Forget fighting crowds in Paris this summer. My charming Canadian city has plenty of museums, baguettes, and francophones.

Montreal is a city in Quebec, Canada. Ronnie Chua/Shutterstock

• With the olympics this summer, Paris is bound to be a zoo, but luckily there's always Montreal.
• I live in the European-feeling Canadian town, and I love the French culture around every corner.

Paris may be on your travel bucket list, but it's bound to be packed with tourists as the 2024 Summer Olympics unfold in the City of Lights in July.

Fortunately, there's another option if you don't want to spend your whole trip waiting in long lines and paying surge prices on the metro.

Montreal — the second-largest city in Canada — features much of the European charm you'll find in Paris from its long history of French influence.

The city comes alive in the summertime after suffering through freezing-cold winters. Its residents, suddenly full of "joie de vivre," take full advantage of the plentiful parks, pedestrian-only streets, festivals, and patios.

It's also the city I'm lucky to call home, so here are eight reasons you should travel to Montreal instead of Paris this summer.