Post #700: a sampling of delights on Sherbrooke Street

Hard to believe this is my 700th blog post. On this occasion, allow me to entertain you with a miscellany of recent photos taken on Montreal's Sherbrooke Street.

Rue Sherbrooke is the second-longest street on the island of Montreal, running east-west more than 31 km. Three of the city's four major universities have a Sherbrooke Street address, as do several colleges, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts and the McCord Museum.

Visitors who travel towards its eastern end will find Montreal's Botanical Gardens, the Biodome and the Olympic Stadium, while closer to downtown are the high-end shopping emporium Holt Renfrew, and the iconic Ritz-Carlton hotel. The Westmount segment of Sherbrooke Street, on either side of Victoria Avenue, boasts almost one hundred independent shops, galleries and restaurants, making for an interesting stroll at any time of year.

Above is a photo of "Moving Dunes", a trompe-l'oeil created by NOS Architectes that runs north from Sherbrooke up Avenue du Musée. The "truncated mirror-polished steel spheres" are installed on the pavement, which is in turn painted with undulating lines. The spheres reflect the architecture of historic buildings, mostly belonging to the Museum of Fine Arts.

Soon this installation will be removed, as the city comes to grips with winter and the need for snow plows, salt and sand. Something new and different will be installed next spring.

 

Nearby is Dale Chihuly's glass sculpture Le Soleil. Proudly displayed on the steps of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, soon it will be carefully dismantled and put into storage for the winter.

Early days yet, but above is a display of four sculpted reindeer, made of driftwood, in anticipation of the season to come. The fanciful seasonal window displays along Sherbrooke Street almost compensate for the difficult footing after a snowstorm.

Dommage! The Balenciaga exhibition at the McCord Museum closed just a few days ago.

At the moment, Sherbrooke Street is a gauntlet of orange cones and construction barriers. and traffic flow is compromised. Still, there are many treats for the intrepid pedestrian, including fine examples of the heritage mansions that even now give the Golden Square Mile its cachet.

But that's another post.