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Walktober 2022 – Parc de la Freyère

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“I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers. It would be terrible if we just skipped from September to November, wouldn’t it?”
― Lucy Maud Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

Taking the time to write has been most difficult. Taking the time to go out for a walk has been nary impossible. I exaggerate, of course, because we can always choose how to spend our time outside of work. It’s been a tiring time so the want was there but the energy was not.

And finally! Weather, time and energy were all in cahoots this past Tuesday (October 18th) giving me a week to put this together and link up to Robin’s annual Walktober fun. I have a weird schedule where one day I work 9-5:30 and the other 6:15-2:45. Tuesday was the early day and the weather was ridiculously perfect. I stopped off at home, did a few things, changed my clothes, grabbed my camera and off I went. Where would the colours still be beautiful? It had been a very long time since I went to the Parc de la Freyère, and even though I did go there for part of my 2018 walk, it was worth a return. I cannot see anyone complaining. Right? Right. I was out from 4:30 to 6:30 pm. and managed to take about 500 photos, give or take. While I joked that it was impossible to take a bad picture, I took more than a few that were immediately chucked as I uploaded.

“October had tremendous possibility. The summer’s oppressive heat was a distant memory, and the golden leaves promised a world full of beautiful adventures. They made me believe in miracles.”
― Sarah Guillory, Reclaimed

On my way to the park, I had to stop and capture the three trees below. Could they more represent?

I decided to park on a side street, giving me the option to walk along Marie-Victorin Blvd which follows the St. Lawrence River through at least four towns – probably more but I’d have to check. That means walking by these gorgeous mansions with view spectacular.

As far as boulevards go, this one is rather intimate, shall we say…

Entering the park, I feared, Are the colours already over?

No, but we are definitely at the tail end, I should think.

I had to walk down this pier to see just what was frolicking in the water. Don’t those clouds look like a distant mountain range?

Herons and egrets and ducks and seagulls, oh my!

And a autumn walk would not be complete without some sumac – the first, along with vines – to show off their colours

“What the light looks like in the pear trees, in October, is a hundred teardrops of gold, the whole orchard weeping.”
― Carole Maso, The Art Lover

There may be no pear trees here, but the light was just so beautiful.

I was not alone to take advantage of this autumnal perfection. This gentleman was flying his drone, surely taking breathtaking pictures, himself. Was a tad annoying when it flew above me like an oversized mosquito, though. (Hey, maybe he captured me capturing him!)

I had to include these for you, Crispina 😉

At this point, I figured I’d stick around and await the sunset, which was scheduled for 6:04. I continued walking around clicking away because it was all just so gorgeous. No editing is necessary because the light is just perfect!

The sun was starting to make its descent and the air chilled rather quickly. I did curse those clouds that were going to hide most of the sunset!

The sky was so soft (another for you, Crispina! 😉 )

I’m enjoying the quiet when I hear in the distance “Midnight Train to Georgia”. I film it, not knowing where it comes from (apologies – I thought I was going slow!) because for some strange reason, it just fits!

The culprit:

It’s starting to get rather cold so I decided to head back, but not before capturing this little seagull making his v-pattern.

The herons drying their wings and the egrets just relaxing caught my eye.

Suddenly the egrets took flight and were circling, trying to decide where to spend the night. Something was disturbing them so they would turn around and look again. It was getting harder and harder to focus and capture them.

As I also circled towards to road and my car, I watched them – all eight! – land in the trees and try to settle. My camera is not equipped for such low light and I had no tripod but I did manage to rest on a the bridge rail and sort of get a half-assed decent shot. Only by manipulating the photo can you see I managed to get 7 out of 8 in the shot. I, for one, am pretty pleased.

I declared myself done but as I got to the other side of that little pond, I figured, I’d try once more, this time leaning on a guard rail. And again, only by manipulating the photo can you see I got all eight. Joy!

I think I have more than abused your time for this year’s Walktober. I hope you enjoyed my walk as much as I did sharing it.

Walktober 2021 St-Rémi d’Amherst & Brébeuf

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“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house.”

― Nathaniel Hawthorne

I could not agree more, Nate!

This year I planned ahead for my Walktober, hosted by the lovely Robin at Breezes at Dawn.  Planned so far ahead, It’s been almost three weeks since I went for my walk and I’m only sharing now?  Life and all that.

