Saturday, April 21, 2012

Montreal landmarks

Canajun was hoping for a glimpse of the Montreal he was familiar with before he moved away.

Here is a ride video I shot the other day that might scratch that itch.

The route is along Cote des Neiges road heading towards downtown.  The video begins on the north side of the mountain on Cote des Neiges, just a block or two south of Queen Mary road.

Once past Queen Mary, if you're familiar with the city, you may remember the following landmarks.
  • at the 23 second mark, crossing Queen Mary;
  • from the 44 second mark to the 1 minute 22 second mark, the Mount Royal Cemetery.  The gates are at the 1:22 mark.
  • at the 2:05 mark you will see the armory right where the Camilien Houde Parkway goes through Mount Royal Park, heading east towards Park avenue, Fletcher's Field and Montreal's SoHo that we call "the Plateau".
  • at the 2:17 mark is the high point of Cote des Neiges road.  Everything beyond this point is downhill.
  • at 3:10 you see the apartment buildings that are now condos I believe, that sit like an island dividing the north and south bound sections of Cote des Neiges road.
  • at 4:30, I branch off Cote des Neiges road and onto Dr. Penfield avenue (formerly McGregor avenue).  Actually it looks like I am going straight, but in fact it's Cote des Neiges road the veers right towards Sherbrooke street.
  • from 5:14 on, this is the Golden Square Mile section of downtown, also sometime called Embassy Row.  This is where the wealthiest of Montreal's elite built palatial homes in the late 1800's.  Many of those stately homes are now consulates, hence the name.
  • at 5:50 the western edge of the McGill University campus begins.
  • the two buildings on the left at 6:00 are the biology department.  The second building has a greenhouse on the roof that glows eerily at night.  It's a grow-op.
  • at 6:08 are the two buildings of the law faculty, named Chancellor Day Hall, with the actual Chancellor Day Hall being the second building, also a former robber-baron palace, bequeathed to McGill long ago in a bid for atonement, no doubt.
  • at 6:09 I turn right onto Stanley street heading south towards Sherbrooke.
  • the building at 6:30 is the new Sofitel hotel that sits at the corner of Sherbrooke and Stanley.  It used to be the Canadian headquarters of Air Liquide, or Canadian Liquid Air.
  • at 7:18 the building on the southeast corner is the headquarters of CGI Group Inc., where I work.
  • at 8:26 is the end of my commute.

4 comments:

Canajun said...

Wow, thanks for the trip down memory lane. Have a few relatives in Mount Royal Cemetery and used to spend a lot of time on Cote des Neiges and up at Beaver Lake. Also lived on Stanley for a year about a block from your offices. I think it's time for another visit.

Canajun said...

In viewing the video again I also remembered (not so fondly) Montreal's roads. Last paved in 1936 Montreal's streets have to be the worst anywhere for ruts and potholes. Nice to see nothing has changed in that regard. :)

David Masse said...

David,I'm glad that I posted a route that struck a chord for you.

And yes, our roads suck. Riding a scooter with smaller wheels and shorter suspension travel brings the point straight home.

I'm lucky because getting from where I live to where I work allows me to take a number of different routes that change up the commute. Sadly, none of those routes are smooth sailing. It's either an abundance of level crossings (St-Patrick street), sunken sewer manholes (Lakeshore), ancient pavement (the shore road through Verdun), partially ground and not yet paved surfaces (Highway 20 and the Ville Marie Expressway), or horrible expansion joints (the Decarie Expressway, the Metropolitan).

Deep creases seem to be a feature of all of those routes.

On the bright side, it's great for building riding skills and nerves of steel.

Unknown said...

David:

Perhaps they should raise the tuition fees "MORE" to cover the road maintenance budget.

can't belive the news on the weekend with all those riot prepared police . . .

bob
Riding the Wet Coast
My Flickr // My YouTube

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