Oh boy. This has everything! pretty people making nice music riding bikes in the sunshine with PIRATES and in French! Only thing missing is Pie. I love pie.
Sweet little love song... After the scenes in the industrial "East" End (actually straight north of downtown), I had to smile when I saw the scenes from 2:03 - 2:12 by the Van Horne overpass and the CP rail tracks... I have passed through that break in the fence 2:05 to 2:08 many times myself: it's less than five minutes pedalling away from where I live and one of the popular shortcuts across the tracks between the Mile End and Petite-Patrie neighbourhoods.
This shortcut is preferred by many to the godawful, tortuous bike path that goes under the track a couple of blocks away, or the narrow sidewalk underneath a bridge just off to the left of the paved area you see in the video, which is the only alternative to the cars and trucks hurtling by on the narrow roadway.
We still have a long way to go in Montreal before our bike path network gives us the kind of easy, direct routes motor traffic has or the kind of infrastructure designed with cyclists in mind like the wide Dutch cycle lanes and cyclist-only underpasses that treat cycling as more than a second thought coming after motor traffic.
Just a little note about my city's English name: calling it Montréal is kind of like talking about cycle chic in Køpenhagen... Copenhagen has been entirely Danish since its foundation, yet no-one hesitates to call it Copenhagen rather than by its Danish name København... Montreal, which has for more than two centuries had both French and English communities - as long as it has been more than a small settlement founded by the early colonists from France - for some reason becomes Francised in English to Montréal under some people's fingers, as if it is not also an English-speaking city (which CPH is not). One might just as well write the name of its famous poet-son as Léonard Cohèn...
I loved CCC before, but now you are my favorite blog! This video is so perfect, and made my day smiling and happy from a sad and gray morning, I can't thank you enough!
Inspirational! This video truly embodies how I feel on my bicycle, especially on a carefree Sunday with my girlfriend! Thanks for sharing it! It should be the official video of the site!
I enjoyed this too - I live in la Petite Italie, near marché Jean-Talon not far north from that odd little area (surrounded by neighbourhoods of Montréal triplexes and such)on either side of the CP railway tracks. Wouldn't really take that shortcut alone after dark, though.
Cyclists' associations have achieved a lot in our decades of struggles and lobbying for bicycle paths and for the recognition of the bicycle as a normal part of city life and traffic - the many "chic cyclists" hereabouts are proof of that. But we do have a long way to go before we achieve Copenhagenisation/Amsterdamisation. I sense I have a strong political and cultural disagreement with fellow-cyclist Christopher, but that is not really the subject of this blog. Montréal is a predominantly French-speaking city, and there has been a movement towards the affirmation of that for at least three decades. The accent is a clin d'oeil to that, moreover, it has the added benefit of annoying certain people. ;-)
Seriously, this song and video are quite representative of that fair city where I live and which I love.
Interestingly, less than half the population of Montreal speaks French, and my French (from France, as opposed to francophone) friends tell me that they have a hard time believing that what we speak is French. ;-)
Perhaps, as we are a very cosmopolitan city, less than half of the population is native French speaking. That is very different.
And your friends from France are indulging in the age-old game of taking the piss. Of course they understand people here. They say the same thing about Belgians, or even people from some other region in France.
Wow, what a beautiful song, very happy and sad at the same time, I also love what they're doing, the 'guerilla decoration'. Brilliant!
ReplyDeleteOh right, they were also on bikes... ;)
Oh boy. This has everything! pretty people making nice music riding bikes in the sunshine with PIRATES and in French! Only thing missing is Pie. I love pie.
ReplyDeleteSweet little love song... After the scenes in the industrial "East" End (actually straight north of downtown), I had to smile when I saw the scenes from 2:03 - 2:12 by the Van Horne overpass and the CP rail tracks... I have passed through that break in the fence 2:05 to 2:08 many times myself: it's less than five minutes pedalling away from where I live and one of the popular shortcuts across the tracks between the Mile End and Petite-Patrie neighbourhoods.
ReplyDeleteThis shortcut is preferred by many to the godawful, tortuous bike path that goes under the track a couple of blocks away, or the narrow sidewalk underneath a bridge just off to the left of the paved area you see in the video, which is the only alternative to the cars and trucks hurtling by on the narrow roadway.
We still have a long way to go in Montreal before our bike path network gives us the kind of easy, direct routes motor traffic has or the kind of infrastructure designed with cyclists in mind like the wide Dutch cycle lanes and cyclist-only underpasses that treat cycling as more than a second thought coming after motor traffic.
Just a little note about my city's English name: calling it Montréal is kind of like talking about cycle chic in Køpenhagen... Copenhagen has been entirely Danish since its foundation, yet no-one hesitates to call it Copenhagen rather than by its Danish name København... Montreal, which has for more than two centuries had both French and English communities - as long as it has been more than a small settlement founded by the early colonists from France - for some reason becomes Francised in English to Montréal under some people's fingers, as if it is not also an English-speaking city (which CPH is not). One might just as well write the name of its famous poet-son as Léonard Cohèn...
I loved CCC before, but now you are my favorite blog! This video is so perfect, and made my day smiling and happy from a sad and gray morning, I can't thank you enough!
ReplyDeleteInspirational! This video truly embodies how I feel on my bicycle, especially on a carefree Sunday with my girlfriend! Thanks for sharing it! It should be the official video of the site!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this too - I live in la Petite Italie, near marché Jean-Talon not far north from that odd little area (surrounded by neighbourhoods of Montréal triplexes and such)on either side of the CP railway tracks. Wouldn't really take that shortcut alone after dark, though.
ReplyDeleteCyclists' associations have achieved a lot in our decades of struggles and lobbying for bicycle paths and for the recognition of the bicycle as a normal part of city life and traffic - the many "chic cyclists" hereabouts are proof of that. But we do have a long way to go before we achieve Copenhagenisation/Amsterdamisation.
I sense I have a strong political and cultural disagreement with fellow-cyclist Christopher, but that is not really the subject of this blog. Montréal is a predominantly French-speaking city, and there has been a movement towards the affirmation of that for at least three decades. The accent is a clin d'oeil to that, moreover, it has the added benefit of annoying certain people. ;-)
i prefer Montréal. a french city after all, with english heritage, yes, but Montréal is Montréal like the Habs' are the Habs'.
ReplyDeleteWoohoo! Montreal, represent! :-)
ReplyDeleteSeriously, this song and video are quite representative of that fair city where I live and which I love.
Interestingly, less than half the population of Montreal speaks French, and my French (from France, as opposed to francophone) friends tell me that they have a hard time believing that what we speak is French. ;-)
Pierre, huh? Ça va pas?
ReplyDeletePerhaps, as we are a very cosmopolitan city, less than half of the population is native French speaking. That is very different.
And your friends from France are indulging in the age-old game of taking the piss. Of course they understand people here. They say the same thing about Belgians, or even people from some other region in France.
@lagatta à montréal: My information was indeed incorrect. Myself, I love how cosmopolitan our city is!
ReplyDeleteI'm quite sure my French friends can understand me just fine. They just like poking fun at me, and I certainly poke back.