Québec | Montréal | Spring-Summer 2016

[Laceoflight]

I'll be dropping some pictures of two cities that I love : Québec (aka Quebec City) and Montréal, prov. of Québec, Canada. Spring is beautiful here. Cheers!

__________


Let's start with the ««old»» capital city of the province - Québec - founded in 1608. Pictures were taken on April 29-30. It was a warm day for Québec : 14/15°C. Spring was just around the corner. People were all out on the streets.

Escalier du Faubourg, between the upper faubourg Saint-Jean-Baptiste and the lower Saint-Roch neighbourhoods


La terrasse Dufferin is a wooden boardwalk overhung over the old city walls since 1838. You can see the Château Frontenac hotel, built by the Canadien Pacifique railways in 1892 (architect : Bruce Price).


Corner of Sainte-Claire and de la Tourelle streets


Red and White


Château Frontenac and Price Building as seen from the Citadel


Young people hanging around on Saint-Jean-Baptiste church square


Under the highway


Petit-Champlain and Place-Royale neighbourhoods


Jardins Saint-Roch... in the heart of the trendy Saint-Roch neighbourhood


Terrasse Dufferin and the rolling Laurentian hills in the background


A street in the faubourg Saint-Jean-Baptiste


Corner of Couillard and Saint-Flavien streets, inside the upper walled city


Typical...


Saint-Jean street, old walled city


Université Laval was originally founded in 1663 as a seminar. The white building is still home to the Architecture school


Donnacona street. On the left, the Ursulines convent, same location since 1639. The steeple is the Holy Trinity cathedral, 1800-1804, the first anglican cathedral built outside of the British isles


Corner store


Chalmers-Wesley church (1852-53) and the steeples of the Notre-Dame-du-Sacré-Coeur convent chapel (1910)


Patios near the place d'Armes


du Trésor street


Notre-Dame-de-Québec basilica, built and renovated between 1647 and 1930

[Centropolis]

thank you much! i enjoyed this short but sweet thread.

[Murphy de la Sucre]

Looks and feels Frenchy.

[Laceoflight]

Originally Posted by Centropolis

thank you much! i enjoyed this short but sweet thread.

Thanks! This thread is short indeed, but ongoing!

Originally Posted by Murphy de la Sucre

Looks and feels Frenchy.

I guess that it's one of Québec's qualities

[SignalHillHiker]

It's just gorgeous. There's something very familiar about a city that just goes about its life with little felt, daily connection to the outside world. Culturally self-sustaining cities, I suppose, is the term. Quebec has it even more than we do and I love it. Add the gorgeous architecture and old urban form and, voila, perfect.

[Laceoflight]

MONTRÉAL _ côté ruelles

The ruelles (literally "small streets") are the typical backstreets or alleys between each street in Montréal. Their initial purpose was for services : electricity, emergency, and essentially the access to the back of the lots - the city was densifying quickly between 1890 and 1930, and the traditional carriage gates that granted access to the back of the lots could not be built anymore.

Today, citizens are taking back the ruelles. They are converted into community green alleys, playgrounds, neighbouring and gathering places, even creative spaces. In the winter, you can cross-country ski some of them. There are 450 km of ruelles in the city. They are gradually becoming some of the most interesting spaces in town. Many citizen and non-profit organizations are improving and greening kms of ruelles every summer.

The pictures below were essentially taken in the neighbourhoods of Villeray and La Petite-Patrie, in the center of the island. It's a really nice place to live, especially in the summer.



• Video Link

The sign for green ruelles


RUELLE FOUCHER / DES BELGES




« Take a book OR give a book »




RUE GUIZOT EST


AVENUE DE GASPÉ


RUELLE DE GASPÉ / CASGRAIN


« 4th of June, creative clotheslines »




RUELLE SAINT-DOMINIQUE / CASGRAIN






Typical summer scene in Montréal


CHEZ VITO, a small café inside a laundry


NEIGHBOURHOOD GATHERING in a Villeray ruelle




Colors


The steeples of Sainte-Cécile


RUELLE JULES-VERNE


RUE DE CASTELNAU








JEAN-TALON MARKET is located between Villeray, La Petite-Patrie and La Petite-Italie. It's known as the most important open air farmers market in North America. It really is the heart of the area. It's always crowded by customers and the clients of the numerous cafés, bars and bistros all around.




SHAMROCK STREET, La Petite-Italie


RUELLE SAINT-VALLIER / DE CHÂTEAUBRIAND


Decorations made by the kids of the neighbourhood




CAFÉ, corner of BEAUBIEN and SAINT-VALLIER streets


RUELLE SAINT-VALLIER / DE CHÂTEAUBRIAND


«LEAP OR JUMP LIKE THE ANIMALS»
Games are drawn on the ground for the passerbys. Here, you are invited to leap or jump like a rabbit, a kangaroo or a frog Funny, eh?


MARC-FAVREAU LIBRARY


Flower shop, corner of Beaubien and De Châteaubriand streets


RUELLE CHRISTOPHE-COLOMB / BOYER and the steeple of Saint-Arsène Church




RUE VILLERAY

[Laceoflight]

MONTRÉAL-NORD / SAULT-AU-RÉCOLLET

Small exploration day through the borough of Montréal-Nord, interrupted by the rain.

Montréal-Nord, as its name suggests, is located in the northernmost area of Montréal, all along the des Prairies river. It was part of Sault-au-Récollet parish until 1915. Sault-au-Récollet then merged with the City of Montreal. Montréal-Nord was only amalgamated in 2002.

