Thursday moving day. Rode the Greyhound to get here. A longish day. I’d chosen to go via Albany NY rather than direct, to give a midday leg stretch. A nearly empty bus to Albany, but then a full bus with a crowd that had come up from New York. Started to snow lightly in Albany and in a while there was quite a lot of snow out there. I guess we’d got a bit higher although the road appears to follow a valley north. Lake Placid up there somewhere on the left. Then as quickly as it had come, there was no more. Just raining as we arrived in Montreal in the gloom. 5 deg C and raining, with rain forecast for the next few days. Hmm.
So my clothes were adequate. Main problem is moving from outside to in. First stop on Friday was the Info Centre. So hot I had to do a serious strip off before I could sensibly talk to the guy. Off. on. Off. on. How do they cope?? I briefly considered the hop on- hop off bus but decided I’d be better walking. Headed to the old town. The overall impression is “not all that old”. Substantial buildings look a bit like 1890s Melbourne. I needed to find more history.
The Pointe à Callière Museum of Archaeology and History. Built on top of an archaeology dig. The immediate previous building was a substantial insurance office building with tower that had to be demolished when the tower’s foundations started to collapse. A site that was an original point of land between the St Lawrence and a smaller stream. After several lots of rebuilding on the point – from dignatory’s house to inn and then the stream which had became an open sewer as the town expanded on the slope above, was made a tunnel sewer and built over.
The Dig has extended towards the slope. And in the basement of the museum are the foundations of the insurance building, and the excavated town wall and cobbled streets. And plumbing evidence. Displays of excavated pottery etc. and good signage explaining the development of the old town on the low hill above the river.
1642 was fur traders and missionaries. 1701 a treaty with 38 Indian nations gave the French effective control out to the Great Lakes and all the way down the Mississippi to Louisiana. 1721 a large fire destroyed most of the town. 1763 the Treaty of Paris gives the British control. 1774 French language again permitted to encourage these colonists to support Britain in the American Revolutionary War. Montreal flourished as a port and trading centre before a slump late in the 19th century.
A resurgence since WW2 or so. And a resurgence in French language and culture since 1920s.
When I’m away I like to check out the bushier areas. In the rain with my newly purchased umbrella, I went to the islands in the St Lawrence river just across from the port. Summer playground. Not much happening today. On St Helene Island, Some nice treed areas. A fairly wild gully and rocky hillside. Hosted a British garrison 1820-1865 with remaining buildings. The neighbouring island, Notre Dame, is linked by bridges and has a motor racing circuit, Olympic rowing course and Casino – and not much more … this island, perhaps both? Hosted Expo in 1967. Still a couple of pavilions remaining. And bike paths. I think that the St Lawrence ship canal runs along the far side of this island (other sections of the river are quite shallow through here) but despite a lot of walking I couldn’t verify that! And a failed effort to take a Bixi bike to,explore further.
A bit footsore and knee sore tonight! Now to pack to move to Quebec tomorrow.
From top left, clockwise: Dorchester Square with Boer War memorial, old houses near the Pointe, on St Helene Island,view to the city from the island
Photos on the next post, hopefully.
travellingkathy 