A Lovely Big Park
The
day after an extremely long and strenuous day in Montreal, Canada I suggested, “Let’s walk up St.
Catherine, (a major street) hail a cab, and hire him for a good part of the day
so we can see Mount Royal.”
My
friend was quite skeptical but I explained, “After looking at the map I don’t
think we can get there without a car and things seem to be pretty well spread
apart. There is no bus or subway that goes up there.”
The
first cab that pulled around the corner off the busy street agreed to our plan
and on our negotiated price. Mount Royal Park, established in 1876 and covering
500 acres, was designed by the same fellow who designed New York’s Central
Park.
Our
first stop was the imposing Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Italian Renaissance design.
Arriving here definitely pointed out our need for wheels to get here. The
carillon of the Oratory holds 56 bells, weighing 24,000 pounds, that were
originally destined for the Eiffel Tower. Technical difficulties prevented them
from ever getting there. In 1955 the bells were loaned to the Oratory for its
Golden Jubilee. Later they were bought and gifted to the church. Church construction
started in 1924 and inauguration took place in 1955. The exterior dome is 506
feet above the street and 263 feet above sea level and is the highest point in
Montreal. This huge dome is the second highest in the world, behind St. Peter’s
Basilica in Rome. The German organ with its 5811 pipes and five keyboards took two years to build and seven months to
install.
As
we entered the massive stately structure, we were surprised there was no
admission fee. We picked up a booklet/guide in English making the $2 donation. Brother
Andre, a humble doorkeeper, was born southeast of Montreal in the mid 1800s,
and was orphaned by age twelve. He made his way to New England where he worked
in textile mills, but at age 22 returned to Canada. In 1904 he built a small
chapel which eventually became a basilica. He died at 91 in 1937.
Progressing
through the church, we noted how modern the inside is. The 10,000 lit votive
candles in one chapel give a warm glow to the large room. We thought crypt church a strange name until we
read in the booklet, “The church is called Crypt Church because a vault is
supported by flattened arches and because it is situated at the foot of the
basilica.” People were praying and
occupying many of the 1000 seats. After noting the stain glass windows, we
quietly walked thru the back of the church to the terrace for a view of the
city below.
Escalators
took us to upper rooms and another chapel. The church has seating capacity for
2200 and standing room for 10,000. The massive portico showcases 60-foot tall
Corinthian columns. The portico offers an excellent view of the 283 steps
leading down to street level. Fortunately our driver had left us at the
entrance!
Next our
driver stopped at the Smith House which is now a restaurant/museum. From there we walked uphill over a hard-pack
path and narrow roadway to the Chalet du Mont Royal where we had a spectacular view
from the Belvedere Terrace before continuing on to the cross.
Leaving Mt Royal we
rode through the Plateau that lies at the foot of Mount Royal. It is the home to a kaleidoscope
of peoples and culture—rich and poor, English and French, young and old, gay
and straight. This multi-ethnic area is the trendy spot for locals as well as
tourists. Multi-colored houses with winding exterior staircases, ornate
balconies, and French monsard roofs seem to be the norm in this area. We were
glad we were not walking the hilly streets.
We asked to be dropped off downtown at Victoria Square. The
square, named in honor of Queen Victoria in 1860, includes two sections (south
and north) and was laid out in different stages beginning in 1811. The fine
statue of the Queen adorning the square is the work of sculptor Marshall Wood,
and was unveiled in 1872 by Lord Dufferin, the Governor General of Canada. At
the time, Victoria Square was surrounded by a prestigious neighborhood.
The historic square changed a lot over the years with
the construction of office towers around it. A major redevelopment project
began in 2000. The stretch of McGill Street between Saint-Jacques and Viger
streets has been shifted back to its original configuration, which in turn
restored to the square its former presence. The new layout of the square reflects
a contemporary design and now more emphatically links Old Montréal, the
historic city center, with the modern downtown district to the north. The new
fountain sports some modern sculpture. Flowering pots add bright perky spots of
color.
It was a Saturday and most of down town was closed.
My primary interest was to find the Paris Metro station entrance that was a gift to
Montréal from the French for the 1967 Expo. As we studied the art nouveau cast
iron rails, we each remembered our own trips to Paris.
We
didn’t spend a lot of time down town and just as we were about to leave our
driver suddenly appeared to run us back to the hotel. We had already paid him
so it was a surprise to see him. It was above and beyond but it was the nice
end to a fun day. He told us he’d enjoyed the day also and was then headed home
to his family that included three teenage sons.
