Honore-Mercier Bridge

In Montreal's borough of LaSalle sits the northern end of the Honoré Mercier Bridge (or "The Mercier") which is one of three bridges which link the island to the south shore. At the other end is the Mohawk first nation of Kahnawake, who notoriously closed the bridge in 1990 over the Oka Crisis at Kanasetake, and the town of Châteauguay.

On June 14, 2011 the western-most span, opened in 1934 and looks like it hasn't been maintained since, had to be closed due to the erosion of 10 gussetts, the plates which bind the crossbeams together. The plan is to have them replaced by the fall of 2011. In the meantime, traffic has been redirected to the eastern span, which was opened in 1963, with both lanes being used in the primary traffic direction during peak hours and one lane in each direction during off-peak. This has made the area's already bad traffic even worse, even precipitating the addition of six extra AMT commuter trains on the adjacent CP rails to and from Candiac (see below), a line which itself was created due to the 1990 Mohawk standoff.

Photos taken along LaSalle Boulevard in Montreal, Quebec on June 21, 2011

Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue

AMT Train bound for Vaudreuil

Entrance to the pedestrian bridge to Ile-Perrot

Rue Sainte-Anne

Kelso Park

Pink House on Rue Saint-Pierre

Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue Canal National Historic Site
(linking the St. Lawrence River to Lake of Two Mountains)

STM Route 211 bus John Abbott College

The Road To Toronto

AMT Rail Station Stairway

Ste-Anne-de-Bellevue Presbyterian Church

Lonely Rider

Riding in the rain on rue Berri, Montreal, Quebec, on June 16, 2010.

Montreal 2009

Interior of Montreal Tramways cars

The iconic Farine Five Roses sign

CN Bridge over the Richelieu River

Mont-Saint-Hilaire, from Beloeil

McMastervile AMT Station, Mont-Ste-Hilaire in the background

(Today's Quiz: Which one photo was actually taken in Montreal?)

Photos taken at various locations in or near Montreal on June 22 and 23, 2009.

Record Stores - The Out of Towners

Being a chronic, obsessed, music purchaser, most of my vacations revolve around the local record store. Some places, like Rochester, NY's House of Guitars don't put price tags on their product. Others, like Buffalo's legendary Home of the Hits, had generic price tags.

Then there's the dearly missed Record Runner, probably the best record store ever in Ottawa. Of course, them's fightin' words, but I always managed to buy something every time I visited.

Then there are chains like Virgin, which decided to abandon their US operations this year, and who managed to operate two airport-based stores in Ottawa and Toronto, as well as a mega-store in Vancouver in the early 2000s.

What Sam's was to Toronto, Harmony House was to Detroit. A family-owned chain who eventually shut down due to downloads and cut-throat competition from the big boxes.

Cheap Thrills still carries on on Metcalfe Street in Montreal, but back in the day, the bargains were to be had a few blocks west on Bishop, where this Big Audio Dynamite 12" single came into my life.

Vacation v.2007.1.5 - Montreal Day 2

Le soleil se leve (view from my dorm at McGill)

Never seen a baby squirrel? Now you have. (foothills of Mount Royal)

En attendant Metro (Berri-UQAM Metro - Direction Cote-Vertu)

First stop...Westmount (Westmount CP Station, thankfully being preserved)

Trudeau lives (Pierre Elliott Trudeau Rose Garden, Town of Mount Royal)

UQAM, You Saw, You Left (Corner of the Judith-Jasmine Pavilion, Universite de Quebec a Montreal)

Photos taken Tuesday, June 19, 2007 in Montreal, Quebec.
Bad puns written Friday, June 22, 2007 in Toronto, Ontario.