“Montreal reminded me of a larger, worse-looking, colder version of Dayton, Ohio.”
What’s worse than Montreal is Quebec City. It’s where everyone stares at you if you don’t speak French! Quebec is Canada’s “Northern Ireland!”
I have friends in Quebec and love Quebec City.
People from Quebec culturally look towards France, and educate in France.
However, less than 30 percent of the population speak English as a second language.... very provincial.
My personal experience with Quebecois is that once they figure out you’re an American they are OK with you speaking English. But so long as they think you’re an English-speaking Canadian, forget it!