Which snack would you prefer?
Was walking in Verdun the other day and these signs caught my eye outside a dépanneur.
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It’s time for a roundup of my favourite eye-candy from my walks of 2023. It was rough to choose, all my children are special, but these rank as my top two – the giant manipulating hand on top of the Théâtre de Marionnettes, and the laid-back dude reading a book next to Librairie Résonance. Both are on Beaubien, so that tells you something. A strong runner up in the competition is the beautiful tuk-tuk on Jarry. Maybe I should have nudged it up to the top.
I was walking down Wiseman this morning, and was eyeballing the newish addition built onto the north side of Ecole Barclay. I though it looked kind of ho-hum, that the architects might have been snoozing on the job, but then I looked up.
Lately I’ve gotten cranky about my new map. I really don’t like it very well. My previous one, which I marked up au fur et à mesure over five years, was a honey, everything on it just the right size. Crystal clear.
But this new one- aargh- the streets on it are too tiny. Or maybe my eyes are too old. Whichever-- I made a return visit to Aux Quatre Points Cardinaux on Ontario, wonderful source of all things map and globe, to see if I could find a new map that has the streets blown up a bit. The store had lots of possibilities and I couldn’t make up my mind, so I ended up buying three and brought them home with me and will have to see which one suits me. The racks at the store were chock full of maps from all over the world. I guess I’m not the only Luddite around who prefers a good paper map. I’ve been lazy lately in posting photos of my walks. Nothing special in my travels has piqued my fancy. That is until yesterday when I was inspired to get back on the horse by my walk on Beaubien. I honestly don’t know why Wellington in Verdun was voted the coolest street in the world by Time Out magazine when Beaubien clearly has it beat IMHO. As evidence I offer you the rooftop hand manipulating the strings on top of the Théatre de marionnettes. Who knew we even had a marionnette theatre? Anyway, it reminds me of a giant rooftop hand I saw in Old Montreal once. Maybe rootop hands are becoming a thing and I’ve uncovered a trend. And then there’s this cool guy taking his ease outside Librairie Résonance. Beaubien over Wellington? I rest my case.
What a funny juxtaposition of street names around Jarry Park. I was walking up St. Laurent the other day, and first I crossed rue Jules Verne. Then, one block up, there was rue Molière. OK, I figured I got the theme. But then one block further it was ... I guess whoever decides these things doesn’t group street names by profession after all.
Still, a nice addition, along St. Grégoire. And while we're on the subject of park decor, here's a topiary submission, this time from Westmount Park. Granted, his coat's a little mangy, but I dig the glasses.
I haven’t been able to rev myself up to walk for the last little while, it’s been so hot and muggy. But yesterday, with things cooler, I got back in the saddle and decided to explore around Ontario street east, and what did I happen upon there but the newly renovated and restored Bibliothèque Maisonneuve. Whoa, it’s hard to believe I’ll ever come across, in all my walking of the city, a building as spectacular as this! The mix of old and new, the views, the rooftop garden—it absolutely deserves a visit if you’re in the vicinity. Or make a special trip. You won’t be disappointed. Too bad the library I used to work in didn’t look like this. I never would have called in sick. And just across the street, heading east, a nifty mosaic of La Bolduc. And a bit further east on Ontario, no politically correct ramp to get up the steps for parents burdened with strollers, but instead, as a sop, their own private doorbell.
OK. I said I was finished. And I was. I did cover every single street on my map. But I got bored once my project wound up, so I bought myself a new map. One that covers WAY more territory than my old one. For those of you who live in Montreal, you’ll understand when I say this map extends way up into the wilds of Laval and down into the South Shore, areas which, to a cloistered NDG person like myself, seem like the ends of the earth. I figure this expanded project should last me till I die, so I’m good for a while yet. My tombstone will say “she walked.” Or the equivalent in Hebrew. I was walking along Jarry Blvd. the other day, and passed the gorgeous tuk-tuk pictured above. Will definitely try out the restaurant next time I’m in the hood. On avenue Van Horne, I came across an overgrown field near the corner of St. Urbain, that’s filled with funky metal sculptures. There’s no sign that I could find to say who created them. A mystery. But worth a stop. And in my never ending search for topknots, this residential example on Van Horne.
So I’m finished! Yes, completely. And it only took me since May, 2016. I have now walked the full length of every single street on my map. The last street I covered, you ask? That Oscar goes to the tiny stretch of rue Franchère below Mont-Royal that dead-ends into Parc Baldwin.
No offence meant to the residents of that block, but its total blahness is only slightly counteracted by the astronaut mural on the east side. Otherwise, as streets go, and trust me I’ve seen my fair share, it ain’t much. I’ve taken my usual anniversary picture of my map-the last. It’s a good thing as the map is starting to come apart at the seams and won’t stand for much more folding and unfolding. I dreaded this walk along a street I anticipated as being completely ghost-townish. My bad for prejudging it and leaving it undeservedly until almost the end of my project. The street dead-ends into Costco, so, as you can imagine, a steady stream of cars passed me, even if I didn’t see a single pedestrian, rare in my outings. It was just me and all the factories, many of them shuttered. But like many of my industrial walks, it had its own charms. I passed under the mega silos of the Red Roses flour mill. Just think how many cakes you could make with the contents of just one of those silos. I’d be fixed for life. At the beginning of the pandemic, to keep me baking, I sprang for a 20 kilo sack of flour and thought it was humungous, but it was nothing compared to these babies.
