L’Homme

Parc Jean-Drapeau public art

/ Greg / 2 Comments

One of my earliest travel memories is an afternoon I spent with my dad in Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal in 1981. I was seven years old, and on what was to be my first trip to see my Montreal Expos, a major league baseball strike killed those games (why I still love this sport is beyond me – strikes took away my first games as a child and then my team for good as an adult), leaving us with some extra time to explore the city. We used some of that extra time to tour the park, and the memory of first seeing Alexander Calder’s sculpture “L’Homme” still exists in my mind.

When I was in Montreal for work back in April, I used the little time around the edges of the conference I was attending to visit some old favourites, including wandering around Parc Jean-Drapeau to visit a number of pieces of public art. One of the first pieces on my tour was “L’Arc” by Michel de Broin. Up close, this sculpture looks like it’s made of organic materials and has the appearance of a real tree. Interestingly, it’s made of high performance concrete.  It was a mind-bender when I touched this piece.

L'Arc by Michel de Broin

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Memories of Montreal

/ Greg / 1 Comment

Eleven years was far too long.

I had forgotten how much I love Montreal.  It is a city with which I have a thirty five year history, going back to some of my earliest childhood memories.  At worst, I’d find myself in Montreal every few years until this recent prolonged absence since the summer of 2005.  Since then, I’ve been traveling a lot, but focused on seeing new places. I inadvertently left Montreal behind for more than a decade.

On my long overdue visit, I got a rare opportunity to see Montreal through fresh eyes. Eyes that have seen some of the world’s great cities – Rome, Milan, Zurich, San Fransisco, Stockholm, Paris, Vienna, Prague.  Landing in Montreal a more seasoned traveler it immediately hit me – Montreal is a truly great, world class city.

It is said absence makes the heart grow fonder, and of that, I am certain.  Absence also makes you reminisce.   Over my four days in Montreal, I kept coming back to my memories in the city.  Like in the early eighties, me as a child on my first trips with my Dad, and chasing pigeons in Square Dorchester.  Standing here on a quiet morning thirty plus years later, I could almost hear my youthful laughter and the sound of pigeons taking flight en masse.

Square Dorchester

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