0️⃣FOREWORD on language

🇨🇦English is used in my profile to enable understanding by as many people as possible but French is my first language and I also speak Spanish and Italian fluently.

🇨🇦⚜️Bien que mon profil soit rédigé en anglais pour résonner auprès du plus grand nombre, ma langue maternelle est le français.

🇨🇺🇲🇽🇵🇷Aunque mi perfil está escrito en inglés, hablo español con fluidez. No dudes en escribirme en español si es tu lengua materna.

🇮🇹Anche se il mio profilo è scritto in inglese, parlo abbastanza bene l'italiano. Scrivetemi in italiano, se è la vostra lingua madre.

👉Note aux francophones (note to French speakers) : Si vous votre langue maternelle est le français, ayez donc la délicatesse de nous écrire...en français !

↪Le Canada a effectivement deux langues officielles, l'anglais et le français, mais au Québec, c'est majoritairement en français que ça passe. Et avant que vous vous mettiez les pieds dans les plats, j'y vais d'une petite confidence: l'accent ''canadien'' que vous ne manquez JAMAIS de nous souligner dès que nous ouvrons la bouche (surtout vous les Français🤓) n'existe pas mais le québécois oui, lequel se décline lui-même de multiples façons. Il existe également plusieurs déclinaisons du français au Canada (acadien, franco-ontarien, fransaskois, franco-manitobain, etc.).

↪Bref : accent canadien ❌ / accent québécois ou autre ✅

--------------------------------------------------------------------
1️⃣ CHAPTER 1 : STATEMENT OF COMPATIBILITY

By reading the few lines below, you will quickly realize, before you even message us, if we have chances of getting along or not.

🫂SELF-LOVE: No matter who you are, how you define and how you might struggle with how the world wants you to define, know that you are loved. That you are allowed to be how you really want to be deep inside. We are a same sex/ queer/gay couple 🌈 and as much as we enjoy meeting other LGBTQ2S+ citizens of the world, we couldn't care less about anyone's sexual orientation or gender but know this: whether you are wondering or you are certain about who you are, in this house, we welcome everyone just as they want to be.

⚠️If you have an opposite belief, are not open for discussion and you feel like it’s okay to judge and interfere in people’s intimacy based on your beliefs, let me tell you this: Canada is not a place for you and you are not welcome to our place

🌪️THE BRUISED WORLD WE LIVE IN: despite whatever dangerous or stupid decision that may be taken by certain governments, all are welcome here (unless they share the expansionist aims of said governments)

🏠PLEASE, do us (and yourself!) a favor and have a thorough look at " My Home " section before requesting

🛋️COUCH REQUEST : we do insist that you send in a formal Couchsurfing request if your intention is to eventually be hosted. I make our Couchsurfing calendar available or blocked depending on when we can/want to host, and therefore, using the request channel is the way to go to reach us

🚫FREE-LOADERS be warned: Couchsurfing is a two-way community: you receive and you give. If you intend to only receive, e.g., to save on accommodation, to save on meals, etc., I will be able to read this between the lines and will deny your request. Get a tourist accommodation if your "social battery" is empty or if you don't have time or space in your life for giving to other humans.

🔍COPY-PASTING will get you an prompt denial : after almost 15 years on CS, I've mastered the art of spotting that type of intellectual laziness that has no place in a community where the generosity and time of others are solicited.
--------------------------------------------------------------------
2️⃣CHAPTER 2 : YOUR HOSTS👋

My name is Mathieu and I live together with Emmanuel who has been my partner in crime, best friend, travel buddy, boyfriend and fiancé for the last 13 years . If you do the maths, that makes us a couple🌈🧑‍🤝‍🧑as written above.

