Urbanist Trifecta

It was our first weekend after moving in, and there was no internet. So on that Saturday, I went on a morning adventure that was an urbanist trifecta: I bicycled, walked, and took the metro. If I persevere, maybe one of these days I’ll do a clean sweep and bicycle, walk, take the bus, take the metro, and light rail too!

I rode across town to a spot close to Parc Mont Royal, where I docked the bike. From there, I walked into the park. Everywhere are downed branches, although it’s clear that city workers have been working overtime to clear up fallen trees and debis. The signs of early spring are also showing. The grass areas are green. Some of the brambles are just starting to leaf out. The trees of the maple forest are still bare, and underneath is a brown carpet of downed leaves and some muddy tarns.

The earliest flowers are already blooming. The violets are out on the lower slopes, and higher up I saw some the lily plants and trillium pushing their way up (but not yet blooming). There were a few small patches where the white flowers of the bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis) were out, I saw a few scattered wood squill (Scilla siberica) and common snowdrop (Galathus nivalis). I came across one broad muddy area that was filled with bright yellow colt’s-foot (Tussilago farfara) which was spectacular in a non-photographable way.

I walked up to the Belvédère Camillien-Houde, but the stairs up to the observation trail were closed for renovation. While a lot of walkers ignored the barricade, I figured I ought to be a good, rules-following hiker, and instead walked along the road that goes through the center of the park.

A little past the turn-off for the Mont Royal chalet, there’s a nondescript police station guarded by a large clydesdale or percheron who strongly encouraged me to pretend I couldn’t read. I didn’t have anything a horse would like to eat, however, so in this case I followed the rules by default.

I crossed over the street to the Lax aux Castors, where people were out strolling in the sun and enjoying the café. Along one side, there was a startling contrast as the green grass abutted piles of dirty melting snow. Making it look even more dramatic, one previously-flooded paved area was covered with a white sediment that made it look like it was a great sheet of ice.

The temperature was cool and crisp, the sun bright, and there was an unexpectedly warm breeze kicking up. I went in to the café and got a coffee and croissant then sat at a picnic table to enjoy them, when the wind grabbed the croissant in its paper bag, and I had to briefly chase it along the lawn. The nerve!

From here, I was getting tired, so I walked to the Côte-des-Neiges side of the park. The downed branches from the storm make the trail more of a challenge than what I imagine it usually is.

I proceeded down to the nearest Bixi stand, which are more widely spaced in this part of town. Unfortunately, all the bikes had already been checked out. So I walked along the roads bordering the University of Montréal where there were additional bike stands. But it was a lovely day, and those stands were empty too. After the fourth stand, I decided to take the Metro instead.

I zipped across town to our closest Metro station, which is still a mile from home. Fortunately, the bike stand there still had a few bikes, so it wasn’t long before I arrived wearily home, my trifecta completed.