{"id":153,"date":"2007-10-11T23:38:13","date_gmt":"2007-10-12T03:38:13","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingmontreal.ca\/?p=153"},"modified":"2013-01-21T11:46:30","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T16:46:30","slug":"tell-us-about-your-mount-royal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2007\/10\/11\/tell-us-about-your-mount-royal\/","title":{"rendered":"Tell us about your Mount Royal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

La Presse turned its attention towards Mount Royal yesterday with an interesting trio of features on social dynamics of the mountain. Not only is it the safest public park in Montreal<\/a>, it is the city’s best spot for secret noctural adventures. \u00c9ric Cl\u00e9ment and Martin Croteau report:<\/p>\n

La Presse y a circul\u00e9 de 23h \u00e0 5h un samedi de la mi-ao\u00fbt, sans rencontrer le moindre policier. Une absence qui pourrait toutefois avoir des cons\u00e9quences graves \u00e0 cause des feux \u00e0 ciel ouvert qu’on y allume souvent, ce qui est pourtant interdit. Il suffirait de braises mal \u00e9teintes, par temps sec, pour qu’une partie de la for\u00eat s’embrase.<\/p>\n

(…)<\/p>\n

Grimpant d’abord par les sentiers, nous avons ensuite coup\u00e9 par le bois pour rapidement nous retrouver \u00e0 escalader la pente, \u00e0 la limite du praticable. Parvenus au sommet, nous tombons sur le \u00abPlateau\u00bb, superbe promontoire au bord d’une falaise, \u00e0 deux pas du belv\u00e9d\u00e8re Camillien-Houde. Des jeunes, un couple et un groupe de quatre jeunes, assis sur le rocher, contemplent les lumi\u00e8res de la ville.<\/p>\n

Ils discutent en buvant une bi\u00e8re. Le silence est presque total. Il est minuit quand nous arrivons au belv\u00e9d\u00e8re comme tel, d’o\u00f9 l’on a une splendide vue de la ville et du Stade olympique. L\u00e0, depuis des d\u00e9cennies, des dizaines de gens garent leur auto pour aller, deux par deux, batifoler au bord de cette scintillante carte postale nocturne ou attendre les premi\u00e8res lueurs de l’aube. Cette activit\u00e9 est autoris\u00e9e 24heures sur 24 parce qu’il s’agit d’un lieu public, mais normalement les visiteurs ne doivent pas laisser leur auto gar\u00e9e entre 23h et 7h, indique un panneau.<\/p>\n

Cette nuit, c’est le party: 100 personnes prennent l’air. Du coffre d’une auto modifi\u00e9e sortent les rythmes effr\u00e9n\u00e9s d’une musique techno assourdissante. Des jeunes boivent de la bi\u00e8re. D’autres, du vin dans des verres \u00e0 pied. Des habitu\u00e9s nous disent que la police passe de temps en temps.<\/p>\n

Nous poursuivons notre chemin jusqu’\u00e0 l’esplanade du chalet, tr\u00e8s fr\u00e9quent\u00e9e toute la nuit, m\u00eame si le parc est interdit d’acc\u00e8s apr\u00e8s minuit. Nous trouvons des restes de feux \u00e0 ciel ouvert \u00e0 deux pas de la maison Smith. Sur la promenade, une gothique prom\u00e8ne son ami. En laisse.<\/p>\n

\u00c0 1h, retour au lac aux Castors. Au loin, on entend chanter. En approchant de la maison Smith, \u00e0 quelques centaines de m\u00e8tres de l\u00e0, le son devient plus clair. Assis \u00e0 une table, cinq jeunes gens originaires de l’Inde s’\u00e9gosillent en choeur au son de la guitare.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Cruising, however — one of the mountain’s more traditional nighttime activities — has been in decline<\/a>. “15 or 20 years ago, even 30 or 40 years, only gays went up Mount Royal at night. Now, there’s plenty of other people who visit the park,” the editor of the gay magazine Fugues<\/i> told La Presse. <\/p>\n

Still, though, it would seem that some people still hang out on the so-called “faggot trail,” observe the reporters. “At 1:45am, a grey Tercel parks in the lot near the Smith House,” they write. “A single man gets out. He walks a hundred or so metres to a gravel path. One look to the left, one look to the right, then he climbs up the stairs that lead towards a shelter. The forest is dense, somber, not inviting at all.”<\/p>\n

All of this leads me to wonder: what are your favourite things to do on Mount Royal? I have to admit that, even though I live nearby, I rarely go up the mountain. A few times a year I’ll wander up (or, if I’m feeling lazy, take the 11 bus) and get lost in the trails on the mountain’s east side. Below the cross, just up from the eastern lookout, are a few rocky outcroppings that give what I think is the mountain’s most breathtaking view of the city. <\/p>\n

Sometimes, in the summer, I like to go to Beaver Lake, where big immigrant families from across the city have barbecues on Sunday afternoons. It’s one of those occasions when the diversity of the city’s streets and the natural tranquility of the mountain meet in perfect harmony.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

La Presse turned its attention towards Mount Royal yesterday with an interesting trio of features on social dynamics of the mountain. Not only is it the safest public park in Montreal, it is the city’s best spot for secret noctural adventures. \u00c9ric Cl\u00e9ment and Martin Croteau report: La Presse y a circul\u00e9 de 23h \u00e0Continue reading “Tell us about your Mount Royal”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7831,7839,3537],"tags":[7,738,742,740,739,125,49,69,741,70],"class_list":["post-153","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-community","category-neighbourhoods","category-parks","tag-behaviour","tag-eric-clement","tag-inde","tag-manitoba","tag-martin-croteau","tag-montreal","tag-squares-and-parks","tag-social-trends","tag-still","tag-the-mountain-la-montagne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTell us about your Mount Royal - Spacing Montreal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2007\/10\/11\/tell-us-about-your-mount-royal\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Tell us about your Mount Royal - Spacing Montreal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"La Presse turned its attention towards Mount Royal yesterday with an interesting trio of features on social dynamics of the mountain. 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