Mathieu is in the process of completing his law studies, and is scheduled to begin his Masters in Polar Law in Akureyri, Iceland in September 2025. He is currently specializing in environmental and international law as well as Indigenous people legal issues in the Far North of Quebec and Canada, as well as in the Nordic countries in general (think Alaska, Greenland and Scandinavia). He's very curious about Indigenous cultures in general and keen to always learn more. During summer, he usually works as a licensed tour guide in Montréal and has extensive knowledge of the city

As a person, he's colorful, outgoing, talkative, analytical and very much of an intellectual bookworm. In his spare time, he enjoys tending to his plants, reading, gardening, being outdoors, hiking and to have the kind of conversations that put him into intellectual ecstasy. He does yoga every day. He's a mediocre cook but an excellent bartender and tea enthusiast.

As for Emmanuel, he occasionally works as a flight attendant for a large canadian airline and co-owns a cute café-bistro-natural wine shop in our neighborhood where he spends most of his time promoting the local gastronomic savoir-faire of Québec's food artisans and winemakers. He's an excellent cook, a huge fan of terroir and food security as well a non-stop dreamer who fuels on the many projects his mind can bear at once.

He's a very chill person who enjoys drama-free days, drinking a glass of natural wine (his favorite) and baking all day long while listening to instrumental classical, reggeaton or french oldies music. He's also 420 enthusiast (marijuana is legal in the entire country 🇨🇦) and a proud advocate of Québec's musical, TV and movie culture. All in all, he's a deadpan whose company is refreshing to be around. He's Mathieu's opposite and it's fine just like that.

As a couple, we thrive to put people at ease and make them feel like they're home. Our past Couchsurfers have described us as generous, entertaining, authentic, nerdy and easy going. We're open minded guys 🌈. We're frank - sometimes too much (we have latin descent; sorry not sorry) - honest, humble and respectful in our way of approaching life and we simply expect people to be curious and respectful of ourselves, our place and our world in return.

We're always fond of a little something to eat (save for sweets 🙁) or drink from your part of the world if you are visiting us, no matter what it is, we'll be excited about it. We also love Mexico and Central America's arts and crafts 👀

I will not go any further: the rest you will have to learn during your stay.

Our door is wide open, and our paths might be meant to cross. Who knows ?

Best regards,

M and M

--------------------------------------------------------------------
3️⃣CHAPTER 3 : MONTRÉAL THINGS (OPTIONAL ''JUST FOR FUN'' READING)

📝IT'S IN THE NAME: Montréal is the name of an administrative region, a touristic region, a city, an island and a number of suburban towns. The city of Montréal and its 19 boroughs, including Montréal-Nord, occupy most of the Island of Montréal, along with 15 other cities, including Montréal-Est and Montréal West. Also, the YUL - Montréal international airport is not in Montréal but in Dorval...still on the island of Montréal. Phew, hello confusion 🥴!

🗣️ON LANGUAGE (EXTRA MEGA HOT topic 🔥): Welcome to the beautiful city of Montréal (with an accent on the ''e'' please), the largest french speaking city in the Americas. However, despite the fact that Canada is an "officially bilingual" country (on the federal level, not provincial) and considers that we are all equal, practically speaking, some are more equal than others: this means most Francophones (French speaking Canadians) are bilingual because we have to (unlike our English Canadians brothers and sisters who can live a trouble-free unilingual existence).

In the meantime, the province of Québec - not to be confused with Québec City, coincidentally the capital
said province - one of Canada’s 10 provinces, is the only one where, on paper at least, French is the ''only'' official language, that is, the language of government, administration and school/work/social life for most of its inhabitants. There is, however, a number of English-only schools, colleges and universities along with many international businesses headquartered in the Montréal metropolitan area. Pair this with a looooooong tradition of welcoming people from all over the world (we’re all immigrants here, whatever one might say) and you start to have an idea why Montréal has one of the world's largest concentrations of trilinguals. I speak four languages fluently; my partner three. And we are no exceptions around here. What a place to be alive 🙆

This means that your limited or non-existent knowledge of French will not be an obstacle to your experience in the city, since the overwhelming majority of Montrealers are de facto bilingual. If you're traveling outside of the Montréal metropolitan area and the hard touristic core of Québec City, it's a completely different story #basicfrenchneeded🙃. That said, we greatly appreciate people who have made the effort to learn French and want to speak it with us.

