Shrines of the Saint Lawrence

Part Five: Montreal to Montreal Est

July 30th

In the morning, we attended Mass with the Spiritans. After seeing the magnificent churches of Montreal, it was kind of a nice contrast to see this tiny, simple chapel. I especially noticed the Black Madonna in the corner. There is a very large African population in Quebec, especially in Montreal.

This day’s walking was mostly through the poorer areas of Montreal and the industrial district. I passed through homeless towns along the security fences of vast smoke-belching factories and huge dirty warehouses. Still, there were more pleasant sections when I deviated from the roads onto a shaded bike trail. Here there were birds to watch including my first red-eyed vireo and it was out of the burning sun. I passed a park with a bust of Toussaint Louverture the hero of Haitian independence. It felt very tropical with bright flowers and huge lush trees. A business on the street even had palms in pots by its gate. It was strange to think of the extreme cold and snow that were just a few months away. In the winter, Toussaint will be covered in snow and all the flowers will have died.

By the afternoon, I was tired and sore but I found a nice park overlooking the river and spent some time resting and watching the river traffic. I then walked the last few kilometers to the parish where we were going to spend the night. The priest was very welcoming and signed our pilgrim credentials. We found out from the parish staff that it was the anniversary of the founding of the town and that there was a free concert in the park. We spent a very pleasant evening sitting on the grass listening to a professional orchestra play wonderful music. Tomorrow we would finally cross the bridge that would take us to the mainland and leave the island of Montreal behind.