Montreal and Our Lady of Montreal Basilica

I spent my 61st birthday in Montreal. I found a nice apartment hotel close to Montreal's Chinatown and Old Montreal. If I said within walking distance of those places it would sound like I meant a long walk. It was actually a pretty short walk. Unfortunately this trip was blighted by having contracted sciatica. The upshot of which was that I couldn't walk more than about 100 metres without needing to sit down and let the pain shooting down my left leg subside. Fortunately Montreal has a lot of public places with seating!

Anyway, to start with, I was very pleased with the room.

And this below was the view out of my window

Being in as much pain as I was, I decided first day I should limp towards the best nearby attraction, the Notre-Dame de Montreal.

And here is the basilica. Yes, I would have taken more photos of the exterior if not for the blighting scaffolding

It is a very impressive Gothic Revival church, with a generally blue lit colour scheme. It would have been a nicer experience without all the tour groups going through. as you moved slightly out earshot of one tour guide you found yourself in the sphere of the next one!

Place d'Armes, which is right in front of the basilica

From there a slow potter down to the Old Port

The very impressive neo-classical exterior of march Bonsecours

With next door the more modest Notre-Dame-de Bon-Secours chapel