If you're considering relocating to Montreal temporarily or permanently for any reason, may I STRONGLY suggest that you have a grounding (an intermediate B1 at least) in French: it will give you access to a wider cultural and social spectrum, and a better understanding of Québec society, which has been largely built on and keeps developing through the French language.

🔐SHORT TERM RENTALS : On June 10 2025, a new municipal by-law will come in effect and restrict short term rentals exclusively to the period contained between June 10 and September 10 in the City of Montréal. Short term rentals of people’s main residence will otherwise be strictly prohibited. More details below (in French only as of writing):
▶FR: https://montreal.ca/actualites/hebergement-touristique-ce-que-vous-devez-savoir-sur-le-nouveau-reglement-86568

Needless to add that our housing market, like in most large cities in the world, has and keeps suffering from illegal rentals. Avoid giving your money to corporations allowing this to continue and stay in our hotels/hostels instead or better, stay with locals 😊

🎒HOSTELS: If for some reasons, we can't host you or you are unsuccessful in finding a host in Montréal, here are some of the city's best hostels for I have had constant positive feedback about them from friends and surfers alike throughout the past 15 years I have been part of the Couchsurfing community:

→ M Montréal ( Village Gai/Gay Village neighborhood) : https://www.m-montreal.com/
→ Samesun Montréal Central (Quartier Latin neighborhood): https://samesun.com/montreal-hostel/
→ Auberge Saintlo Montréal (Centre-ville/Downtown neighborhood): https://saintlo.ca/auberges/montreal/
→ More suggestions on : www.hostelworld.com
→ BEWARE of very cheap hotels: they are more often more brothels than hotels. Unless this is what you seek, avoid them. They are usually found on busy commercial streets. In doubt, message me.

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Because :

↪humanity has proven to us to have more good than bad
↪it makes you travel while you're at home
↪seeing your own world seen by someone else's eyes for the first time is magical
↪our strongest and ever lasting friendships were born through Couchsurfing
↪give back all the warmth, input, time and knowledge we were entrusted with over our travels

Interests

Live, make live and feel alive

• architecture
• photography
• lgbt rights
• cooking
• wine
• cocktails
• coffee
• walking
• aviation
• thrifting
• politics
• garage sales
• music
• outdoor activities
• hiking
• geography
• geology
• history
• languages
• law
• tea
• queer
• local food
• landscape architecture
• indigenous rights
• mixology
• 420
• environmental justice
• indigenous people
• flea markets
• debating
• urbanism
• lgbt friendly
• indigenous studies
• indigenous cultures
• art nouveau
• lgbtq
• art deco
• cabin crew
• third wave coffee
• first nations
• environmental activism
• low impact
• constitution
• rococo
• plastic-free world

Music, Movies, and Books

Everything that might provide a moment of pure intellectual ecstasy is welcome

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Living an exceptional, exciting and fulfilling life is one amazing and good enough thing for me that I have done so far.

Gave up a career built over the last 10 years in mass tourism to start a new one in the field of law. Thanks Covid

Campaigned in the 2023 Australian Referendum in favour of the Voice's for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to Parliament and its constitutional recognition.

Weird rather than amazing but I have visited Las Vegas, NV, USA, over 20 times 🙃

I'd die tomorrow, I'd have #noregrets at all

Countries I’ve Visited

Aruba, Australia, Austria, Bahamas, Belgium, Belize, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cuba, Curaçao, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador, England, Estonia, Faroe Islands, Fiji, Finland, France, French Polynesia, Germany, Greece, Greenland, Guam, Guatemala, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Macao, Malaysia, Malta, Mexico, Monaco, Netherlands, Netherlands Antilles, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Northern Ireland, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Qatar, Russian Federation, Samoa, Scotland, Senegal, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Korea, Spain, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Tonga, Turkey, Turks and Caicos Islands, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City State

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia, Bahamas, Canada, Cuba, Dominican Republic, France, Italy, Mexico, Spain