It is a little warmer today than yesterday, but still quite pleasant in the morning as we strike out on our expedition to Mount Royal – a nice 30-minute walk from the apartment. On the way we wander through lots of the street murals that abound here in the city, making for a very enjoyable walk.
In the middle of our art exploration, we spy a bagel shop and figured, what the heck? The bagel we had on Wednesday was great, lets try another. Soon we were sitting down to an amazing Montreal seasoned bagel with Maple-bacon cream cheese (oh the different cream cheeses here! I want one of each!) and 2 cappuccinos. Perfect fortification for our long climb up the mountain.
Uphill we go, still on the city streets with lots more murals, passing by Schwartz’s Deli – the original smoked meat deli in the same location on St. Laurence Blvd. since 1928 – with the amazing pile of smoked meat in the window, just waiting to be served. If we hadn’t just filled up on our bagel, our stomachs would be growling.
Finally reaching the park, we enter at the monument to Sir George-Etienne Cartier, a 19th C statesman and one of the most influential Fathers of the Confederation in Canada, beginning our long, slow climb to the top on…..are you ready for this?…..Chemin Olmsted! Yes, the Olmsted Path! Until yesterday, we had no idea that Federick Olmsted had a connection to Montreal. Indeed, he actually created the park on Mont Royal in 1874, his first project after leaving his partnership with longstanding mentor, Calvert Vaux. The path takes a winding route up the mountain, designed to be an easy stroll, as well as accessible to those in wheelchairs. It may take a bit longer to get to the peak of Mont Royal, but the wide gravel/dirt path allows you to avoid the 339 stairs that it would otherwise take to reach the summit. We can walk a little longer to avoid that, thank you very much. The forests on either side of the path remind us of home, pines, oaks, rocky cliffs with trees growing at odd angles throughout. Along the way, we pass and are passed by walkers, runners and cyclists – of particular interest was the cyclist with his pet poodle, Yizzie, who had her own cart and was dressed in running shoes, a running vest and sunglasses/goggles. Kid you not! We could never get a good picture of her, even though we saw her 3 times! You’ll just have to take our word for it! Oh, and also the unicyclist. Seriously. He rode that thing all the way up – and we saw him on the way down as well. Now, that is more amazing than the runners and the bicyclists combined!
Passing by the Beaver Lake, we get closer to the summit, finally reaching the Kondiaronk Belvedere with is great views over the city. You can even see all the way out to Mont St-Hillaire, where we were yesterday. Taking a quick bathroom break inside the Mont Royal Chalet, we rest a bit, looking up at the 32 wooden squirrels sitting atop the beams of the chalet roof – we’re assuming they are there because they are so abundant up here on the mountain – but who knows?
Continuing our circumnavigation of the summit, we pass the Mont Royal Cross, originally placed here in 1643 as fulfilment of a vow the founder of the city made to the Virgin Mary when he prayed to her to stop a flood. The current version was installed in 1924 at 103 feet and is now illuminated in LED lighting, which can change color from the traditional white – i.e., to purple when the pope dies. Unfortunately for us, we can’t see if from the apartment – so we will have to settle for the view of the unlit version here.
After the cross, there isn’t really much to see. There were 2 or 3 different viewpoints on this side of the mountain, but they are all overgrown with little to see in the way of vistas. Once heading back downhill, it is nigh on 11:00 and walking all the way back would put us back at the apartment way after noon. Even though it’s anathema for us, we decide we’re hungry – and have more to do this afternoon – so we grab an Uber at Beaver lake instead of walking.
Once back in town, we are dropped at a convenience store, figuring we can get lunch meat for our sandwiches at the apartment. Nothing here. Weird. Trooping back to the IGA, we first peruse the Pintxos restaurant we want to go to tonight which we didn’t realize is in a Timeout sort of market place. Still looks like the place to go, so we shall see later – in the meantime, lunch is calling – after a couple more mural photos! Grabbing our ham and pepperoni (oh and more of those deliciously bad Maple Stroopwafels!) we make quick work of our walk back, eat our sandwiches then hit the streets again – this time on our way to Old Town Montreal.