For many years my sisters and our families would “go up north” to my mother’s for Thanksgiving (2nd weekend in October, in Canada).  Each time, I’d think, darn… we seem to be just a week too late to see the colours at their apogee.  This time, I thought, I’d not be fooled!

My cousin Sonya and I had been wanting to get together for awhile so we planned to meet at my aunt’s (formerly my grandmother’s) in Namur, in the Outaouais region of Quebec. My mother hitched a ride with me so I changed my plans only slightly in that, instead of going for my walk on Saturday, I’d go on Sunday, on my way home.

There are two ways to get to our destination, through the Laurentians (where the colours were sure to be spectacular) or through the Outaouais, which is always a tad behind. Though not the original plan, the latter is the route we ended up taking.  I forewarned my mother that I might be pulling over often!  This was the first stop, just before Fassett (I think!)

The colours are still to show off

It wasn’t long before I pulled over again, this time in the town of Fassett.  Whoa! I had to stop.  The Tragically Hip is a Canadian band close to our hearts, all the more so since the front man, Gord Downie passed away from brain cancer, October 17, 2017.  Someone painted this gorgeous mural on the side of their house.  (Bobcageon is a town in Ontario and the title of one of their songs.)

The colours got more the closer we got to my aunt’s.  From Montebello to Namur, you do not want to stop.  The curves and hills make it way too dangerous so I was looking forward to the next day’s walk.  But until then, there was an evening of good food, wine and lots of laughs in store.

My aunt’s backyard – Namur
Namur

We had a late breakfast, having gone to bed at an ungawdly hour the night before.  Salutations and I was out the door by noon.  This time I was taking the road towards the Laurentians, detouring wherever I got the urge. These following three are just a few of my stops.

About midway between my aunt’s and the highway there is a lovely village called St-Rémi d’Amherst.  My mother lived in an apartment there after my folks split up.  This permitted us to discover the water tower.

Way back (over 25 years ago) there were steps in various parts of the climb. The man who took care of them passed away and over the years they disappeared into the land. Makes it more challenging!  I had joked with my sister that I had had a sort of vision of me falling down the hill and no one was there to help me… feeling I had hexed myself, I thought I should not dare! However, after stopping by the little lake in the village, I couldn’t help but drive my car past the little church towards the entrance. Seeing a bunch of cars already parked, I figured I was safe!  LOL.

The walk up to the old water tower can take a good 30-45 minutes.  You have to walk down a path, to some stairs and a bridge to cross a little river (creek) and then the trek begins in earnest.

Entrance
Beauty
Staircase
View from the bridge
Bridge to path

The trek, even when there were stairs here and there, was and is a good one. There are moments where you really have to stop and catch your breath.  I do remember once running up the whole way in 15 minutes.  Yeah. Not today!

The climb is a challenge
More challenge
Almost there

The view from the top is quite spectacular. I don’t have the crazy gene to climb the tower, though!!

The Water Tower
View from the top
To one other side
Close-up of the lake

The way down permitted me to notice some fungi while feeling the burn in my thighs!

So glad I decided to risk it.  I continued on my way and remembered that I have promised myself over and over to stop in Brébeuf at the falls.  Oh my.  Such a beautiful place.  And, after my whole lifetime of passing by here, I finally learned they are called the Blueberry Falls (Chutes aux bleuets).

Tail end of the falls
From the bridge
At the start of the falls
To the side

I seem to be unable to control myself when it comes to Walktober.  I tell myself I shall not bombard you with photos and, trust me, I held back!  I hope you enjoyed the walk!

Walktober 2020 – Iles de Boucherville and St-Bruno National Parks

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“Fall has always been my favorite season. The time when everything bursts with its last beauty, as if nature had been saving up all year for the grand finale.”
― Lauren DeStefano, Wither

It’s here!  One thing we can count on, Pandammit or not!  Walkober is what I’m talking about. Thank goodness for peeps like Robin who keep the good things happening, don’t you think?

Mother Nature decided to be most generous last weekend and I went out both days with my bestie, Julie. First time I am accompanied during Walktober and it was lovely. The result? Over 500 photos.  No, don’t worry, I won’t post them all here!  But oh… how to choose…

On Saturday we met up around 2:00 pm at the St. Bruno National Park.  There are miles of trails and there were quite a few people so we kept trying to take the paths less travelled, so to speak. We “done good”, I think.

Getting up close and personal

We decided to search out some fungi, figuring there must surely be some, somewhere!  There were, indeed. Do not ask me to name a single one. I’ve zero clue.

