Montreal Postcards
ENI love Montreal. There are skyscrapers, maples, squirrels and pumpkins. They speak French, but you feel like you're in an American TV show. So much fun!
Oh... it's high!
Montreal is first and foremost a North American city. With glass and concrete buildings that make you dizzy. But... none of them goes beyond the hillock of Mount Royal Park (232 meters) from where I took the first picture below.
In fact, it's more than a hillock. It is "the mountain" as Montrealers say.
Vroom!
In Montreal, there are endless avenues, straight, that intersect at right angles. We see very big cars and real cars trucks huge, shiny fire trucks flashing everywhere and cop cars racing by with their sirens blaring...
Wow, this is America. Like in the TV series.
But among these vehicles "seen on TV", my favorites remain the pretty yellow buses with "schoolchildren" written on them.
cucurbits
In Montreal, we are already preparing for Halloween ...
It's pumpkin season.
There are cucurbits (squash, that is) of all shapes, sizes and colors, from almost black mauve to dark green through subtle shades of orange, at all fruit and vegetable stores.
But it was at the Jean-Talon market, in the Little Italy neighborhood, that I saw the biggest ones. Real Cinderella pumpkins! I love them.
facades
What is pleasing about Montreal's urban landscape is the variety of architecture and facades. The residential streets in the center, especially in the Plateau district (a district that has become "bobo" and overpriced), present these typical alignments of pretty brick houses, with iron stairs as stoops.
In the chic districts, there are also rich buildings, like English mansions. Sometimes quite kitsch, we must admit...
Nature
Montreal may be a big city (1.8 million people, not counting the inner suburbs, according to my travel guide), but it doesn't feel suffocated by concrete. The parks and green spaces are numerous and vast.
Many streets are lined with trees, especially in residential areas. The main species here is the maple, of course.
This is the view from my window on the street side.
I like "my" maple. But it is still far from having the fiery color of the trees planted in the small park at the entrance of old Montreal.
With all these parks and trees, Montreal is a squirrel's paradise! In Mount Royal Park, which is a real forest in the heart of the city (I'll come back to that in a future post), it's impossible not to see them. These little balls of hair never stop crossing the paths. Hop, hop, hop... three little hops and they are gone.
But these squirrels are not shy at all. I imagine that people must feed them... In any case, they do not hesitate to come and pose for the tourists!
Too much fun, I tell you!
🙂
Good vibes in Montreal! Good night.
Well, well, well! It was worth a little insomnia! 🙂 Great post! Excellent summary! P.S.: I love playing the onlooker in your photos! lol (By the way, I was thinking about the photo in front of L'Avenue and laughing to myself...)
Great presentation of my city! You know, we say “la montagne” because it's alone... It doesn't have the same meaning as when we say in France “Je vais à la montagne” (I'm going to the mountains), does it? :o) Bravo.
@ Frederick Thanks! 🙂
@ Marie-Julie: Glad to have brightened your insomnia (but I think you had a pie to get your teeth into too!). I'll be sending you a series of photos of my favorite passerby soon!!!! 😆
@Him: Yes, I did understand about “the mountain”... But I'm glad to see that these little impressions of Montreal are seducing even the natives! 😀
Damnaide! No luck with the weather 😉
Even when it's not sunny you keep your sunglasses on, so classy! 😀
Hello,
Thank you for visiting the North. Nice description of Montreal. So, did the squirrels eat out of your hand or not?
For my part, I will be leaving soon in India (Andaman Islands) and Bali and I will keep you informed of diving spots.
Ciao
@PascalK: In fact, I only had one day of real good weather, and that was Friday! 8)
@RolK: 😆 Yes, it was sunny that day. It was the only day all week when the weather was nice.
@Rod: I hadn't come prepared to bait them, so I didn't try. I just took their portraits! I'd love to hear about your experience in the Andaman Islands... Tell me about it! 😉
Ah, Montreal... I lived there for 6 months not so long ago, and I have excellent memories of it! I used to live right next door to the Jean Talon market 😉
Don't forget to try a “queue de castor”, a delicious pastry! And for the¨meilleure poutine in Montreal, you've got to go to “La Banquise”! They have lots of different kinds of poutine...
You're so lucky! Montreal is so much fun!
Thib.
@Thib: That's a lot of fun... And I found the Québécois really nice! I went to La Banquise, as you realized in your other comment on A poutine in Montreal.
😉
I've just come back from Montreal... we almost bumped into each other! I also have fond memories of it. Quebec is really fun, that's for sure!
@Caroline: Ah, how can you resist the charms of Quebec? I'll be watching your “Tohu-Bohu” to discover your photos...
😉
Ah Square Saint Hubert, thank you Corinne!
@Marco: You're welcome 😉
Hello again!
I love your vision of Montreal, we often forget the beauty of our own city because we want to discover the world...
In the picture of the pumpkins, you are in Plaza St-Hubert right next to us;)
Thank you and I will follow your adventures;)
Good week!
@Alex: Yes, it's always nice to see someone put a fresh eye on places we know all too well... See you soon via interposed blogs!
🙂