Basilique Notre-Dame

We weren't intending on checking out any churches during out trip to Montreal, but when I read more about the things that were "must-sees" in Old Montreal, the Basilique Notre-Dame kept coming up. So it wasn't a tough choice then to include that into our things that we had to check out.

In fact, I ran by the Basilique on my first morning in Montreal. I hadn't intended to run past it but I did, and it was an awesome sight. The Basilique towered over the street and plaza in front of it and I couldn't wait to go back with my camera, which we did on Friday.

This is about the view I had as I ran past, since I was on the opposite side of a one-way street, this street actually.


I also took a picture of a large sign in front of the Basilique. I would have taken a shot of the English-language sign, but there is no such thing so I can only kind of make out a few things.

Ville-Marie, incidentally, was the original name of Montreal. Construction did begin on the Basilique in 1823 and the James O'Donnell reference is for the architect of the building. Of course, it was originally a church or cathedral and didn't achieve the status of basilica until 1982.

When we walked out to explore Old Montreal, we walked to the Basilique first. I actually craned my neck quite high to get a glimpse of the building once we were up close. Had to.

Not sure if you can see three prominent statues on the front of this building. They're difficult to see in this picture and you can kind of make them out from the first shot, but I got some up-close shots of them and put them together a bit.

If you think the outside is beautiful, the inside is a masterpiece. I couldn't get a real good wide shot of the inside unfortunately but here's a picture I found online that's pretty much what the inside is like.

Not the best shot but it fit. I pretty much stink at taking indoor shots, but I did get a couple on my own.



For all of its history, the efforts made into building it, the tourists it draws each year and the countless thousands who still worship there, the Basilique is quite famous and might be one of Montreal's most important buildings. They still hold services there every day, and those of course don't cost anything. We saw a show inside that told the history of the church and Montreal and that was only 10 bucks. It cost five to go inside and do a walkthrough and take pictures and all that.

Definitely a fantastic building and one that I feel lucky to have been able to not only see but to step foot in.

Montreal's Old Port

Part of Montreal's charm was the old buildings. Born and bred in Southern California, I haven't exactly been around places that were established in the 1800s or 1700s. We do have some missions out here that have some history but that's about the extent of it. So being in a building or walking past a building that was built more than 200 years ago was intriguing and a bit humbling. Made me feel kind of inconsequential at times, as if so many people throughout history had passed through the very spot I was standing/walking that my presence there was nothing.

One of the buildings that most intrigued me was this one.

This is the chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours (or the Our Lady of Good Help). It sits right on the Old Port. There is a street in front of it, the Rue De la Commune, and then couple dozen meters before you hit the water. The church was originally built in 1655, but it was mostly destroyed in a fire.

It's also dubbed the Sailors' Church because back in the day as ships pulled into the harbor, one of the first things the sailors saw was this church, and the Virgin helped usher in the sailors to port. Gracious sailors supposedly left her offerings and prayed upon arriving for having helped them arrive in port safely.

Here's a link to the museum web site. We actually didn't go inside the museum to visit it but only because we were busy visiting other museums and just walking around.

We did go inside the Marche Bonsecours, or the Bonsecours Market.

This place was built in the mid-1800s and has been a government building, a farmers market and a general marketplace, which is what it is today. The inside is kind of drab looking but there are a lot of awesome stores in there that sell some really cool stuff. A lot of art pieces that were way outside of our budget. I had a really good cup of espresso in there though.

Also, there was this building that was intriguing, the old Customs House.

I think this was built sometime in the early 1800s as well, though I'm not certain. This used to be the place where visitors would have to pass through customs upon arriving in Montreal. Not sure what it is today except for a cool background for a picture.

Anyway, you could spend a lot of time in Old Montreal and the Old Port. The only thing we really did outside these two areas was our trip to Parc du Mont-Royal because there was plenty to see in the Old Port...

... or the Vieux-Port, I guess.

Cirque du Soleil!

I've never really been into Cirque du Soleil. It's not that I dislike it or anything, just had never really been interested too much in it. I don't know why, just happened that way I suppose.

I knew so little of Cirque du Soleil that I didn't realize it had originated in Montreal, and the topic of it didn't come up until we were literally walking past it.

The conversation was something like this:

Mrs. LB: We should check out Cirque du Soleil.

LB: Oh yeah?

Mrs. LB: It got its start here in Montreal. We just walked past it.

LB: Is that what those big yellow tents were?

We talked about it and Mrs. LB was a bit worried about the cost (cheapest seats were 80 I think). But we figured that since we were on our 10-year anniversary trip and were at the birthplace of Cirque du Soleil, we should take advantage of the show. We bought tickets for the Sunday show so it would be one of the last things we experienced in Montreal.

