The parades of Clark & Mont-Royal

My new Job, which just ended about half an hour ago, has kept me cooped up in an office on the corner of Mont-Royal and Clark for the last two weeks.  While working shifts that sometimes take me from the late morning of one day to the early morning of the next,  a myriad of sounds drift into my window from the street.  From the voices of partying college students on weekend nights, to car alarms, to loud sound systems, to drummers on Mont-Royal on Sunday afternoons, there is rarely a totally quiet moment.  Three times, over the last week, these sounds have been joined by the sounds of celebrations.  This corner is a popular one for parades, something I’m not used to on my sleepy street up in Villeray.

The first parade was brought to my attention by the sounds of a marching band.  Indeed, if not for that bit of sound, it would have been easy to not hear the somber parade of Portuguese Catholics marching up Clark and then back down St-Urbain, presumably toward their church on Rachel.  The next day, on the Journée nationale des patriotes, the Jeunes Patriotes du Québec marched by, chanting and waving banners and flags (about half Quebec and half Patriotes flags). I didn’t get photos as I didn’t have my camera on me at the time.  A few days later, I was brought to the window again by the chants of “QUÉBEC! INDÉPENDANT!” over and over for the grande marche vers l’indépendance du Québec.  The scene was of a sea of blue and white as the large crowd marched toward Mont-Royal.  Much of the rest of the afternoon was spent with the the distant roar or pro-sovereignty chants in the background.

Below are a few photos of the first and third parades from the window of my office.