I walked from our temporary apartment to Parc du Mont-Royal, the park on the hill in the middle of town.The park was designed by Frederick Law Olmstead and inaugurated in 1876. Olmstead wanted to highlight the natural beauty and topography of the mountain and had a number of plans to do so, unfortunately the city had some financial issues that prevented all Olmstead's plans from being completed to his specifications. Didn't expect a history lesson, did you?
Regardless, it's a beautiful park. There are brutally steep stairs that take you straight to the summit, or you can take a winding gravel path with a gentle incline. I'm not masochistic, I took the path.
The nice thing about the park is that within minutes the city disappears behind the trees. Almost immediately, the noise changes. The traffic sounds change to bird calls and the sound of your steps crunching along the gravel path.
There were squirrels having a party…
…and lots of chipmunks if you look carefully.
There’s a man-made lake…
…and a sculpture garden. In the background is the CBC antenna.
There's a big cross.
This cross was built in 1924 to commemorate the cross put there in 1643 by Paul de Chomeday de Maisonneuve to thank God for sparing the island from a flood. It's impossible to forget the Catholic history here; there are beautiful old churches everywhere, the streets are named after saints, and there's a 30-meter high cross with LED lights above the city.
Near the cross, there’s a lookout that gives a pretty nice view of my new city.
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