I will always be grateful that Captain Arthur Phillip arrived in Australia with the First Fleet just before French explorer Jean-Francois de Galaup, Comte de Laperouse sailed in to scope out the Botany Bay area with the idea of setting up fur trading and whaling stations. Laperouse was probably not happy that the British had arrived literally hours before he did as there had been no love lost between the French and the British. The French had recently lost their major trading colony on Canada’s St Lawrence River in what is now Montreal to the British as a result of the Seven-Years War, so their expansion into the Pacific, especially in search of uncolonised regions could have the result of losing those lands. Australia would have been a less challenging option due to its better weather year round when compared to that of Canada. I’m not sure that fur trappers would agree. Little did Laperouse know then, that this stop, which lasted about six weeks, would be his last, and he would never be seen again.
And we would not be compelled to speak French generations later.
This is my second visit to Montreal. The first time was in 2009. Mum and I had stayed at the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth Hotel, which is situated above the railway station and is the location of John and Yoko's anti-war Bed-In in 1969. When we arrived, a window in the front of the hotel had been dedicated to the fiftieth anniversary of this event, showing a replica of the room complete with a rumpled bed. Located just opposite to the Mary Queen of the World Cathedral and with the famous underground city below the streets, we did not have to go far from the hotel. Nor did we have the time, as we had to catch a train to Toronto the following day.
Now, fifteen years later, I am back and am glad that there is a local guide who will show our group the best parts of his city. Montreal was founded in 1642 and was settled first by indigenous and foreign fur traders before colonists from France built a settlement near the St Lawrence River, later naming the settlement Mont-Royal, which when said really fast, sounds like Montreal. The French ruled the colony until 1760 when it fell to the British during the Seven-Years War. Today it has a population of just under 4.5 million people and its original architecture reflects both its French and British heritage.
Our tour includes the magnificent Mont-Royal, the highest point of Montreal, which offers a panoramic view of the city. We stop briefly at St Joseph’s Oratory, a Catholic minor Basilica, which is Canada’s largest church. It is also famous because it has one of the largest church domes in the world. I would love to say that it had been built in those early days of settlement, but I cannot because was started in 1914 and has been through a number of extensions and renovations over the decades. Today it is the highest building in Montreal, rising more than thirty-metres from Mont-Royal’s summit and can be seen for many kilometres. It is also the only building in the city that violates the height restriction under Montreal’s building code.
Our commentary includes facts and figures about the church, including the grisly tale of a stabbing that occurred during mass on 22 March 2019. Fortunately, the priest who had been stabbed by a 26-year old man survived, but best of all, the parishioners attending mass that day detained the stabber in a citizen’s arrest until the police arrived.
A little further up the road is the Camillien-Houde lookout, where, on this clear and beautiful day, I enjoy a panoramic view of the city. The weird-looking building that looks like a can opener is the Olympic stadium, built for the 1976 Summer Olympic Games. Although the stadium has had a lot of design issues that have culminated in structural and financial problems, it has been in use as a stadium for baseball and football games until very recently. It was also used as the venue for the 1992 combined Metallica and Guns N’ Roses stadium concert until there was a serious pyrotechnic malfunction resulting in James Hetfield of Metallica being carted off to hospital. The rest of the band pulled the plug on their part of the concert. Two-and-a-half hours later, Guns N’ Roses took to the stage in front of an increasingly frustrated crowd, sang just nine songs and they too left the stage after offering a refund to the audience. But the audience didn’t want a refund. They wanted a concert, and a bad situation became worse when 2000 concertgoers started a riot inside the stadium, which extended to the surrounding area outside. Metallica returned in 1993 and did two concerts in another venue to make up for the previous year. Guns N’ Roses were banned for life.
We make our way into the financial district whilst listening to more history and fun facts about Montreal, but I become frustrated with the tone of the discussion. Our guide is a far-left zealot and makes sure his viewpoint on politics, climate, and Israel is made clear. It might be OK for the non-English speakers on the bus to listen to this drivel, but I am not happy about being held prisoner whilst this stuff is shoved down my neck. I will make it perfectly clear that I do not tip those who push their political barrow when their job is to expand our knowledge of the city. This can be, I am sure, done without leaning to one side or the other and I not only let him know that I do not appreciate his political-speak, but this point will later be included in my feedback later.
Old Montreal is a unique and historic neighbourhood that features narrow cobblestone roads leading to old buildings and churches. We enter the Bank of Montreal building, an imposing Greek Revival structure of stone, its interior of marble. Across the square is the Notre-Dame Basilica. Although its exterior is undergoing repairs, the interior is magnificent. The stained glass windows here are unique in that they do not depict scenes from the Bible, but scenes from the religious history of Montreal.
Outside again, there is one modern skyscraper, which may otherwise look out of place amongst the collection of old buildings here, but to tell you the truth, it is barely noticeable. In front of the building known as 500 Place dArmes two sculptures stand on a stone platform that extends the width of the building. Brilliantly, they sum up the true feelings between the French and the English. The English Pug and The French Poodle statues stand on each end of the platform. A dashing English man holding his pug stares at the Notre Dame Basilica, the symbol of religious influence on French Canadians, whilst a woman wearing a Chanel suit holding her French poodle frowns at the Bank of Montreal, a symbol of English power. Whilst the people stare off in different directions, the two dogs give each other friendly looks. The statues tell a story of the differences and perhaps the animosity between the two groups of people, but the dogs show that there may be a chance of unity.
We briefly visit part of the extensive underground city before our guide disappears into the Metro station and we join our driver and set off for Quebec City, where we will spend another busy day.
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