Tres Chic

Imagine you are in the 7th arrondissement. You could, easily, but that might offend both the French...and the Quebecois! In Montreal there are beautiful parks (merci Le Notre), low-rise apartments in the Parisienne style, boulangeries, and cafes with tables and chairs in the sun - even when it's 9pm.

Late evening sun and a restaurant

Our apartment, in one of the iconic buildings (yes, you can find them on postcards), was in Rue Laval, handy to parks, restaurants and the metro.

We took advantage of this and zoomed around with our metro pass to the historic downtown area. We checked out the majestic town hall, Notre Dame Cathedral (why not?), various walking streets and the spot where the French apparently first established Montreal.

But don't presume Montreal is all retro faux-Parisienne chic. It does modern well too. The locals are proud of two major international events.

1) The 1976 Olympic Games (think Nadia Comaneci)

2) The 1967 World Expo.

We know they are proud of the first because you can visit the Olympic site and take a ride up to the top of the stadium on a funicular. The rest of the precinct is now museums and a cinema complex.







The 1967 World Expo has worked its way into the city's psyche. The island used for the Expo was created over several years with a truck of soil being deposited every minute for 2.5 years (that's not a typo...every minute for 2.5 years). Maybe you're getting the drift about the underlying tenacity exhibited by Canadians in general.

Rue Sherbrooke

So, they build an island. Then they recruit young women to represent each country at the Expo. Some of the country pavilions are still there (we checked them out from a boat cruise on the river).

Many of the young women recruited for the Expo are immortalised on film and through their costumes which are currently on display at McCord Museum in the Mode Expo 1967.

Almost the Champs-Elysées

Expo fun fact: when the Australians saw the British outfits (which had mini skirts) the Aussies had their's adjusted so they were shorter. It also appears they ditched the gloves and hats.


Armed with this insight into Aussies abroad, we ventured into Rue Sherbrooke with its galleries, upmarket hotels, street art, high-end fashions and Champs-Elysées air, looking for a photo opportunity.

Found a couple!

Not So Incy Wincy

Arachnophobes should look away now, because this spider is anything but incy wincy. Dwarfed by this sculpture outside the art gallery in Ottawa, we speculated about the rain needed to wash this beauty out of its water spout and onto the forecourt.

On show when we visited was art stretching from moccasins and walrus teeth carvings, to striking pieces like this one painted by what we presume to be a Canadian St Kilda supporter. We especially appreciated the despair and disbelief in the faces of the crowd.

The three game losing streak, represented by the central panel, adds depth to the anguish.

Lumberjack alert

In happier news, we were delighted to identify the recurring trope of early musicianship, the lumberjack, shown here in the pre-flannel stage of development.

Paying attention

As incy wincy foreshadowed, the artwork has started a long term strategy to escape the gallery and make a bid for power throughout the city.

We were only able to identify a few of the photo opportunities in the time available.