I mainly walked Rue Sainte-Catherine after seeing photos on Instagram of the Pink Balls which is in the Montréal Gay Village during the summer season. Seeing all of the photos online of it, I knew I had to see it in person during my one day in Montréal.
I was pretty dumb because I somehow thought it was a short distance from my hotel (man was i wrong) I was staying at Delta Montréal and it was a good 6 km round trip (granted I wandered a little to take photographs of the art on the side of streets and buildings).
Besides being a long walk, the display of the pink balls over Rue Sainte-Catherine is really unique and picturesque. The only downside was I would get a lot of people walking up to me talking to me in French - which I do not speak. Therefore I sort of got a little paranoid while walking because I was by myself and do not speak French.
I didn't see many souvenir shops unfortunately and only spotted one along the Rue. Most of the road further down after you pass Quartier Des Spectacles - you come to an area surrounded by bars mainly and some restaurants which was nice to see along the route.
Overall, I'd say it's worth to see the Pink Balls - then I'd see if you could head to Quartier Des Spectacles to see some music or what not since that was where most people were when I was in Montréal that day.