An Early Morning Walkabout

One sunny weekend morning in the latter half of April, I had some spare time on my hands, and went over first to the Portage Bridge to take a shot looking downstream on the Ottawa River, for a theme day later in the year. Rather than turn back, I decided to continue along the bridge into Gatineau and take the Chaudiere Bridge back to the Ottawa side of the river. The following odds and ends are from that walk.

I've shown you this art installation before, as it was installed last year. Myth And Evidence is by Matieu Valade. It stands in Gatineau where the Portage Bridge emerges, across from the government complex Place du Portage. A unicorn stands in a frosted glass case. The closer you get, the more opaque it becomes. I really have to come down here some evening and photograph it lit at night.

Rue Laurier happens to be the closest street to the river shoreline here in this part of Gatineau, and the above art installation is on one side. Crossing the median, I paused to take this shot. The Portage complex is at the left, and in the background is a view of Parliament Hill over on the Ottawa side, a vantage point I haven't shown you before. Traffic was quite light, as you see- this was before nine on a Saturday morning. Imagine this street at four on a weekday afternoon- I actually came this way on Thursday afternoon to pay a visit to the Museum of History, and the street was exceedingly busy.

The same applies for this street just a short walk up. Promenade du Portage is the name of this street- the complex is now here on the right.

Looking the other way along this street gives us this view.

Heading down the street, I came upon this pub, simply Le Pub (I don't think pub is an official word in French, but c'est la vie). A close look notes a year at the top- 1908. The Great Fire of 1900 swept through this area and wiped out most of what was here, before jumping the river at the nearby islands and doing much the same in Ottawa before being stopped. This building dates to the years after that conflagration.

This is nearby, and could be seen in the street shot. It used to be a church, but some years ago became quarters to a digital firm, Spiria. 

Coming onto the Chaudiere Bridge, I took this shot looking downstream along the Ottawa River. The Portage Bridge is there, where I started.

Looking upstream from here, the Chaudiere Falls can be seen spilling out of the damway. It's unfortunate that the only pedestrian lane is on this side of the road. However, as you might recall from my Miwate posts last year, a viewing platform was built to give access to the falls. It is closed over the winter, and was still closed as I passed by where the entrance is, but I expect that should be changed rather soon. I'll have to get out there and photograph the falls in daylight.

Back in Ottawa, I headed past the War Museum (visible in these two shots in the background). Police sirens caught my attention from behind me, and I turned. Two cruisers took up front and rear positions behind a convoy of trucks taking a pair of the Rideau Canal's skating shelters away. These are removed sometime in April so that the Canal water levels can be raised for the season. They must spend the warm months stored somewhere in the area.