Tuesday, March 11, 2008

A Cool Walk

A few days ago I wrote about the snow they (those darn weather forecasting people!) were predicting, remember? (Have a look below if you don't). This time their prediction came true. A little too much, but hey, they weren't wrong. For a change. Hubby was itching to go for a walk in all this fresh snow, so Sunday afternoon we did. Because the roads were so bad we decided to walk around our neighbourhood. We headed for Old Montréal and the Old Port.

This is from the field at the end of our street, under the Notre-Dame overpass. That building is where the Cirque Eloize has its offices (check out the link, it a performance of theirs).
Yep... there's lots of snow... and yes those are stairs next to the building, unusable stairs for now.

Despite being a beautiful sunny day, it was a bit cool, and to my pleasure there weren't many people out and about. We took a few shots to show how bad it was, but the pictures don't do nature justice; far from it.


This is St-Paul St. (in Old Montréal), near Marché Bonsecours. It looks deserted, doesn't it?

Walking around in the uncleared streets and sidewalks was challenging. It was almost like walking in soft sand, for the exception that under it all was a nice layer of ice.

I was surprised to see "l'allée des artistes" (the artists alley) snowed in. I had never seen it emptied nor closed. That was really weird, since this is one of the busiest street in Old Montréal, right of Place Jacques-Cartier, especially in summer. You can get food, jewellery, t-shirts, painting, etc. and on Sunday it was completely empty...

We made our way to the end of Quai Bonsecours, in the Old-Port. Being by the water (St-Laurence River) was even cooler. The wind was strong, but the sun was also present.

The Clock Tower (on the left hand side) is basically at the end of our street. That's Jacques-Cartier Bridge, and below it, on the right is "La Ronde", Montréal's Amusement Park.


Right across the river, is Ile Ste-Hélène, which was also the site for Expo 67. You can see the Sphere and a sculpture left from that (among many other things, on site).


Now, that's a snow bank!

In Quai Bonsecours area they also have a skating ring (on the left) where a few stupid courageous souls were skating & right next to it stood the Winter Bar. We "had" to go in for a beer for Hubby and a good "spiked" hot chocolate. That "bar" is nothing more than a tent, with some disco balls, a nice bar, and a DJ on Thursday nights.


I took this shot from inside the bar/tent. It's blurry a little because the wind was blowing a lot of snow and it was through the "window" of the tent. The toilets were porta-potty, outside! Brrr.

I must say, it was cool to see yet another face of Montréal, of our new neighbouhood. We walked for almost three hours and were happy to come home with rosie cheeks and happy to have made that decision to move here when we did...

10 comments:

Unknown said...

These photos are tres cool, Stinky. Montreal is a beautiful city. But I gotta tell ya -- I'm sick to DEATH of snow!

Unknown said...

It's nice to see that the surgery to have that black rectangle removed from your face was such a smashing success. ;-)

Lovely pics. You almost make Winter look inviting.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful pictures. Makes me wish I had something pretty to look at besides a bunch of cow pastures. ;-)

lizgwiz said...

That is just way too much snow for me! We've got early flowers starting to bloom here, and it's great.

Christina_the_wench said...

Love the photos. Love architechure and old buildings. We may have to venture up there one of these days. When the snow leaves, of course. ;)

Charlie said...

Great photos and yes, old Montreal is a unique and beautiful city. Thanks SP for the tour.

don't call me MA'AM said...

Snow is so pretty! I'm ready for spring now, though. We've had enough snow.

Great pics!

stinkypaw said...

tammie: I am as well, but I'm trying to make the best of it!

marius: Thanks (about the surgery)! I guess it was a success... ;-)

ananke: Thank you, beautiful and no little planes practising in the summer either! ;-)

lizgwiz: Good for you, it looks like it "might" melt soon...

christina: It's even better in the summer, that's for sure. If you ever venture this way, I'll gladly show you the town!

charlie: You're very welcome, anytime!

ma'am: Enough indeed, and yet it's still snowing at the moment!

kara said...

what's with all the french names? it's like it's another country or something.

wait.

stinkypaw said...

kara: Strange but true, totally different country! Go figure! ;-)