One of my favorite architectural spots on Le Plateau is rue de Grand-Pré where it intersects with rue Gilford. Two features that make this area of interest is that there is a fairly rare triangular building on the east side of Grand-Pré, and the line of colourful town houses with ajoining porches that line the west side between Gilford and Villeneuve streets.

Rue Gilford and rue de Grand-Pré
ISO 200 – 21mm – f8 – 1/1000 sec

I thought it would be fun to do a mirror image of the triangular building, although I didn’t realize doing so would create what appears to be giant spider living in the resulting alley between the buildings.

Double vision
ISO 200- 34mm – f8 – 1/800 sec

The long row of porches make a nice subject when shot from one end – particularly since a window is perfectly aligned at the other end. It would be nice to take this same shot at night when the porch lights are on.

The porch tunnel
ISO 200 – 34mm – f4.5 – 1/800 sec

Although I said triangular buildings are pretty rare, there is another just one street to the west on Gilford street where it crosses rue Drolet. This building has a wonderful balcony at the corner with ornate dome topped with a weather vane. I would love the top floor as an apartment.

Corner of rue Gilford and rue Drolet
ISO 200 – 32mm – f8 – 1/320 sec

I couldn’t resist doing another mirror image…

Double vision #2
ISO 200 – 32mm – f8 – 1/250 sec

Opposite, on the corner of Gilford and Grand-Pré I spotted a couple of wheelie bins against a mural on a brick wall that made for a nice contrasting image of textures.

Mural on rue Gilford
ISO 200 – 45mm – f8 – 1/3200 sec

Nearby on rue Villeneuve is J. Rene dépanneur. I love the vintage Coca Cola signage of this corner store.

J.Rene dépanneur on rue Villeneuve
ISO 200 – 30mm – f4.5 – 1/320 sec

Vintage Coca Cola sign
ISO 200 – 34mm – f4.5 – 1/250 sec

Speaking of vintage signs, another favourite of mine is the LIDEC sign on the corner of rue Marie Anne and avenue de l’Hôtel-de-Ville. Something you often see on Montreal streets after a long winter are mangled bikes…I’m thinking I should do a whole photo series on this topic.

Forgotten bike
ISO 200 – 16mm – f5 – 1/80 sec (-2ev/0/+2ev)

I love diptych’s and since I had a couple of other shots of the Lidec sign, I thought I would give it a go.

Lidec Diptych

Final shot for this post was taken on the corner of rue Marie-Anne and rue Saint Dominique. The corner is somewhat derelict with a graffiti covered abandoned store on one side of the street and a empty car repair shop (also covered in graffiti) opposite. Hopefully one day these buildings will find a new life. Being opposite the small Parc du Portugal that has recently had a make-over, it would be a welcome improvement for the area around boulevard Saint-Laurent.

Corner of rue Marie-Anne and rue Saint Dominique
ISO 200 – 20mm – f5.6 – 1/1250 sec

Boulevard Saint Laurent has lost a lot of the popularity it once had, with many stores now closed. I still love the Main and maybe I will do a post in the near future on the current state of the street.

Thanks for stopping by. Until next time.

– Martin

Montréal in Pictures

Your virtual guide in and around Montréal

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