The garden as seen from the entrance off rue Notre Dame. The chateau
(aka museum) is to the left of this photo.
The garden as seen from the entrance off rue Notre Dame. The chateau
(aka museum) is to the left of this photo.
Our guide, and part of the garden with the museum showing at the top.
What an attentive group you were! Note the presence of umbrellas.
The rain was more drizzle; umbrella use was optional as far as I was
concerned at this time.
The garden as seen from the orchard end - looking back to the entrance
ramp, and also showing the museum (on the right).
The vegetable garden.
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| Looking out the back gate | Twenty First Century garden |
Looking out the back gate to the quite new apartment building, and noting that it has a central courtyard, complete with garden! It's nice to see some traditions being continued.
Back out on rue Notre Dame we had an unobstructed view of the floral
version of Montreal's coat of arms. The four emblems are (clockwise, from
top left): the
fleur de lys
representing the French settlers; the
Lancastrian rose
for the English contingent; the
thistle
representing the Scottish contingent; and finally the
shamrock
for the Irish contributions.
The property has been operated for three centuries by the Sisters of Congregation de Notre-Dame, founded by Marguerite Bourgeoys who arrived in Ville Marie (as Montreal was known at the time) in 1653. This property is one of the first three missions which the congregation founded to educate the Amerindians and children of settlers.
We were expecting to tour the gardens, but the rain was heavy enough that the ground became soggy, so instead we toured the inside of the house. This was quite interesting, perhaps more so than the gardens would have been. No photographs are allowed inside, so you'll need to follow up on the web site above.
Gardens
Hotel-Dieu de Montreal