Strolling Through Old Montreal
I’m not saying Tom was right about me loving Montreal, but I will admit that when he suggested we stop on our way west I was fairly indifferent. While I do love history and architecture I do not enjoy spending time in cities – and since I felt we’d been constantly surrounded by people for the past 6 weeks that we’d been in the northeast I was eager to at least get back to more time outdoors and some consistent hiking. So yes, when the possibility of stopping in Montreal came up I wasn’t all that eager, but Tom persisted – assuring me I’d really like it – and I agreed.
After spending the night south of Montreal we took the commuter train into the city in the morning, watching the clouds gather as we got closer. Exiting the train station it began to rain lightly, but it wasn’t enough to be uncomfortable as we walked towards Old Town, the original settlement area along the Saint Lawrence River. It picked up in intensity however after we reached the outskirts of the historical district and we found ourselves ducking into doorways and under overhangs for short periods of time as we made our way to the waterfront. We persisted however and evenutally found a deli for an early lunch that served some delicious vegan cold salads among other things; about the time we finished eating the sun began to pop out from behind the dark skies.
We hadn’t had any particular plans for the day except to walk around and look at the 17th and 18th century buildings, and that’s more or less what we did. If we’d budgeted more than a day I would have liked to spend time learning about the history of the city and the colonization of New France (of which I woefully know very little), but we were both happy to just stroll and look at the old structures. Luckily for us the weather cleared up dramatically by midday and we had abundant sunshine and blue skies for our afternoon explorations.
It looks like a beautiful city, Meghan. In fact, quite a few of these pictures look like ones I took in London recently! The water, the architecture, the wheel. I agree the outdoors is better but there are some wonderful things about urban wandering, too. 🙂
It’s amazing how European the city looks, isn’t it? I am obviously partial to spending time outdoors but I must admit that there are some very nice urban areas.
Montreal also has a professional NHL hockey team steeped in history. In Canada, they are called le Club de hockey Canadien. In English and French, the Habs. It’s on my bucket list to go to a game someday!
You should definitely plan for it – such a unique city and culture! I do really feel like I cheated by not getting much of the history there but I’m totally good with a return trip!
Beautiful weather showed up! The architecture is incredible!
We got very lucky with the weather considering the day started with rain…. And yes, the architecture is absolutely incredible!
Im biased—spent the first 17 years of my life in Montreal and have wonderful memories of the city. It’s great seeing your photos. I’m glad you got to see some of Montreal in the sun!
Montreal had such character; its easy to see why anyone would like it though I can understand your bias since it’s your hometown!
Glad the weather cleared up for you. Looks like an interesting city rich in history.
Yes, it definitely was. I’d really like to spend some time learning about what I was looking at; we were honestly just overwhelmed with viewing stuff!