I did not realise there are five lakes in this beautiful park.  We knew we wanted to make our way to the main one (in our minds, the only one) and tried to find a trail less populated without getting lost.  I’m assuming this lake was the main Seigneurial one! So beautiful and did not disappoint.

The colours are already muted
Such a pretty dock
Hallelujah!
Through the reeds

We found a lovely Salon de Thé that was open and were pretty sure would also have coffee, but if they didn’t, a nice hot tea would do.  They had the machinery necessary for us to each have a latte – would have been nice if it was hot and had more flavour but hey, it was something.  I do know that I would love to return post-pandemic to be able to sit for a spell.

Quarantined
Latte in teh making
Tea house
Path to the tea house

Coffee in hand, we continued our walk.  We both wished we hadn’t missed the reds of the season. It’s amazing what one week does in terms of autumn colour.  The oranges were beautiful and we could see the yellows were truly taking over but when we saw red?  How could we not stop?  Though bright green and white also got our attention.

 

We headed back, passing by someone’s property, marvelling how people who lived in these areas were never outside to enjoy their own views.  Then again, when you have all sorts of people traipsing around your backyard, would you?  Once upon a time, those who lived here had found tranquillity. Now, they were smack-dab in the middle of a national park.  I might wait for after-hours myself, now that I think of it.

the wall surrounding the property
Sit on your porch, you see this
A small view of the house

Have I lost you yet?  No?  Oh my goodness. You are all so kind.  That was day one.  Now, onto day two and the Parc National des Îles de Boucherville…

“The magic of autumn has seized the countryside; now that the sun isn’t ripening anything it shines for the sake of the golden age; for the sake of Eden; to please the moon for all I know.”
― Elizabeth Coatsworth, Personal Geography: Almost an Autobiography

This time, we decided to get an earlier start. We didn’t stay long enough for the sunset the previous day and we couldn’t get to this park by sunrise, but still.  We didn’t want the same time frame.  We should have packed ourselves a lunch but that would have required either of us to be organised and honestly? It was Sunday. We have to be organised all week, let the weekend be more relaxed, eh?

We met, this time, at around 11:00?  Five little islands with 21 km (13 or so miles) or trails form this national park, it’s also a great place for kayaking, paddle boarding, picnicking, and you can even camp there – when life is normal, that is. Again, there were quite a few people. This is when I appreciate my time working on shifts. I could visit these areas during the week. Alas, those days are over. For now.  We set off, grabbing a map of the area.  We did take it out once to make sure we were going in the right direction and according to Jules, we were (I suck at reading maps.)  It was another spectacular day of golds and oranges with a few pops of red.  We were so hoping to see some wildlife – there are deers galore, but other than a frog, ducks, geese, a snake that slithered too fast to capture, and a few caterpillars – nuthin’. Sigh. But I have to say, it was pretty cool looking at my hometown from across the river. We had a perfect view of the old Ste. Famille Church.

Paddle boarding on the St-Lawrence River
Not the red we were seeking
Still flashy
Paroisse Ste-Famille

It’s amazing how two areas, a mere twenty-minute-drive apart, felt so very different. There were so many textures to enjoy.

Delicate
Wispy
Sharp
Fluffy

As we walked along, Julie reminisced about late summers spent working on her friend’s farm. (Actually, I also went to high school with Marielle – just didn’t hang around her!)  They were expropriated some time just after we graduated from high school and are now settled up the road from my childhood house. Julie was trying to visualise where it was exactly but we could not find any “remains”.  So we kept walking until we spotted an old barn and, without having to discuss it, started towards it, through a field that has been ploughed. How weird. Of course, once we crossed the uneven terrain to arrive at the said barn, we saw there was a sort of road that we could have taken. What’s the adventure in that? And what is so intriguing about old barns?

Once we were done exploring this old barn, we followed the “road” and it led us to three more abandoned buildings. One looked like a storage shed for, I’m not sure, grain for animals? It was very low to the ground. One looked like an atelier (workshop) of some sort and the main one might have been a stall for horses – I didn’t venture inside but there was a structure that looked like it might have been a well once, right beside it.

Well?
Atelier
Storage for feed?
Barn/stall
Inside the atelier

After taking a bazillion pictures, we slowly made our way back.  We ended up at a lookout point and found that as we watched the grasses sway like waves, and the few trees in the middle, it gave us a sort of African Serengeti Steppe vibe (okay, maybe we were both weird but you be the judge!

