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Montréal - Cold...... and warm!

76K views 173 replies 64 participants last post by  Taller, Better 
#1 · (Edited)
I have some photos to post from my last weekend in Montréal... the weather was very, very cold (went down to -20c one night), but the skies were brilliantly sunny. The first part of my tour here is a walk through the Gay Village, which is about 2 km due East of the downtown core. I started at the western edge of the village, and walked to the eastern end. Let us begin!!



the village is slowly shifting a bit to the East, and this end is not as "gay" as it used to be 20 years ago.











a handsome old bank building. This part of town has never been wealthy, but I do get the feeling it was a prosperous working class neighbourhood a century ago:





Here is one nasty spot I am glad finally closed. A most unsavoury crowd loitered here:









A leading local drag Queen, Mado (which is a diminutive term for "Madeleine")
has her own bar now:



Poor Mado looks very, very cold!



I am going to post more photos now! Stay tuned...............
 
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#2 ·


Fierce go-go boots!



sidestreets still quite snowy:



Quite a few of the buildings in the village could use a bit of repair work:





Stock Bar, where I spent a most enjoyable evening!! In fact, my reception was so very warm
that I completely forgot how very cold it was outdoors! :)











one of the hazards of very cold weather is burst water mains. This one broke the night I arrived, and their was a flood of icy, slushy water:



Beaudry Metro Station (subway):









a handsome commercial building from the turn of the century:





Sky Bar, one of the most popular bars on the strip:



This is a bit of a bizarre complex, theoretically inspired by New Orleans.



and it stretches out for the better part of a city block:



I will next post some photos from Old Montréal, which is my very favourite part of the city! :)
 
#9 ·
Taller said:
This is a bit of a bizarre complex, theoretically inspired by New Orleans.


It looks more bizarre in the summer time. The first time i drove by this place it was summer time and there was some sort of event going on, that place was packed! The village is one of MTLs most interesting places when it comes to buildings. nice pics!
 
#10 ·
Ahhh The Gay Village, I still remember the first time I went to Montreal like if it was yesterday, I arrived from Toronto at the bus terminal and I meant to walk west toward my hostel at Mackay; I got lost and ended up on Boul. de Maisonneuve walking east for like 3 kilometres, when I noticed I was kinda lost I turned on some random street and ended up in Ste. Catherine E. so my first promenade in Montreal was kinda "Gay" LOL endless supply of sex shops, peep shows, XXX cinemas, bars, clubs, and cozy little cafés.... coming from a different city and as my first time in a Gay Village this was somewhat new and shocking to me, but it was also here where I found some of the nicest people in Montreal nonetheless :D Amazing experience!

THANK YOU for bringing back memories TB, I sure miss those times! Keep them coming ;)
 
#13 · (Edited)
^^ LOL! Oh it is gay... very gay. I think to an extent the village has had to cope with a radical drop in American tourism over the past five years, and I think most of the bars have hung in there quite well, despite the lower traffic. Some of them I have no idea how they stay open but they seem to carry on. Over the past 25 years I've seen the village rise and fall to various degrees, and it always comes back after a low period. I think now is a bit of a low period, with the number of empty buildings and spaces for rent. The village itself is migrating slowly a tiny bit eastward. But things will bounce back in a year or two.... they always do!

More piccies today, and this time of my very favourite part of Montréal - Old Montréal, or Vieux-Montréal . Every winter is most definitely off-season for Vieux-Montréal, and many of the shops and restaurants close for the winter, to reopen during the summer.



Here is the Court of Appeal ( la Cour d’appel de Montréal):



How is this for a spectacular Classical entrance?



and across the street:



As some folk here know by now, I am a huge fan of Colonial Architecture... and this very early stone style (from around 1800) is amongst my favourite:



The earliest architecture in Montreal is colonial from France, but into the 19th century the influence of the British grew to the point much of the Victorian architecture in Montreal is either of British style, French style, or a hybrid mixture. Here is a handsome Nelson Monument:



Montreal City Hall (Hôtel de ville), which is having some restorations done to it. Montreal is very good at upkeep and restoration of its historical architecture, and sets an example for the rest of Canadian cities:



This is a very important structure in Old Montreal, and in fact one of the oldest standing. It was built in 1705, and is the Chateau Ramezay, built as the home of the governor of Montréal, Claude de Ramezay. For a short period of 188 days, between 1775-76, Montreal fell under control of the Americans, and Chateau Ramezay became the headquarters for the Continental Army. Benjamin Franklin stayed overnight there once in 1776, trying to convince the French Canadian population to switch allegiance to the United States, but unfortunately for them the response was not
very enthusiastic. The British regained control soon after. However, one thing Benjamin Franklin did for Montreal was to introduce the art of printing, which eventually lead to the start of the Montreal Gazette (begun as La Gazette de Montréal in 1785) :



This is a magnificent old public building, le Marché Bonsecours (1847).
It has been converted into a kind of specialty shopping mall::





one of the most picturesque corners:







looking toward downtown:

 
#14 · (Edited)
This is one of my very favourite churches in Montreal... it is not the largest, but it is the oldest site of worship in the city. The original building was started in 1657, and unfortunately burned down at one time. Eventually the building we see now was rebuilt in 1771. It looked much simpler then, and many additions have been put on since, to reflect the changing tastes of the congregation. The final touches were applied around 1893, and the church that we see today is pretty much the same as then:



It has become known as The Sailor's Church, due to its proximity on the old port. Sailors in the 19th century believed Notre-Dame de Bon Secours protected them, and it became their place of worship.









it is very cold out, so let's go in to warm up!