Stumbled across a great new art installation on boulevard Robert-Bourassa just above Wellington. I just thought it was playful, with no deeper meaning, a way to cheer up a blah chunk of roadway. But one of my more thoughtful Facebook friends suggested that it looked like the signatories to the Great Peace of Montreal. Turns out he’s right. I did a bit of digging and found out that the figures in the installation are meant to reproduce the pictograms of the First Nations that signed the treaty of 1701. I always love a walk that teaches me something. The second photo (from the Canadian Encyclopedia) shows what the treaty actually looked like.
In the Plateau of all places. On tiny rue Demers, a street so narrow you might easily pass it by without noticing, but that would be a mistake. It’s full of wonders. Beyond the windmill, there’s a funky punchbowl fountain and a wishing well. I can’t claim to be the first to appreciate this streetlet. Mounted on one of the garden walls is an article from La Presse in praise of it, and that was back in 2003.
Undertook a walk today that I’ve been avoiding for the entirety of my project, up to the top of Vincent d’Indy which my fellow Montrealers know will give you nosebleeds from the height. To give you some idea of the altitude, it used to have a ski lift running alongside, whose rusty remains are still there.
After about two years forced hiatus from my walking project, thanks to Mr. Covid and incidentally getting hit by a truck and ending up in the ER on one of my walks, I’m back to criss-crossing the streets of Montreal. I started off with an industrial walk, along St. Patrick, west of Atwater. I stumbled across what I thought was a playground combining old factory equipment with coloured tubes. Turns out I was way off. It’s a bike hitching post made with old industrial sewing machines from a former factory in the area. The colourful tubes are meant to represent the thread that used to run off of the machines. Almost across the street, saw the infamous pink house, way up at the top of the abandoned Canada Melting Plant silo. Was it Spider Man who clambered up to there to give it a paint job and spruce it up with flower boxes and curtains?
I’ve seen a whack load of front-lawn statues in my travels around town, but this massive one really took me by surprise. And yes, it’s a real Botero, with a plaque and everything. And on a neighbouring street...
I was sure I'd seen the identical two sculptures in a park near Atwater Market, and suddenly they're popping up in Griffintown??!! Checked my archives (June 29, 2019) and I'm right. Why were they snitched from Atwater which was a better spot? Here they're hidden in an alleyway.
On Berri near St. Antoine. Are they proud of their achievement or what? Winners of the Oscar for best visual effects for First Man. You never know what's brewing in the anonymous buildings you're passing.
This green cutie was on St. Catharine street. It glows in the dark.For the previous pigs encountered in my travels, see post from 6/19/2019.
Normally, I don’t like it when my walks coincide with garbage collection days. If anyone were to undertake a project like this, although why would you if you had any sense, I’d advise you to find out the garbage collection days on your intended route, and avoid them. But sometimes, garbage days can be fun, with discarded penguins and giraffes to keep you company.
No, not in Vegas. She was near the Angus Yards of all places, in a garden plot - her head plunked on a scarecrow. The diva-tête must be working. There wasn’t a single bird pecking at the veggies she was guarding. And this was before she lost all the weight and turned into a crone. Tickled by this sign a bit further on at a giant construction project- “en collaboration avec - à bas le capitalisme.” I thought it was for real at first, but the “down with capitalism” part peels off. Stopped for a snack at Station W, which incorporates the old Angus Yard industrial elements in its design. Lots of grilled cheese offerings, and Davey says their smoothies are excellent, but I haven’t tried one myself. The winner so far in my abandoned clothing competition. Never seen so many people-less shoes on a sidewalk all at once – and so neatly placed. There was no one anywhere around. Don’t know what the deal is.
But it’s only a matter of time. More imaginative people than I am repurpose their deteriorating furniture and household fittings to use as planters in their gardens. So far I’ve come across a piano, a bedstead, and a bathtub. While we’re on the subject of repurposing, here are some cast-off metro cars, now parked on Peel near Wellington, that have been transformed into a café. Service stinko, but what the hell. In theory, a good idea.
That’s how I've classified my walk from today. Got off the metro at Mount Royal and went up St.Hubert where I stumbled across this lovely vintage kimono store on the corner of rue de Bienville. I didn’t buy anything to wear, but did succumb to a wooden kokeshi doll. This walking project has cost me a lot of bucks so far. Further up St. Hubert, a few blocks above Mount Royal, passed the best ruelle verte I’ve seen so far. In the Ruelle verte program, neighbourhoods jazz up their back alleyways, of which Montreal has plenty, mostly ugly, with plantings, murals, what have you, to make them more liveable playable spaces. This Facebook page shows some interesting ones from previous years in Rosemont. https://www.facebook.com/pg/arrondissementRPP/photos/?tab=album&album_id=899800406763879 Then up to Laurier and the park where Queen Isabella is landscaped all nice and posh.
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