Standing out
African Serengeti Steppe Vibe
Trio
Why such ugly bridges in such beautiful surroundings

There is a golf course on one of the islands and the only way to get there is by ferry. How cool is that?

Beaver dam – no beaver
Floating
Aligned
Ferry to the golf course

Our feet were feeling the two days’ worth of walking and we were glad to see the parking lot.  Such great company and we are planning on making this a regular thing.

Carpet
Glowing
Solo

I wasn’t planning on going on and on but it’s all Robin’s fault. She said go big for this year. So I did!  Hope it wasn’t overkill. 🙂

Heck, I’m plumb tuckered out from creating this ramble, so I’ll be taking a week off starting tomorrow – completely unplugging.  Please note, if I don’t get to any comments right away, don’t think I’m dissing you, I’ll take care of them upon my return.

Walktober – St. Helen’s Island and Marie-Victorin Park

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It’s October and that means it is time for Robin’s Walktober!  I had plans. Big plans. Was gonna go to St. Helen’s Island on one day (okay, that part I did, but not as much as I wanted to) and the next day was going to go to Mount Royal in Montreal (which didn’t happen because I was just too damn lazy to get up and out of the house early enough). So instead of crossing the bridge and half the island of Montreal to get to Mount Royal, Zeke and I just went to the next town over as there is a lovely area by the St. Lawrence River in the town of Longueuil, called Marie-Victorin Park, we enjoy walking along.

Actually, I am totally going to cheat here. Yep. Imma combine THREE walks, adding in Parc de la Frayère in Boucherville because I got some amazing shots that I want to share with you. And this walk did take place in October.  I do hope you don’t mind…

On October 5th, Zeke and I went to the Parc de la Frayère (which means spawning ground park) for a sunset walk. For once the stars were aligned, or rather, the sky was clear and I was able to take advantage of the golden hour followed by the sunset.

Yesss! We parked, went right to see if maybe, just maybe the heron was hanging about and he was. I did catch a little black duck but that photo is a tad dark as well.  So we turned around towards the little bridge when I spotted the moon between the trees

A half-pie slice of moon.  Crossing the bridge, we made our way towards the water’s edge and were rewarded by a woods tinged with gold.

Even Zeke took on a golden hue

The sun then put on a spectacular show and it was difficult to NOT inundate you with a bazillion pics…

Satisfied, Zeke and I climbed back into the car but I glimpsed a little marina on my return and had to stop. (Sorry, Zeke, you stay in the car for a minute or so…)

I couldn’t make up my mind on which one to share, so you get two.

October 8 was a Tuesday and the first of my two days off that week.  Into the car we went and off to St. Helen’s Island between the south shore and Montreal. There are so many things to see but we stayed within one little section.  It was a glorious day with the bluest of skies and brightest of colours all around.

Up the steps for a nice view.  I took this angle of the Tour de Lévis (built in the 1930’s, usually we have access to the steps inside bringing us to the top where we can have a spectacular view of Montreal and surroundings) but now gated shut for repairs

Stairs to observatory
Tour de Lévi

We walked along the lovely leaf-strewn trails (seriously? a construction cone? are there no construction-free zones in all of the province?) and then down a hill past this huge boulder. I loved how the moss draped over it.

We walked some more and whoa! I have been on this island countless times and have never ended up here. And if I did and don’t remember it then I must have been otherwise preoccupied. A little oasis in the middle of seemingly nowhere.

Oasis

 

I let a friend know I was in his neighbourhood so we ended up going to his backyard to have a beer before heading home. The view from the communal backyard is lovely.

As mentioned at the start of this walk post, Wednesday was supposed to be a totally different walk but I hemmed and hawed and took my time – so much so that the idea of driving into Montreal no longer appealed to me. Plus the sky was not quite as blue so, I decided to go to another lovely park in the city of Longueuil. This is also along the St. Lawrence River so we had a chance of seeing geese, ducks or simply lovely trees.

The entrance of the park has this… thing. There are no signs and I have no clue what it is.

As I walked towards the official path, my eyes were drawn to this bright red…

Spot of red
Natural wreath

And then the entrance to the park

There were a couple of ducks but the light was shite and they were far and I took ’em anyway. Thank goodness for PicMonkey to play with settings.

We walked along and I was struck the by colours… yellows, reds, sticking up out of nowhere.