A nice walk in the now hot afternoon, our route takes us through the Vaquelin Place, on the side of the Grand Montreal City Hall, then on over to the Chateau Ramezay Musee – the history museum in the former Governor’s home. 15 rooms are open for viewing, with multimedia presentations in each that describe the house from construction in 1705 (the first governor paid for the construction out of his own pocket) on through its different functions and ownerships (Offices for the French West India Company, Canadian HQ for the Continental Army, overnight lodging for Benjamin Franklin when trying to solicit troops to help fight the American Revolution – he failed – to the return as a governor’s residence and then finally the first Faculty of Medicine for the University of Montreal) to its current use as a museum today in 1895. The multimedia displays are actually quite funny – in the voices of the residents at the time, and all are just snarking and humorous and well worth the time we spent listening to them.
In terms of displays, the Salle de Nantes, a completely mahogany-paneled room from 1725 is incredible with wood carvings and original furniture around the perimeter. Portraits of various city officials and residents abound, there are old documents and prints – we even found a map of Fort Duquesne in Pittsburgh from 1754 that was sketched as a “secret plan” by Captain Robert Stobo when he was imprisoned there following the capture of Fort Necessity by a French regiment!!! There are random historical displays, including an indigenous display with a Shaman’s rattle made out of a tortoise shell, an early 1900’s fireman’s hat with the shield held up by some sort of gargoyle/dragon type thing, carriages, a Molson’s Bank note (beer and money!).
One of the most interesting exhibits, taking up 2 full rooms, is a first ever exhibit dedicated to John Little, a painter who was considered one of the foremost urban artists of Canada. He painted historic neighborhoods as they appeared before they were reshaped by Urban Renewal. He never considered himself an activist, but he was the only one who chronicled the progression of mass urbanization and the loss of the working-class life and societal fabric. He was a very private man, never publicly commenting on his work, declining interviews and prohibiting exhibitions. The paintings alone are fabulous, so French and so poignant, but what makes this exhibit especially intriguing are the two huge displays of material taken from his studio where he had about 100 boxes organized by location and subject. The photographs – some pieced together like manually made panoramic shots – and pencil sketches and newspaper clippings show how he worked and painted his subjects.
The last rooms are the servant areas downstairs, with equally hilarious multimedia displays talking about the “masters” and their quirks, how they ate, how the slaves were used, how they shopped and cooked. Enlightening, and funny all at once – even the one describing the birth of the original owner’s 15th (yes, you read that right, 15th – they ended up having 16 total) child – complete with the mother’s screams and groans as she was in labor. We could walk through the kitchen, with the big wheel that controlled the spit over the fireplace (did they put a slave in there to move walk so that it moved?), a hands on display of herbs to sniff and identify (we never did figure out why there a miniature baby doll in one of the containers!), the dining room (where we sat at the table to listen to how the governor ate) and finally the bedroom.
Then it is out to the gardens, laid out in the 18th C to provide a place for rest and reflection, as well as vegetables and fruits – food for the community.
Back out on the street, it is time to explore the Old Town area – particularly Rue Saint-Paul, the shopping and pedestrian center of the Old Town. My niece Stephanie has described it as kind of Disneyworld-y – and we’d have to agree. Crowded cobblestone street, filled with souvenir and other touristy retail shops – even the much touted Bonsecours market was just a touristy mall. The building was gorgeous, the function? Eh, not worth the visit. We did however stop at one of the stores which had some great t-shirts in the window (don’t feed the bears!!!) and lots of Canada is not for sale items – including my favorite little (or I should say yearly sized) bear!
But otherwise? Lots of people, lots of crowds, lots of Tourons – including the 3 guys who walked up and stood right in front of me while I was trying to video the Confederate marching band making its way down the street. Yeah. Touron-city. Deciding to call it a day, we began our walk toward the Notre-Dame Basilica, only to be waylaid by the Pangea Restaurant advertising $5 beer. What? That’s a bargain – so we stopped for a bit of liquid refreshment (ok, my wine was super expensive, but at least Ed’s beer was cheap), then continued on our march back up hill – past the heavily scaffolded Notre-Dame and on to the apartment.
After a bit of a rest, we hit Pintxo in the Central market, finding a perfect spot at the bar to enjoy one of the best meals we’ve had! Not only was the bartender/server/owner a doll (he talked to us frequently, telling us about the ovens, and people there, how the scallops we ordered reminded him of growing up in Spain), the food was fabulous. A salad with grilled haloumi, fresh tomatoes and chorizo and chorizo dressing, an “off the menu” Piquillo pepper stuffed with crabmeat and a peppery sauce (so good and different), octopus a la plancha (with grilled chorizo that was to die for) and finally the aforementioned scallops with ham serrano sauce. So good and yummy. An excellent way to finish out our days in Montreal.
We cannot believe tomorrow we head home – time flies so fast!
Andiamo 