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The area called "Le Plateau" east of the mountain, used to be a working class neighbourhood until artists and writers started moving in three decades ago. It has now become fashionable and real estate values have soared beyond reason. Fortunately I bought my condo fifteen years ago when prices were still reasonable.
Saint Denis street runs north-south, through the Plateau and the Latin Quarter, from the east-west trans-island Metropolitan Boulevard down to the Old Port.
These outside staircases giving access to the second and third floor flats are common in areas built to be rented to working class tennants because they were cheaper to build than indoor stairs. They do become hazardous when icy in winter but that did not concern the landowners who lived in the "better" parts of the city.
The modest working class character of Le Plateau is more evident in the small secondary streets like this one, the rue de l'Hôtel de Ville.
These small two storey houses that could be had for less than 25 000 US$ thisty years ago now sell for ten times that amount. That is completely crazy, they don't even have basements!
Parking in Le Plateau is a nightmare, the residents have too many cars for the available parking spaces and restaurants and cafes that are numerous on Duluth street that you see here and Saint-Denis make the problem worse. There are fewer restaurants and cafes around where I live but the parking problem is bad enough for me to decide to do without a car a year ago
Restaurants, cafes and some boutiques make this part of Saint Denis street a pleasant place to stroll.
Saint-Denis is a relatively quiet residential street in the north but it gets progressively more commercial towards the positively hectic Latin Quarter in the south.
These sidewalk cafes are not very far from where I live on Saint-Joseph boulevard. I will later show you pictures of the Latin Quarter one km further south on Saint-Denis street.
After the long, cold and dark winters, Montrealers worship the sun by lounging in parks, by strolling on popular streets or by enjoying a beer in a sidewalk cafe.
Immigrants have opened a bevy of small family restaurants where you can sample ethnic cuisine from all over the world including exotic places like Mongolia, Ethiopia and Tibet. This one is just a banal Chinese noodle shop.
Naturally we have been invaded by Second Cup coffee houses like everywhere else (also by McDonalds, Pizza Hut, KFC, and all the other American junk food chains)
I really go out of my way to meet people when I travel but mostly stay home when in Montréal. Now and then, I'll head for one of these St-Denis street cafes when I get the urge feel a crowd around me. People watching is a great sport with a cold beer in hand when the temperature goes over 30 degree Celsius.
The Mont-Royal métro station on the right is one stop down the orange line from the Laurier métro station close to my place. On this fine day, a poetry book market had set up shop temporarily in the white tent on the left. The potted plants and flowers shop in the centre is open all summer.
Mont-Royal street, transversal to St-Denis street, runs from the mountain in the centre of the island to the Botanical Gardens in the east.
Once a year, in early summer, a dozen blocks of the rue du Mont-Royal are closed to traffic for three days to let the crowds congregate and roam freely around sidewalk stalls put up by local shops, cafes and restaurants.
It's party time and Montrealers love to party. Other streets also close for their own summer party. Saint-Laurent street has a great African Music Festival and sidewalk sale later in the season.
The Mont-Royal street party starts on thursday night with the "Nuit blanche sur un tableau noir" (White night, meaning all night party on a black board meaning the asphalt). Scores of artists descend on this street to do these drawings on the black asphalt.
Cafes and restaurants are allowed to encroach on the roadway and the crowds love it.
A cold beer out on the street is welcome, especially on a hot day like this (32 degrees celsius).
The street is open to all initiatives like this group of musicians next to an artist's stall.
This young woman was distributing free sushi to passers in front of a nearby Japanese restaurant.
The shade is welcome on a hot day.
I was tempted by this five foot tall "calao" offered for only 500 $ but I already had a smaller one, that you can see on the right, so I passed.
A calao is a mythical bird worshiped by animists around Korogo in northern Ivory Coast as the protector of homes and villages. I have been told that the protective power of a calao is not related to its size. That means my 18 inch calao protects my home as well as this 5 foot fellow would.
Nonetheless, now that it's too late, I regret not having bought it. It would have looked great in the entrance hall of my condo! And maybe I could have negotiated the price down to 400 or perhaps 300! Ah, lost opportunities... Its like all the girls I could have but didn't...
More ad hoc sidewalk cafes.
And here is another one.
During this three day party, small children are provided with cups of paint and encouraged to express themselves on white squares especially prepared for them on the pavement.
Kids grow up and so does the scale of their self expression.
Some owners welcome this form of art if it is tucked away in a back alley.
This dry cleaning business is an exception that can be seen on Drolet street near Mont-Royal.