We kept on walking and arrived at this easily walked into water… which Zeke, as per, did not hesitate to enter. Which is fine because I had arrived at a busy section with some sort of seagull (I think) and a heron.  While Zeke played in the water, he didn’t disturb the birds or me!

The seagull was busy fishing and every time he’d dive down to pick at a fish he’d caught, his wings would flap. I took so many photos but will not bore you with more than two 😉

Prey spotted
Picking at his catch

And then Bob (for you, Mr. Paxson) was standing there waiting for me.  I took pictures as I got closer and closer with the intent – I know, I am mean – of hoping he would fly away and I could attempt to capture him in flight…. I got my desire.

Bob before takeoff
And we’re off
Bye-bye

I was pretty pleased with myself even though I felt a tad guilty.

There is a wonderful new overpass that has been rebuilt after an unfortunate accident – a dump truck with its dumper raised hit it and it smashed it.  My sons and I were on our way to the movies and never made it because we were stuck in the traffic it caused. I wrote about it here.

It is quite spectacular at night and I have promised myself to go there and cross it.  But till then, here is the view during the day.  It was built specifically for bicycles and pedestrians.  Zeke and I planned on going to  the top to see the view. Unfortunately, once we got to the second floor, the stairs were metal teeth-like things and poor Zeke tried the first four. I couldn’t let him go up so I told him to stay on the landing whilst I went up. I don’t usually get the willies but you can see through the stairs and my stomach did flip-flops. Since when am I such a wuss?

Overpass
view from the almost top
Swirls and curls
Rough steps

It was time to go home and the golden hour was arriving. Walking back I noticed there were crabapples and had I a sac, I would have filled it. (Thief that I am.)

Goldn trees at golden hour
Crabapples!
Strange statue-thing

I hope you enjoyed my walk and didn’t find it too long! I apologize. I got somewhat carried away.  Should you want to join in, the link is above on Robin’s name.

 

Walktober 2018 – Marie-Victorin & Parc de la Freyère

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The deadline is nigh but I have made it!  October was the busiest one at the golf club I have ever experienced.  Totally nuts and I’ve the bruises and fatigue to show for it.  When there was a day I could have gone for my official Walktober Walk, I ended up doing other stuff, or the rains came or… never mind.  That’s all moot now, isn’t it, because I am here!  Thank you, Robin, for hosting this fun challenge!

Between making salsa and apple jellies, baking a ham and doing laundry, yesterday afternoon, the sun decided to shine right into my face, basically yelling at me to get off my duff and out there into the “wild”.  I had timed it to coincide with the sunset, to boot.

First, before leaving the house, I was stopped by both my dried hydrangeas and my vivid burning bush – getting close to spectacular…

Hydrangea
Burning Bush
Berries!

Zeke was beyond excited and when I opened the trunk of the SUV, realised we were going on a REAL adventure.  Now, if only driving in a car did not make him puke…

We drove first to Marie-Victorin Park which has a decent view of Montreal and is right on the St.Lawrence River.

Start of the path
Gaggle of geese
View of the Big “Owe” Olympic stadium

It is sad that I missed all the bright reds of autumn but there were little snippets of red here and there…

Zeke, sitting pretty
Gold and blue = magic combo
Snippet of red

Zeke and I took a forbidden path – what?  It was a path obviously taken often!!  I was surprised to see a visible section of white across a bunch of birch trees.  Does the water go that high at times?  Seems rather much but, who knows?  At the end of the path we arrived at what frankly looks like a swamp.  Zeke, though tempted, refrained from jumping in the water.  He did look at me once and figured it would not be a good idea…

Playing with the sun
Swamp-like
Bleached Birches
Tranquility 1
Tranquility 2

Making our way back the light had become particularly beautiful.  All became so soft and glowing.  I took a bunch more pics of the geese and noticed this seemingly suspended branch.  When I zoomed in, I could see a fishing hook twisted near the top… but felt this pic was more fun 😉

 

Golden
Dreamy
Suspended
Perfect light

It was nearing five o’clock and sundown was at 5:53 so I decided to make my way to another park, closer to home.  I figured I’d be able to get some great shots of the sunset from there.  Back into the car and.  Traffic.  What the??  NOT an area where I was expecting any.  I wasted a good 25 minutes where it should have taken but 10.  Still.  We did make it in time to Parc La Freyère, in Boucherville.

