This past June 2021, I participated in a “virtual race”, the Défi STM, in which participants had one month to walk or run 66km, the total length of the Montréal Métro. I am woefully out of shape, but with encouragement from my friends and several colleagues who also participated in it, I completed it, with one day to spare! However, I stayed entirely in my neighbourhood for the whole length, walking or running on bike paths nearby.
Then, yesterday, fellow transit nerd Reece Martin posted this great thread in Toronto:
This post, combined with last month’s activity, inspired me to do the same, in Montreal! So I planned out several walks that I will do this summer, segments of each metro line. Today, as a family, we did our first segment, Angrignon to Lionel-Groulx. We took the 78 bus to Angrignon station, and walked from there. I took some photos along the way as well, just like Reece did.
Angrignon
Walking towards Monk:
We stopped off at Dilallo for some burgers. They had a signed poster of Mario Lemieux, who grew up in the neighbourhood, Ville-Émard.
Monk
We then walked towards Jolicoeur. Today, the Sud-Ouest borough of Montréal organized a “Cyclovia“; a few streets were blocked off to traffic, and only bikes and pedestrians were allowed. So, we walked along Laurendeau up until Jolicoeur, and then on to the metro, through Côte-Saint-Paul.
Jolicoeur
You can see that there’s work going on at this station, to install elevators.
We then crossed the aqueduct canal into Verdun.
Once across the bridge, you’ll see the typical Verdun architecture in this dense residential neighbourhood.
Verdun
Once we got to Verdun avenue, we reached Verdun station! This station is located in front of where the old city of Verdun’s City Hall used to be, which is now the Borough hall.
Onwards to de l’Église!
Wellington Street is pedestrianized once again this summer, which is amazing; so many people outside! I tried to avoid taking too many photos with people in them, though.
De l’Église
This station has two entrances; one on Wellington, and one closer to Boul. Lasalle.
LaSalle
We then walked on to LaSalle station, which confusingly is NOT in the LaSalle borough, but it’s on LaSalle Boulevard (most metro stations in Montreal are named for the street they are on), which is still in Verdun.
We then continued on our route, under the highway and train viaducts and into Pointe-Saint-Charles.
Charlevoix
After saying hello to Charlevoix, we continued north until we got to the Lachine Canal and the national historic site, and into Little Burgundy.
And then, back into my neighbourhood, Saint-Henri, and the famous (at least in Montreal!) Atwater Market.
Lionel-Groulx
From the market, we walked north along Atwater Avenue towards Lionel-Groulx. I couldn’t resist taking a picture (a bit far, sorry!) of Greenspot, with some of the best poutines in Montreal, including my favourite, the Chop Chop!
And finally, we made it to Lionel-Groulx, our last stop on today’s walk. Luckily, I live just a 7 minute walk away from it!
And once we got home, I couldn’t resist a thirst-quenching beer.
Final thoughts
Today was a perfect day for this. Hot enough that we took some breaks, bought ice cream, and drank lots of water, but not so hot that we couldn’t complete it. All told, today’s walk about about 7.8km (a bit longer than it would have been if we had been in the actual tunnel, since it goes straight from station to station whereas we had to zigzag on the streets) and it took us about 3.5 hours, since we took our time. Some of the other walks that I have planned are going to be longer; the longest, from Côte-Vertu to Place-Saint-Henri, will be 11.5km, so I may have to cut that one in half, or do it without the kids, we’ll see.
Still, I enjoyed this walk, it was nice to have a walk with a goal, a destination at the end of it. I mostly know the neighbourhoods from today though, so there weren’t any major discoveries. I’m looking forward to the east end of the Green line, or the whole Blue line, as those are areas I don’t know as well.
Walking the Metro 