This is the 4th of a series of posts dealing with my 2016
trip to Toronto, Montreal, and vicinity. I’ve made minor corrections to these
reports (typos, bits I don’t feel like making public). Also, I’ve added
additional thoughts with the hindsight of two years later or to add further
clarification. These are indicated by
“NOW”.
As I was shutting down last night an update installed which
surprised me due to XP so I turned on my computer again just to make sure
Windows 10 didn't get installed. I seem to be fine. As with yesterday, all
transit STM/Société de transport de Montréal.
Got up a little after 5, my feet still in pain (more on
this below). I walked along rue Ste Catherine, and noticed that the Victoria’s
Secret that replaced Chapters was across from a La Senza. At least the women of
Montreal are wearing underwear; hygiene is important after all. I rested at
Places des Festivals. I continued along and looked at a row of new (to this
trip) art pieces including one obviously of Gulliver and Lilliputians. I rested
at Place Émilie-Gamelin and then wandered around the bus depot/Gare d’Autocars de
Montréal. I grabbed some free booklets. Heading to Station Berri-UQAM someone
claiming to be a student of photography started harassing me. He claimed he only
wanted to ask questions but since he kept after me after I begged off, I was
relieved when I finally got away from him at Station Berri-UQAM, where I took a
Green Line train to Station Guy-Concordia, I had breakfast at Aubege Bishop and
then took another Green Line train, briefly going the wrong direction, from Guy
Concordia to Station Lionel-Groulx. I got on the 411 bus, which was standing
room only. I found a place where I could stand and take photos without shooting
over someone. Also changed memory cards, knowing I'd run out before the bus
stopped again. Everything to this point is on the first 256 GB card.
[NOW: Auberge Bishop has closed.]
The bus got into a traffic jam on the freeway. I was still
recovering from yesterday and on the best of times can't stand too long in one
place due to being hit by a Bronco, so a woman finally noticed and offered her
seat. The traffic jam proved to be caused by an accident. The bus finally made
it to Terminus Macdonald in Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue, which proved to have a
lovely downtown area. I grabbed a icey
drink at Couche-Tard and wandered north to briefly dip into Senneville before
returning to Sainte-Anne-de-Belleville
To explain the area directly west of
Sainte-Anne-de-Belleville, it's necessary to note that there is the community
of L'Île-Perrot and the island Île Perrot. Sometimes they overlap, sometimes they
do not. So crossing Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal (Canal de
Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue), using city/island, I passed L'Île-Perrot/ Île Bellevue
and L'Île-Perrot/Île Claude, arriving at L'Île-Perrot/Île Perrot, Continuing
west I walked along same then Pincourt/Île Perrot, getting water at Walgreens,
briefly to Terrasse-Vaudreuil/ Île Perrot, back to PIncourt. I then crossed the
Ottawa River to Vaudreuil-Dorion/mainland, which unfortunately doesn't look as
nice on ground level as on the top level of a doubledecker bus.
[NOW: The bridge I crossed from the Island of Montreal/Île
de Montréal to Île Perrot is Galipeault Bridge (Pont Galipeault). I might have meant Pharmaprix as Walgreen's is US.]
Pause Vidéo didn't open until 12 so I returned the way I came,
skipping Terrasse-Vaudreuil and Senneville. In L'Île-Perrot I bought DVDs at Vidéotron
le Superclub. McDonald's nearby had too much of a line, as did the Subway at
Sainte-Anne-de-Belleville. i got a drink at the same Couche-Tard as earlier;
the cashier recognized me. On the 405 bus back to Station Lionel-Groulx in
Montreal, I had trouble keeping awake to take photos so there might be some
interesting ones. Walking south to rue Notre-Dame I had lunch at McDonald's,
passed a free public piano (there's another near my hostel), and got more DVDs
from Vidéotron le Superclub.
[NOW: Both Vidéotrons are now closed.]
I took another Green Line train to Station Préfontaine and
walked to Promenade Ontario, where L'Idée Fixe was gone (judging from the
notice there might be another but not sure). I walked to Station Joliette and took
the Green Line train one stop to Station Pie-IX, where I took photos of the Montreal
Biodome/Biodôme de Montréal. I was going to do more in the area but decided I
wasn't that interested. I took the Green Line train back to Station Place-des-Arts
and rested a while at Place des Festivals. Then I took a Green Line train from Station
Place-des-Arts to Station Berri-UQAM and transferred to an Orange Line train to
Place-d'Armes. I visited Old Montreal/Vieux-Montréal, including the Bonsecours
Basin Park/Parc du Bassin Bonsecours at the waterfront. I had dinner at Subway
then wandered to the two-block Victoria Square/Square-Victoria. I took an
Orange line train from Station Square Victoria-OACI to Station Sherbrooke. I
visited Saint-Louis Square/Square Saint-Louis and the pedestrian store area
Prince Arthur. I walked to rue Sherbrooke and then to the hostel from my first
trip to Montreal, Hotel de Paris. I walked back to Place Émilie-Gamelin.
Here if not sooner I figured out the source of my foot
pain. Part of it, yes, was the walking yesterday but I'm normally hardier than
that. It turns out that the shoes I had only worn a few weeks had holes in
them. The walk yesterday no doubt hastened their condition but they were still
shoddy shoes to be causing me this much pain this soon. I walked to Librairie
Marché du Livre, a French only bookstore whose top section was graphic novels. I walked to Boutique Volume then another French bookstore, Librairie Zone Libre.
By this point my feet were in considerable pain to I walked to Le Baie/The Bay.
Amidst more expensive shoes I found a $30 pair. They look like runners on the
bottom but slippers on the top, no lace or Velcro. A little tight but better
than what I had been wearing. As I left it was lightly raining. I tossed the
old shoes, got a pop at Couche-Tard on boul. du Maisonneuve, took some rainbow
photos, and returned to hostel, where I had to get another blanket and pillow case
because the old ones had disappeared. Hopefully the new shoes will make the
last full day in Montreal more enjoyable.
[NOW: Librairie Marché du Livre is now closed.]
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