The whole area of what was Sault-au-Récollet has a rich history. In French, a "sault" is a word for small falls or rapids. "Récollet" is the name of a catholic religious order. A récollet father -Nicolas Viel- died in the rapids with a young interpret named Ahuntsic in 1625. The rapids are now powering a hydroelectric dam. The first mission was founded in 1675 and fortified in 1696 (known as Fort-Lorette).

Many old farmhouses from the 17th, mostly 18th and 19th centuries still remain on the road that follows the river : boulevard Gouin. The borough had a residential boom in the 1950-1970 decades.

Today, Montréal-Nord is often forgotten when we think about Montréal. Locals tend to associate this 100 000 population neighbourhood with racial tensions and segregation - there were a few unfortunate events. However, the borough is so much more thant that and is home to a large part of Montréal's lively, prolific and artsy Haitian community.

Enjoy the tour!



• Video Link


OLD PARTS OF SAULT-AU-RÉCOLLET

La Visitation church was built between 1749-1751. It's the oldest still-standing church on the island of Montreal.


Old village houses. The atmosphere certainly is alien to a 4M people metropolis.





GENERAL VIEWS

The western skyline of Montréal-Nord, from different points of view. The eastern skyline is located around the H25 bridge.





ON THE SHORES OF DES PRAIRIES RIVER

Old farm houses from the 18th-19th century




The Rivière-des-Prairies hydroelectric dam




Parc-nature de l'île de la Visitation is located on an island, around old mills powered by the water.


Here's an older picture taken in the park.


MONTRÉAL-NORD TODAY









This is an old road cross (croix de chemin). Those crosses are traditional in rural Québec. Each parish had at least 14 of them to symbolize 14 moments of the Christ's passion. For example, during Easter, the villagers would walk into a procession to the 14 crosses.


This sculpture - La vélocité des lieux was inaugurated last year. It represents the renewal of the borough.




Typical low-density suburban area




Typical urbanscapes







LAVAL - ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE RIVER



View of Saint-Vincent-de-Paul, one of the numerous villages that constituted Laval

[tremblay]

Superbes photos et très bonne idée de présenter le tout par thèmes. Vos photos sur les ruelles de Montréal me rappelle à quel point les étés y sont doux.

[Coldrsx]

My favourite people watching place in the city.


https://c6.staticflickr.com/8/7713/2...39cbd637_b.jpg

[Centropolis]

wew!!!

[Danny]

Thanks for these tours.

Enjoyed seeing again Montreal and Québec city, specially the last one.

Last October was my third time there and I am always wishing to go back. Québec city is wonderful. I am in love with it.

Contrats and greetings from Madrid, Spain.

[Laceoflight]

Originally Posted by tremblay

Superbes photos et très bonne idée de présenter le tout par thèmes. Vos photos sur les ruelles de Montréal me rappelle à quel point les étés y sont doux.

Originally Posted by Centropolis

wew!!!

Originally Posted by Danny

Thanks for these tours....

Thanks for the comments guys! Though I am not quite sure what "wew" means ;-) Ça me fait plaisir. J'essaierai de poursuivre dans la lignée des thèmes cet été.

Originally Posted by Coldrsx

My favourite people watching place in the city.

One of my favourites too :-) Saint-Jean street is a great place to hang around, especially in the Faubourg.


_________

MONTRÉAL _ POINTE-CLAIRE

Micro road trip to Pointe-Claire, an independant community located in the western part of Montréal island, on the shores of lake Saint-Louis. First settlers arrived around 1705 and the parish of Saint-Joachim was founded in 1713. The village was built on a narrow point of land that juts out into lake Saint-Louis : Claire point. The name comes from the fact that the point, almost being surrounded by water, gets longer daylight :-)



Here's Saint-Joachim roman catholic church, built in 1868 and then renovated after a fire in 1883.The architects were Victor Bourgeau and Alcibiade Leprohon. Dimensions : 57m long x 24m wide. The steeple is 62m high. The presbytary was built in 1848 and transformed in 1913.


Inside the church


From Pointe-Claire, there's a stunning view of Downtown Montréal and mount Royal. Rainy and sunny weather = a rainbow :-)


At the tip of the point is an old windmill - one of the 10 windmills still standing in the greater Montréal area. This one was built in 1709 - it provided the flour to the inhabitants of the small village.


Lake Saint-Louis, a great place to sail !

[Nightsky]

Nice pictures from Quebec, going to Canada tomorrow (Toronto)!

[Laceoflight]

Originally Posted by Nightsky

Nice pictures from Quebec, going to Canada tomorrow (Toronto)!

Oh, thanks! I hope you are enjoying your stay in wonderful Toronto!

[Laceoflight]

HOMES OF BORDEAUX
- A village in the heart of Montreal -


Bordeaux is a neighbourhood of Montreal, in the borough of Ahuntsic-Cartierville. It used to be an independant town until 1910, when it merged with Montreal. The area was known as Le Haut-du-Sault, referring to Sault-au-Récollet, since the 1700s, when the seigneurie was granted. A village, named Gros-Sault, started to develop around 1876, when the railroad was built . In 1879, 3 associates bought land to build a town. One of them was from Bordeaux, France, hence the name of the place today. The area is well-known today for its high-security penitentiary.

As I cycle to work and pass through the old village of Bordeaux everyday, I take pleasure in photographing the old village homes. It's definitely one of my favourite areas in Montreal ; lushing greenery, flowers, old houses, a village feel, and the river (des Prairies) which is always close to the main road (Gouin boulevard).

Location of Bordeaux on the island of Montreal:


Vintage quebec music to discover the vintage homes of Bordeaux, Mtl :
• Video Link