I love to visit older churches, as there is such a feeling of calm serenity:





On this day I did something I had never done before... I went for the tour of the church towers, and of the Musée Marguerite-Bourgeoys, which is a charming little museum chock full of treasures:

Up, up, up the tiny winding wooden staircase to see these breathtaking winter views:



throngs enjoying a nice Sunday skate on an outdoor rink:





inside the Belvedere:



and probably my favourite photo of the day:



I respected the signs in the museum not to take photographs, so sadly am not able
to reveal any of the wonders within. They found little inscribed lead tablets placed in the cornerstone back in 1657 when they did some archaeological examinations of the remains of the original foundation. I would love to have photographed these things, but you will have to visit for yourself to see them! Next we go back outdoors, now that we are thoroughly warmed up! We wave goodbye to Our Lady of Good Help:





Time to break this up into a few entries...
 
#16 · (Edited)
I wandered about Old Montreal:











souvenir shops:













Another very important historical building, Le Vieux Séminaire de Saint-Sulpice (the old semenary of Saint-Sulpice). It is the oldest stone dwelling in Montreal, and was begun way back in 1685. It was a very prestigious building at the time, thus was constructed of stone, and not the much cheaper wood used for the other buildings in the fledgling colony. It is currently undergoing an extensive restoration:



We are now at the Place d'Armes, which is the very heart of Montreal, and a great public space. We approach the Notre-Dame Basilica (La basilique Notre-Dame de Montréal). It shares a name with the famous cathedral in Paris, but was not modelled on it. Construction of this lavish Gothic style basilica began in 1829, and boasts the largest bell (le Gros Bourdon) in North America.





This lovely statue from 1895 commemorates the founder of Montreal, as he
may have appeared in 1642- Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve.



the base of the statue depicts the First Nations peoples (the Iroquois tribe), and also the early pioneers of the city:





and a faithful dog!



looking back at Notre Dame:



there are two lovely old "skyscrapers" on the square... the one on the right is a handsome art deco tower, and the one on the left was the first "skyscraper" in Montreal (and probably all of Canada), The New York Life Building, built in 1885. It boasted an elevator to the top floor, which was extremely progressive for the day:



and one of the most beautiful banking halls in all of Canada, the 1847 Bank of Montreal:





and one final corner of the square, before we move on!







 
#17 · (Edited)
Next we head down rue Saint-Jacques, an old street dating from 1672, that became the financial centre of Montreal in Victorian times. During the 1800's it was the financial heart of Canada, and was known as St James Street. One might say it was, at the time, Canada's version of "Wall Street". Grandiose head office towers rose in the late 1800's, to make this an extremely prestigious business address:



a grim little doorway that always catches my eye! Looks like a crypt:



a few of these charming old buildings have been converted into luxe hotels:





awe-inspiring banking temples:





While on this street, let's go into le Centre de Commerce Mondial de Montréal, which I think is the most beautiful contemporary space in Montreal. It is connected to the Square Victoria metro station.







I am very fond of the statue at the head of the reflection pool. She is Amphitrite,
wife of Poseidon (God of the Sea), and she was once the centrepiece of a fountain in
Saint Mihiel, a town on the Meuse in Northern France. She was the work of a French sculptor Dieudonné-Barthélémy Guibal (1699-1757):





And then I'll make one final entry of photos!
 
#40 ·
I'm a Montréal city tour guide and our professionnal association's office are in this building on the left -the Guardian Building from roughly 100 years ago (built in 1902)

Thanks for the tour. It is quite interesting to see that for once a photograpĥer added historical facts to his pics. Some are not exactly right -so I will correct but for the most part it is very precise.
Notre-Dame church was not started in 1829 but finish that same year. the construction started in 1825.
The Old Seminary is the oldest structure made out of stone in the Old-Montréal but not on the island. there is a house way out of the city in the district named Lachine that is a little older : the LeBer-Lemoyne house was built in 1669.
Next time you come to Montréal, you might want to take pictures frome the top of the Museum of Point-à-Caillère in the Old-Montréal (all year round) and from the Clock Tower in the Old Port Park (only accessible in summer)
 
