City Daily Photo Theme Day: Best Of The Year

Yesterday I looked back on last year in Ottawa. Today it is time for Gatineau, on the Quebec side of the Ottawa River. I don't get over into Gatineau as often as I should, and last year didn't really get over until May with the Tulip Festival, what with Covid restrictions. This bed of tulips was found in Jacques Cartier Park, which lies along the shore of the river.

A short walk away, I photographed more tulips along the east side of the property at the Canadian Museum of History.

And down below the Museum, I followed the path to another bed of tulips on the river shore. This particular bed is named in honour of Malak Karsh, the renowned landscape photographer who is considered the founder of the Tulip Festival. The view across to Parliament Hill is his view; one of his iconic photos was taken at this location and for many years was featured on the Canadian one dollar bill.

Another bed of tulips in Gatineau. This one lies upstream, in a park setting near the government Portage office complex.

In the summer I visited the Museum to take in the Queens of Egypt exhibit. Among the many items in this fascinating exhibit were a set of large statues of the goddess Sekhmet; mirrors gave the illusion that there were many more of the statues.

Another item from the exhibit: reproductions of crown headdresses for three Egyptian queens: Hatshepsout, Nefertiti, and Nefertari.

Also taken on that particular visit, the large mural Morning Star, by the Dene artist Alex Janvier, painted on a dome high over the museum's Grand Hall.

Further along in the museum's permanent galleries is a video display. It features four faces blinking, breathing, and looking back at us through thousands of years of time. Digital reconstruction of First Nations remains gives us the faces of a family of the Pacific Northwest. It's a collaboration between the Museum and the local tribe.

A view from near the end of the permanent galleries, with St. Onuphrius Church, a Ukrainean Catholic Church that has been given to the Museum.

One September day I walked through the city and several murals near Gatineau's City Hall drew my eye.

Nearby, in the courtyard park behind the city hall, this large water feature also drew my attention.

My journey took me back to Jacques Cartier Park. Back in May these flowerbeds had been full of tulips. Now they were filled with flowers and plants that had grown well in summer heat. It wouldn't be long before these were dug up and tulip bulbs planted.

A view to the river from the park, and the Alexandra Bridge: my route back into Ottawa.

And I finish with this fall view of the Museum of History.