WOW! Did we ever save the best for last?!? I was blown away by the show.

I didn't know here that I'd be in for the time of my life.

The show has some awesome costumes, amazing music and, of course, the unique costumes. Mrs. LB tried on a cool-looking but too-expensive mask during intermission.

The name of the show is called OVO and, well, I'd probably bore you with too many details but here's a trailer for the show. It is about insects and an egg and, uh, well, lots of stunts and acrobatics and great music.

It's so awesome! I will watch it again one day, hopefully, if it comes to Las Vegas, I might just make the trip.

Parc du Mont-Royal

In reading about and researching Montreal, one of the first things I realized was that the Parc du Mont-Royal was a must-see, particularly for me. Before my trip, I'd wanted to get at least one outdoor run in and I quickly realized that running through Parc du Mont-Royal was the place for me. The park sits atop a vast hill (it's technically a hill though it's also described as a mountain) and the park itself was designed by the same person who designed Central Park in New York.

(Incidentally, the park's English name is Mount Royal Park but the French name sounds cooler)

On my first morning there I actually got a run in, as I went running through the streets of Old Montreal and Downtown (two of Montreal's many neighborhoods). But I still wanted to check out Mont-Royal.

On Sunday, I did.


This is the spot where I started and finished (Mrs. LB was in charge of the camera while I was off on my run). This lake freezes in the winter and is a popular ice skating rink. In the adjacent clubhouse, there are skates for rent when the lake freezes over. It's a shallow, man-made lake but it makes for a peaceful scene.

I ran through that trail, up and over the hill and through trees. There were so many trees, so much so that the fact that I'd left The Garmin in our hotel room didn't matter since picking up the GPS signal through those trees would have been impossible.

I wasn't alone in my run as dozens of Montrealers and visitors like myself were running, bicycling and walking along the paths and trails of the vast Parc du Mont-Royal. After running through so many trees and a curved path that kept curving, I wondered if I had gotten myself lost but eventually I came out the back way of some path I ran through, back through some sort-of familiar landmarks and eventually back down to the lake and Mrs. LB.

It wasn't the easiest run as the park was hilly, as you'd expect from a gigantic hill. So I labored toward the end of my run.

When I finished - and I think I got in about four miles but without The Garmin it's tough to say - Mrs. LB and I walked up to a place where you could see a view of the city. It wasn't the most-visited lookout - one I'd actually ran past, where you can see the downtown skyline - but we got to see a good view of Montreal nonetheless.

That's the Olympic Stadium and the Montreal Tower in the distance.

It was a taxing day at the park, to be honest. We probably walked about two miles to get from the lake to the lookout and on to a spot where we finally caught a taxi, and my legs were beat down after that. But the experience is just one of many in Montreal that will be unforgettable.

Back home

Greetings all! It's been too long since I posted, but I took my blog buddy Willoughby's advice and abstained from this here trusty blog while I was off in Montreal. I will blog about Montreal here in the coming days so be patient but I just wanted to say that I am glad to be home after a long travel day, and having spent a long time away from my girls.

And while I'll get into detail later, in short Montreal was flat out awesome. I loved it, all of it. Definitely different than our Costa Rica experience but unique unto itself. I loved being in Montreal and had a wonderful time there.

Anyway, I'm going to rest now and get acquainted to this heat. It was in the 70-80 degree range when I left and it's 91 the day I come back. Hello summer!

The picture, by the way, is outside a place called Titanic where we had lunch on Friday. Like most eateries we visited, awesome food!

Checking in from Montreal

Bonjour!

I made it to Montreal and have already had an eventful trip. I went on a 50-minute run this morning through the streets of Old Montreal. I ran down many Rues and Ponts and Ports and went past the Palais de Justice, the Centre Commerce Mondial Montreal, Palais des Congres as well as the Basilique Notre-Dame, an absolutely stunning cathedral.

I did however have to deal with people smoking. Lots of people smoke here apparently, at least along the route I took. Still, that didnt' damper the run or anything.

I'll be off in Montreal trying to enjoy myself for the next several days and while I might check in every now and then, my brother Danny will once again take the wheel for the duration of my trip. Hopefully he'll post some pictures of the Mud Run and maybe he'll recap his Mud Run experience. Not that I'm providing assignments or anything...

As tempting as it is to blog away, I'm going to try and unplug here for a few days before returning to the rat race back home.

Oh, one more thing, I don't speak French which I hope won't be a hindrance. I saw mostly French-language signs - Alles des Huissers, Arret d'Autobus - and heard a lot of French, and when I got back here to my hotel room the cleaning lady was just about wrapping up my room and she greeted me with a "Bonjour" and I replied in English but she kept going in French. Oh well. I'll figure it out I guess.

Anyway, take care all.