#18 · (Edited)
I was extremely cold and tired by this time, so took a half an hour to warm up, and then gamely headed out for one last batch of pictures. By now the sun had just set, leaving a lovely, clear dark blue sky for my pictures. As cold as I was, I could not help but enjoy taking this last round of snaps (although I did walk a bit faster than normal! ;) ). For me taking pictures in Old Montreal is a labour of love. Unfortunately the use of a tripod was out of the question, due to the extreme cold, so some of the pictures are not as clear as they might have otherwise been:







my favourite office tower of all on Rue Saint-Jacques, now a gorgeous
boutique hotel, the Hotel Le St-James:





I am now heading back toward Place d'Armes, which takes on a magical fairytale appearance once the sun goes down:





















I can just picture the early settlers walking through the snow down these streets:



















and finally back to our old Sailor's Church:







It may surprise us to learn that in the mid 1700's France greatly undervalued this colony of New France, being more absorbed in wars of its own at the time (such as the exhausting and expensive Seven Year's War). The great 18th Century writer Voltaire rather summed up the prevailing attitude of the time and dismissed New France as "Quelques arpents de neige" (a few acres of snow), referring to it thusly in several letters between 1753 and 1763. It was felt New France has little economic potential and strategic importance to France. At one point, Voltaire derisively referred to Canada as "a country covered with snows and ices eight months of the year, inhabited by barbarians, bears and beavers". I think we can safely say, with hindsight, how wrong that attitude in France was at the time, but being very preoccupied with events overseas at the time, France signed the Treaty of Paris in 1763, ceding power of New France to Britain.

I hope you have enjoyed my little tour of my winter weekend in Montreal as much as I enjoyed photographing it! :)
 
#19 ·
Thank you for the pictures, TB - they definitely go along with the title - never has cold looked so damn warm. :)

Just wondering - did you lug around a tripod at nighttime (and during the day for the church interior shots)? They came out very well!

PS - I know what you mean about that corner. It's just so bloody picturesque
 
#20 ·
Thank you!! No, I did not use a tripod.. it takes way too much time when it is cold out, but you get such a nicer picture with a tripod. I put my iso to the maximum of 1600 and just hoped for the best, but the pics are slightly grainy. Also, I meant to put in some interior shots of Notre Dame that I took last summer... this time when I went in, a church service was in progress, and no photography is allowed at that time.









and two photos I took almost two years ago exactly from now... through a kind
of dirty hotel window looking toward downtown:



 
#21 ·
Thank you!! No, I did not use a tripod.. it takes way too much time when it is cold out, but you get such a nicer picture with a tripod. I put my iso to the maximum of 1600 and just hoped for the best, but the pics are slightly grainy. Also, I meant to put in some interior shots of Notre Dame that I took last summer... this time when I went in, a church service was in progress, and no photography is allowed at that time.
Well, there is surprisingly little ISO distortion for not using a tripod (even with an ISO cranked up that high) - good work, you must have really stable hands!

The Notre Dame pictures are splendid, as always.
 
#25 · (Edited)
Thank you very much! I must get my summer photos from 2007 organised...
I much prefer the Village pics from the summertime! But Old Montreal looks pretty magic in the winter.

Great photothread, you had the guts to go outside and shoot pics, bravo!!


Btw, its the Court of Appeal of Québec: from their website:

That Church looks great, first time i see a picture from the inside!:

I also had no idea there was a tour of the church towers, thanks for the tip!
Thanks malek! That is a compliment, coming from a professional photographer as yourself! :)
You are so right about the Court of Appeal, and I was careless not to even look at a photo
I had taken myself:



The tour in the Museum is well worth the time.. for some strange reason it was free last Sunday
(maybe all Sundays are free), but I would have happily paid to see it.



In any case, I will get my summer photos organised... they are heavily architectural, and in some cases
quite detail oriented. There is no shortage of such shots to be had in Old Montreal, particularly on
Rue St Jacques...







 
#24 ·
Great photothread, you had the guts to go outside and shoot pics, bravo!!


Btw, its the Court of Appeal of Québec: from their website:

The Court of Appeal is the highest court in Quebec.

It plays a role which is different from that of the other courts of appeal in this country in that it is the guardian of the integrity and the development of Quebec civil law. In more than 99% of the cases, the Court of Appeal is the court of last resort.
Here is the Court of Appeal ( la Cour d’appel de Montréal):

my office used to be here, the view was the only thing worthwhile all that time i spent there:


That Church looks great, first time i see a picture from the inside!:



I also had no idea there was a tour of the church towers, thanks for the tip!
 
#27 ·
its my favorite street.

have you been inside the royal bank ex-HQ??



Its amazing, I also worked there for half a year, always impressed in the morning :p
 
#28 ·
Oddly I don't think I have been in any of those old banking buildings, aside from the Bank of Montreal one. I normally tend to visit on weekends when they are closed for business... and those danged security guards get all shirty when you pull a camera out! One cathedral still left on my list for good interior shots is La Cathédrale Marie Reine du Monde (Mary, Queen of the World) which was roughly designed as a one third scale copy of St Peter's in Rome. I've been in, but have not had my camera with me. Also I want to hit Le Cimetière Notre-Dame-des-Neiges, but am going to leave it till the summer as it was just too cold this past visit.
 
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