Montréal is the heart of New France – a vibrant French city (the world’s second largest French-speaking city after Paris) just north of Vermont. Montréal is a magnet for immigration not only from the disperse countries of the Francophonie, but also from France itself. The city district of Plateau Mont-Royal claims over 40,000 French immigrants to Canada – seeking economic opportunities not available in Europe. This is most definitely not the sad enclave of the rump of the former French empire in the New World.
Old Port - Marché Bonsecours; Old Port with downtown in background.
Old Port view; Montréal Yacht Club with l'Horloge (Clock tower) and Pont Jâcques-Cartier.
Not only is this a pleasant stopover – we stayed seven days (extended from four) – but also it is a marvel of how the overseers of this city have beatified the waterfront and the Old Port/Vieux Port section of Montéal. The magic of the Old Port is not only the architectural unity, lighting and restoration of the historic buildings, but also that it is a lively gathering spot, fully occupied by natives as well as by tourists. In our marina, we are surrounded by Québecois families and friends talking, eating, drinking, singing and carousing until the wee hours of the night. You see so much more here of local life on the water than you ever would staying at the Ritz or the Westin.
Notre Dame de Bonsecours Chapel; Old Port view; rear of Marché Bonsecours
Old Port street view; Pointe à Callière (spot on which city was founded); Basilica Notre-Dame
Row houses in Plateau Mont-Royal district
After several weeks of traveling through the ‘countryside’ of New York, the profusion of restaurants and dining opportunities is overwhelming – ranging from high-end French cuisine to pizza and poutine (French fries, cheese, brown sauce and meat, bacon, veggies or whatever). To rival London, Boston and other cities seeking to beautify and attract tourists, the city has renovated marinas, created walkways, set up La Grand Roue de Montréal (a London Eye variant) and illuminated the skylines and bridges with spectacular lightshows and projections.
La Grand Roue by day and by night; Old Port view at night
Expo '67 US pavilion (Buckminster Fuller geodesic dome); Pont Jâcques-Cartier by night; Montréal City Hall
Salty will ply the waters of the old French empire until we reach Florida– which in 1750 claimed chunks of Ontario, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, Kentucky, Arkansas, Alabama and Louisiana. And those weren’t just land claims, they were settled, fortified and populated by the French until the Treaty of Paris in 1763 (giving Britain nearly all of New France) and the Lousiana Purchase in 1803 (selling to the US all the southern territories). The French are but a ghostly presence in most of that territory now leaving behind the legacy of place names and small pockets of francophones.
Montréal and all its historical wealth and extravagance existed because the LaChine Rapids prevented ships from going any further up the St. Lawrence River – and Montréal became the affluent city of traders for goods coming from the interior of the continent. On Monday, the recognized holiday for Canada Day (July 1), Salty Dog heads back through the Canal de la Rive Sud, the St. Lambert and the Côte St. Catherine locks – all built to circumnavigate the impassibility of the LaChine rapids – towards the Ottawa River. Our next destination is the Château de Montebello, a hotel with marina - built on the last surviving land grants made by 17th century French kings to early settlers of New France– on the Ottawa River midway between Montréal and Ottawa.