Photo Friday: Montreal

Summer is festival season in Montreal.  Certain streets are closed to car traffic, restaurants and bars set up outdoor terraces, stores have sidewalk sales, and everyone comes out to party after the long winter.  Today I'm showing off a few photos that I took during various bike rides and outdoor meanderings.

This is a view of downtown as seen from across the river on the Saint Helen's Island bike path.  The hill in the background is Mount Royal, the eroded remnant of a magma intrusion - not an extinct volcano as some guidebooks report.  Much of the hill has been designated parkland and is a protected area.  A steel cross on the summit was installed in 1924 as an homage to the original cross that the city's founder placed in 1643 as thanks to the Virgin Mary for sparing the settlement from flooding.

This shot is of the Old Port area including the clock tower (right of center) which serves as a memorial to Canadian sailors lost in the First World War.  Visitors are allowed to climb up the tower's interior staircase to enjoy the view.  Many summertime activities and concerts take place on the piers.  The photo was taken from the Concord Bridge that connects Saint Helen's Island to downtown.

Here's another view of downtown looking east from the Kondiaronk Lookout in Mount Royal Park.  The park is open year-round and is accessible by all modes of transport, including by foot if you don't mind climbing 200 stairs.  The white cross-shaped building in the background is Place Ville-Marie; it is the centerpiece of downtown, the main access point for the world's largest Underground City, and the four-beam rotating beacon on its roof can be seen up to 50 km away.

We Montrealers love our city.