Another Walkabout in Downtown Montreal

This is the view from the fort I wrote about a few months ago. You are looking straight down, well, Fort Street towards the St. Lawrence River.

Spot the Bud.

Canadian Centre for Architecture. Eldest's boyfriend is an architect. I bought him a book in the gift shop for a Christmas present. They took away my shopping cart right after entering the building, and the girl with short black bangs and an even shorter tight black skirt watched me closely, following me up the stairs and into the chi chi foo foo shop. I realized that with my cart, coupled with my usual flair for fashion - toque, yoga pants, baggy coat and sneakers - I did, in fact, look like a bag lady up to no good. When I sang the Swedish Chef song in an attempt to remember the name of the author (Herzberg - tell me you can't hear the Swedish Chef in your head?) I sealed my fate as the most terminally unhip person ever to darken their doors. Why couldn't he have asked for a new drill or a bottle of Scotch? I would have felt at home in those stores.

Big scary front door where haughty girls with short bangs cull the herd and ambush the weak.

The other side of the Centre for Architecture. I assume it's supposed to reflect Montreal with its modern buildings cosying up to ancient ones. Pretty cool mansion. I'd live there.

I would take my afternoon tea here, brought to me by my manservant Bartholomew. He had a tough upbringing, but he has the heart of a lion and the manners of a Victorian lady. Do not call him Bart as he will take offense.

This is my bedroom. My ladies maid would turn down my sheets every night. (I may have been watching too much Downton Abbey.) Also she would brush my hair and serve me a single malt from a silver tray. My dream, my rules.

This sits opposite the Centre. I think it's symbolic. Or ironic.

This Chair is Not for Sitting. It is ART.

Spot the Doug and the Bud.

This is the view from the photo above looking towards the remains of the fort.

I just liked this house. Typical of Montreal architecture.

To answer a couple of questions in the comments:

Picture #8 is the Esplanade Ernest-Cormier, or sculpture garden, not actual ruins. It's meant to mimic the centre across the street. 

Ernest Cormier designed a number of high profile buildings in Montreal, including Cormier House, which became Pierre Trudeau's home on Pine Avenue. I think his son still lives there. It's not that far from where I live and I have walked past it many times with the Budster. Not too long ago, I watched them cut down the only tree out front. Not sure which of us was more sad, me or Buddy. 

The mansion attached to the CCA is Shaughnessy House mansion. Read about that here:

The Griffintown Horse Palace

This is yet another example of the many things I love about Montreal, this juxtaposition of old and new, cosmopolitan and country.

 

 

This is the view from the counter that serves the best burgers in Montreal.

 Walk down pretty much any street, and you'll see modern buildings squeezed side by side with centuries old gems.

You can be in the heart of the city, all traffic and bustle and tall buildings, then a few minutes later, you can stroll past a working horse stable built in 1860. The Griffintown Horse Palace is home to some of the many caleche horses found in the old port. The stable was owned for over thirty years by Leo "Clawhammer Jack" Leonard, one of the last Irish Quebecers still living in Griffintown. Just before he died, he sold his land to a developer and now everyone fears it may be torn down and replaced with more housing. Condos now dwarf the barn, and its future is in serious doubt. Even though the stables are considered to be a heritage site, the city of Montreal has not shown an interest in protecting it. Wonder why?

There is a news story HERE and HERE

This video tells the story of the man and the stable.

Horse Palace (EN) from The Rake on Vimeo.

There is a foundation set up to save the stable, but its future remains in jeopardy.

City Walk # 146 The Fort Around the Corner

How many of you can boast of having a fort in your backyard?

Montreal is steeped like a teabag in history and culture. Take this, for instance. It's mere steps away from where I live, in the heart of the city:

Bastion # 1

Interior, seen through the little red door

Collège de Montréal, right behind it, founded in 1767

View down Fort Street, taken from the footprint of the original fort, looking down toward the St. Lawrence River

These are the two remaining bastions of Fort de la Montagne, also known as Fort des Messieurs de Saint Sulpice or Fort Belmont.

Bastion #2

Back in 1683, over 200 aboriginal people (Iroquois, Algonquins and Hurons) lived on this site, literally around the corner from my new flat. Then the Sulpicians showed up, and in order to protect themselves from Iroquois attack, the priests built this fort in 1685. Everything was destroyed in 1854 except these two towers which still stand today.

These towers, each 43 feet tall, were part of that mission, built under the direction of, and personally funded by, one François Vachon de Belmont, a wealthy Burgundian and Sulpician i.e., a member of the Society of St. Sulpice in France.

Sulpicians attest they were mostly concerned with the academic and spiritual formation of priests. They also played a major role in the formation of Montreal and bought huge tracts of land. They (and the government) out and out deceived the Mohawks and took their prime hunting land on the St. Lawrence River. The Mohawks had been established there since the 16th century, and other tribes can be traced back to over 1,000 years, so to have been conned out of it is something that rankles to this day.

(Kanehsatake remains a Mohawk settlement, one of the Seven Nations of Canada, and self-governed by the Mohawks. They continue to fight to maintain their rights to their land. The Oka Crisis is the most recent example of this ongoing battle. This was a 78 day stand-off brought triggered by the neighbouring town of Oka attempting to extend a private golf course not only over an old pine grove, but also a sacred burial ground. Not cool.)

Anyway, this explains the need for the bastions so the priests could have a little hide-out when things got heated.

My goal is to get inside one of them. And the chapel in behind. Not sure if that's allowed, but you know what they say - where's there's a Pam, there's a way.

I haven't even shown you the old section of Montreal yet. So much to see and do here in La Belle Province!