are La Fromagerie (tel. 514/932-4653), whose highly knowledgeable attendants know every detail of production of the 450 to 550 different North American and European cheeses on offer, and the Boulangerie Première Moison (tel. 514/932-0328), which fills its space with the tantalizing aromas of baskets of breads and cases of pastries. (There is another branch of the bakery in the Gare Centrale.) From either location, it isn't far by taxi to Parc du Mont-Royal, a wonderful place to enjoy a picnic, or by bicycle to a spot along the revamped Lachine Canal.

In Vieux-Montréal, pick up supplies at the food market in the historic Marché Bonsecours (tel. 514/872-4560) on rue de la Commune and take them to the park of the Vieux-Port, only steps away. That park can also be the picnic destination from Olive & Gourmando (tel. 514/350-1083) at 351 rue St-Paul ouest, open Tuesday through Saturday from 8am to 6pm. Primarily a bakery, it placed third in a Gazette reader's poll only months after it opened. That was for its baguettes, but many breads, croissants, and pastries are available. Put your sandwiches together from the cheeses and sausages in the cold case, or choose from their interesting compositions, including a grilled portobello mushroom with a purée of olives and goat cheese. A lot of the bread is out the door by mid-morning. Right across the street is the Marché de la Villette, 324 rue St-Paul oeust (tel. 514/807-8084), just the place to fill out your picnic list, with sandwiches, mini-quiches, sausages, cheeses domestic and imported, freshly baked breads, and pâtés and terrines.