old montreal

today i went to old montreal. it really is quite pretty, there are all these little cobble stone ally way type things that double as 'roads' and they have all these little shops and restaurants in them. i say little because you take like, 3 steps and you've passed one. its really cute. the 'roads' are lined with the old fashion black lamp posts, i'd love to see it at night. i found this jewelry stall literally hidden in a tunnel off one of the allys, i felt like a spy or something and was waiting for the woman to address me in russian and demand my watch in return for directions to safety... or something. but my favourite discovery was an entire 'street' that was purely art galleries. it kicked ass over the museum i went to yesterday. i got drawn into one by a painting in the window but as soon as i walked in i saw this painting by a french-canadian artist Francois Samson, and i couldn't take my eyes off it. he uses deep rich colours like reds, browns etc the textures he creates are amazing and it just seemed as though the paint was melting off the canvas. i kept trying to leave but wanted to keep looking at it and the guy in the gallery let me take a photo and gave me a booklet on the artist. apparently he was a construction worker and only recently (in art terms) became an artist.

later i took the train to where an adventure film festival is on but on the way saw this amazing church. i saw people walking into it as i was passing by but at the last second i found myself following them in. the walls were lined with those shelves of candles people pay to light, every inch of the ceiling was painted with angels and clouds, i've never seen so much gold trimming in my life and the alter was just... i dunno it was surreal. there was this massive statue of mary with this beam of light shining on her - it was like a spotlight but not as warm, it was bright like the sun and while it was coming from one direction it bathed her completely. if i was ever going to become a devoted catholic that would have been the moment. i found the film festival thing but it wasn't what i was expecting, i couldn't buy a ticket either as they only sell them for blocks of showings at a time. meaning they have about 7-8 short films in each block and you have to be there from the beginning. i looked at the program and saw that 95% are in french with no subtitles but i still might go back... the scenery in them should be good but eh.