The tourists are starting to flock into Montreal, converging on the historic Old Montreal neighborhood. In the painting you see Cartier place, which is the main tourist drag, in the summer it will be wall to wall people with vendors in the middle. Along the cobblestone streets there are numerous restaurants that tend to be over priced and lesser quality than just about any other restaurant in Montreal... if they just headed up to Duluth street they would find much better fare. The restaurant in the front had giant photos of hamburger and poutine, just in case there was a language barrier everyone knows where to get burger and chips here.
Burger Royale, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2025
Next to Peel Basin sits an old warehouse, probably turn of the 19th century or earlier. Its clear now that the city has protected it, otherwise it would have been razed for condos. A huge vacant lot also sits beside this structure. One can only hope they preserve it, maybe retrofit some stores and put some park area here for the locals. There are a lot of locals now, with all the condos going up. New condos also means lots of wall space to hang paintings... hmm.
Warehouse peel basin, watercolour 4.5 x 9" cold press, April 2025
History gets preserved where it can be, like under this bridge. A very old wall, probably 18th century or earlier judging by the stone work, was preserved under this bridge. The brick alcove looked newer, and it had a metal grate over it probably to stop people from sleeping under it. Too bad, I needed a nap. In the distance at the end of the road you see the Molson Brewery, or what's left of it. As I would soon learn first hand, the brewery is finally being demolished.
Wall under bridge, watercolour 6 x 7.5" cold press, April 2025
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