Found it - cross commemorates the 1643 cross placed by founder of #Montreal, @Maisonneuve
THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 14
Up up up and up today. Scaled the "mountain" to get those sweeping views of #Montreal. Joined lots of others- all shapes, sizes and ages - all different levels of fitness, all with the same goal in mind.
Views from #Mont Royal
Found #Beaver Lake (no boat hire available, all closed weekdays) but did stop at #Smith House for a well-deserved coffee. This little coffee stop was extremely busy as was #Mont Royal itself. Lots of school groups visiting and some even completing what looked like orienteering courses.
Different paths - depending on his whim - need to experience them all
To scale the 233 metre #Mont Royal you can follow a series of switch back curves on a dirt and gravel road, scale endless stairs or take shortcuts through the bush. @Mac gave us a taste of all three options and had us going bush frequently despite the bold warnings for ticks and Lyme Disease. Sometimes, we were trailing lots of people, other times we were thrashing our way solo through mud, rocks and undergrowth.
But we hit all the highlights including the #Chalet, #Cross, #Lookout and the #Lake.
Have to say we have not encountered any gruffness from the locals. In fact, quite the opposite. People are going out of their way to help you understand and find your way around transport, sites or maps. Had a gentleman today interrupt his run up #Mont Royal to get us started on our climb and to make sure we took the easiest way up and the quickest way down. At one stage when I was at the top of a stairway checking out my phone for our next stop (@Mac was doing an extra set of stairs solo), two individual gentleman paused in their runs to ask if I needed help with directions. And of course @Mac is reciprocating - sharing his map with others when they come up and ask for directions. Only had one incident when a couple approached him with a "Parlez vous Francaise?" query - he couldn't help them.
Had people stop to check k you are OK. There are 350 steps on this little climb. I waited - felt I had already had 360 views and didn't need another one.
It was a much quicker descent - in fact we took a direct run down the stairs so that we could hit #Rue Mont Royal in the #Le Plateau Mont Royal. This is a 6 km long straight thoroughfare that boasts a combination of graffiti and street art. Definitely an older part of town and a congregating point for the homeless. Lots of changes happening here including the conversion of the rue to a pedestrian mall.
@Mac said we had to find 20 , they were everywhere. Any surface that didn't have "art" was scrawled with tags and graffiti
We probably walked a little further than we meant to because we were on the hunt for a bagel shop that had been recommended to us by a family on the #Mont. Found it and enjoyed the novelty of watching the bagels being baked on site but probably would not walk that far again to get one!
I don't think I'd walk 500 miles - but was filling
Went underground on the #Metro to combine the #Orange and #Green lines to get us to #Parc Olympic host to #Montreal's 1976 games. Lots closed here because of reconstruction and refurbishment but we were able to visit the venues and walk the grounds. The precinct continues to evolve and structures have been repurposed including the velodrome which is now a nature exhibit call the #Biodome.
Can only imagine how busy this was during the #Olympics - all of the venues were clustered in this one space. Very different from what we see today where locations for various sports and venues are even in different cities.
We were tempted to take ourselves through the marathon portal - felt we had deserved it after our walk to the adjacent #Botanical Gardens. It looked so close but by the time we did the zig and zag to get under the freeway it was another detour in the day we could have done without.
First time we have felt cold! Weather changed this afternoon and there was a definite bite in the air accompanied by breeze. Still hard to get your head around the transformation that must take place here in winter - all this green blanketed in snow.
We are all smiles when we find the #Metro entrance and need the wall to hold you up at the end of the day
Very relieved to take a seat on the #Metro and once again popped up at #Guy-Concordia (held onto our hats like locals today) and then survey the street left and right to decide on which of the 200 food outlets would be dinner. Settled on #Thai - cooked in flames right in front of us and bunkered down again for the evening.
Making in-roads to the precincts of Montreal
Meanwhile in Europe with @M&I
Got the message that they had successfully got their flight from Athens to Rome and immediately hit the history trail. @Mindy had booked an underground tour of the #Collesseum months ago - only to learn it had been cancelled - so views are above ground. But still grateful to be there to experience.
Definitely a goal to toss that coin in the #Trevi Fountain - I hope they found that leather store opposite - it was where I purchased my shoes for their wedding!!!
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