The light was fading fast so apologies on the duck shot… I just couldn’t  seem to get a clear shot… (my story and I’m sticking to it!)

Soft
Zeke – not minding a break
Playing with my camera

It seemed Mother Nature was NOT on my side as clouds refused to allow any spectacular sunset…

Because he’s so handsome
Dreamy

So, no sunset for me and my hands were frozen.  Back into the car for our return trip.  I decided to drive along Marie-Victorin street as it follows the river.  Oh man!  I had to stop, park in a side street and get out.  Sorry, Zeke, you’re staying in the car.  Back in a few!

Light
Reflections

I walked onto the warf for one last picture.

And called it a day.

Hope you enjoyed my Walktober walk from Longueuil to Boucherville!

Walktober – Old Boucherville, A Second Look

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walktoberrobin

Robin, over at Breezes at Dawn, celebrates October with a Walktober.  Lucky for me, she decided to extend the dates so that I and a few others could join in.  I was positive I’d be able to write my post by October 25, the official deadline, but no, I have been living in my kitchen.  Got a few busy days ahead of me so I figured it’s now or never!

Here’s where I admit to being even later than planned but lucky enough to be included on this November 2nd post!!

I truly enjoy walking around, with my ever-present, dog, Zeke, my hometown of Boucherville, a suburb of Montreal with a population of a little less than 41,000.  I’ve lived here my whole life (minus about five years when I foolishly left) and have trouble believing I’d ever live anywhere else.  Well, except Tuscany, as I keep threatening my family.  But that’s a whole ‘nother story!

 

Most days will find me walking about Boucherville, either towards “my” river, or to “Teletubbie Park”, or to the industrial park, or to the Parc des Coutances, way over on the other side where, if I’m lucky and early enough, I run into the ladies and their dogs and can stand around chitchatting whilst the dogs chase each other.  This is an unofficial dog park to us and only when the cranky old broad comes by do we re-leash the dogs!

Last year I actually did a post on my walk in Old Boucherville and was going to choose another of my walks or a mish-mash of the ones done in October, but by the time I had sorted the pictures, I realised that Old Boucherville would win again!

This particular walk was actually on October 1st, which explains the lack of fall foliage colours!  All walks start from my front stoop…. The roses were still blooming beautifully and I just had to snap one more!

IMG_0545

As I turned the corner, I was struck by one single leaf in a bush that had decided to stand out.

IMG_0550

Walking along Industrial Boulevard, there were just a few trees showing off.

IMG_0555

By the end of the boulevard, I decided to walk down to the special pathway that brings me directly into Old Boucherville and was pleasantly surprised by a family of Canada Geese.

IMG_0565

Unfortunately, Zeke also noticed them and decided he would like to join them.  They disagreed with the idea and hightailed it down the stream!

IMG_0568

Before arriving at Louis-H. Lafontaine’s house (if you want to learn more about that, click here), there are lovely trees aligning the stream.  This one in particular called me.

IMG_0577  IMG_0595

Couldn’t resist Zeke as he posed so prettily in the old Fort ruins.

IMG_0582 IMG_0583 IMG_0584

We decided to cross Marie-Victorin Blvd. and walk along the St. Lawrence River’s edge and were treated to a few mallards swimming by.

IMG_0621 IMG_0639

I got all excited because I thought I saw an eagle!  Thanks my Facebook friends for setting me straight by pointing out it was not a majestic eagle but a huge turkey vulture!  It was teasing me by swooping around and around… I was impressed, anyway…

IMG_0623 IMG_0628

A little further on, there seemed to be a party going on in which the seagull was a little shy in joining the ducks…

IMG_0642

Crossing back over, I noticed two lovely old houses that I had never paid attention to, and each had a plaque explaining their original inhabitants.

The first one, called La Chaumière was built around 1742, as a dependent to the Seigneurial Manor.  At the end of the 19th century, it was transformed into a summer residence and it was at the time that the “oeil de boeuf” (small round window) was created.

The Seigneurial Manor was built around 1740 for the third Seigneur (Lord), François-Pierre Boucher of Boucherville, descendants of the founder, Pierre Boucher.

IMG_0661  IMG_0660

I foolishly cut across at this point, on my return home and did not get close to the grand church.  How, oh how, did I think I could do a walk in Old Boucherville, skipping a whole section?

Guess I’ll just have to go back and continue!

I hope you have enjoyed my walk around a section of Old Boucherville.