Montréal Part 1: Notre-Dame Basilica

I was in Montréal last weekend with a few friends before going to a week long leadership conference for work. I just now got the chance to post process some of the shots I took there, but I’m pretty happy with the results. Montréal in general was not what I expected. The night life was… interesting, to say the least, but to keep things G-rated I’ll move on to the day life. In a way it reminds me a lot of Boston. Old Montréal looks sort of like Faneuil Hall with its cobble stone streets and restaurants. The main street, rue Sainte-Catherine, strongly resembles Newbury St. here in Boston, minus the strip clubs. But the similiarities end there. The culture is quite unique, infused with a magnitude of French influence I didn’t expect. One would think that since I speak French relatively fluently, I’d be able to handle myself pretty well. While this was true in Montréal, I did not fare so well closer to the Canadian border where the gas station attendants spoke some very… unique French. But I digress. This set is about my favorite part of Montréal and also where we started our journey – the Notre-Dame Basilica. I’ve attempted to capture some of the beauty in the photos below, but it was difficult given the immense detail present in every corner. My favorite part of the basilica was undoubtedly the cool blue lighting which was spattered across the front of the structure. If you ever get the chance to visit I highly recommend it as I find it even more beautiful than the Notre-Dame in Paris. Anyway, enough talk, onto the photos! I’ll be posting some other more docile photos of Montréal in part 2.