"Montreal in the Spring" Montreal by joanj

Montreal is the second largest city in Canada. French is spoken throughout the city.

Montreal's location at the convergence of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa rivers, made it Canada's first great trading centre.
It was founded in 1642 by a group of French Catholics as a Christian community and port.

About 70% of it's 3 million residents are of French descent, another 15% have British origins, the rest are made up of many major ethnic groups.

Interesting neighbourhoods sprawl along the southern slops of Mont-Royal - the 234m (767ft) hill from which the city derives its name.

Montreal shares a 59k (30 mile) long island in the St. Lawrence River with the 28 other municipalities that make up the Communaute Urbaine de Montreal.

The city core lies between Mont-Royal and the river, and streets follow a fairly consistent grid pattern with Boulevard Saint-Laurent, known as The Main, splitting the city into its western and eastern halves. Montreal is a large city but getting around is quite easy.

A tunnel and 15 bridges link Montreal island to the mainland, and the Ville-Marie and Bonaventure Expressways carry road traffic right into its heart. The most convenient way to get around within the city is on the metro and bus system, which service most sites of interest.

In the picture here, you can see we have crossed the St. Lawrence River, and are looking to downtown Montreal and in the distance Mont-Royal.