St Catherine Street
Rue St-Catherine is the primary commercial artery of downtown Montreal. The endless street that stretches over the city crosses the central business district from West to East. It is home to many flagship stores, such as Apple, Roots, Chapters, Future Shop etc. It also features some of Montreal’s prominent department stores, including Hudson’s Bay Company and Complexe Les Ailes.
The street also has a more dodgy side with a lot of strip clubs. When I first came to Canada, we visited Montreal and some parts of St Catherine Street had made me think of Pigalle in Paris, home of the Moulin Rouge and of many sex shops, which has similar red neon lights and promises of finding all that you need to fulfill your fantasies. There was one major difference though: in Paris, sex shops advertise for sex toys and kinky sex, while in Montreal, strip clubs lure you inside with… the promise of an all-you-can-eat buffet + naked girls! I found it hilarious at the time.
You can see the full set of the pictures taken in Montreal here.
 Crossing at St Catherine and University |
 The Underground City (closing early on Saturday!) |
St Catherine Street
 Handing Out Bags Promoting the Use of French |
 Poster for a Demonstration (and a revolution) |
 Construction |
 Montreal, in Construction |
 Murale |
 Graffitis |
 Super Sexe Store |
 Crossing St Catherine |
 Church and Glass Building |
 Underground Mall |
Related articles:
- Modern Montréal
- In the Heart of Montreal
- Kensington Market In The Spring
- St-James United Church
- Old Montréal
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@Lizz — Graffitis can be beautiful in any city. France has more political ones… and they can be hilarious!
@angela — Yes, rue St Denis is pretty hardcore at night. So are some districts in the 16e… I studied at Dauphine (where my department was) and it was a bit creepy at night.
@micki — You must have walked on St Catherine at one point, but some area are not as nice as this one.
@Linguist-in-Waiting — I love food, I like the other stuff too (eh, I’m French okay?!) but the two together… I agree with you!
It’s horrible that they’re now hanging these shopping bags on the street! Urghhhhhhhhhh…I’m going to give them a piece of my mind when I go back :p
What a coincidence!
I just got back from Amsterdam.
I must say that Amsterdam’s red light district is seedier than Paris’ Moulin Rouge.
.-= London Caller´s last blog ..France Station / 法国站 / Stesen Perancis / フランス駅 =-.
haha, I actually like the design of the super sexe store. Just a great name as well.
.-= Seb´s last blog ..They’ve Come For You. =-.
instead of bags promoting the use of french maybe they could hand out rosetta stone dvds or French/english dictionaries/phrase books!