Let’s love Montreal! | La Presse

For years, the French have been ranting against the city of Paris. Parisians included. It was ugly, dirty, poorly maintained, noisy, polluted, stressful, congested, abandoned, violent, dangerous, too expensive, too poor. Its mayor Anne Hidalgo was criticized, booed, scorned, despised, ridiculed.

The coming of the Olympic Games did nothing to help matters. Quite the opposite. Paris was going to become the laughing stock of the universe. France was going to be ashamed. The decline of its capital was going to be revealed to the world. The worst was predicted. A nasty mess. An unreal hell. A few days before the start of the Games, the city dwellers were fleeing the disaster zone. They didn’t want to be there. They didn’t want to see that.

Then July 26, 2024 arrived. The opening ceremonies of the 33^e Olympiad of the modern era took place, for the first time, outside a stadium. Diehard Gauls who loved Paris said to themselves: “All the stadiums in the world look the same, but nothing looks like Paris. We have to show it.”

It was a grandiose spectacle, bringing together big stars, but the main star was Paris. Its beauty. Its history. The city became a living setting.

The Seine, the Eiffel Tower, the Trocadéro gardens, the Pont d’Austerlitz, the Grand Palais, the Conciergerie, the Louvre Museum, the Musée d’Orsay, the Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe and Notre-Dame shone in all their glory. The City of Lights was lit up. The entire planet was amazed.

So much so that the French, swollen with pride, rather than avoiding it, began to levitate. Their biggest high since the Liberation.

Yet the Seine, the Eiffel Tower, the Trocadéro gardens, the Pont d’Austerlitz, the Grand Palais, the Conciergerie, the Louvre Museum, the Musée d’Orsay, the Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe and Notre-Dame were there the day before, but the French did not see them. They only saw the bad sides, the dark city. Now the director Thomas Jolly has opened their eyes. What were you waiting for to be happy?

The mayor of Paris is not more celebrated, but she is less reviled. She is recognized for some qualities. It may not last. But the influence of her city will last.

Because today, even Parisians love Paris.

For years, Quebecers have been ranting about the city of Montreal. Montrealers included. It is ugly, dirty, poorly maintained, noisy, polluted, stressful, congested, abandoned, violent, dangerous, too expensive, too poor. Its mayor Valérie Plante is criticized, booed, scorned, despised, ridiculed.

To end this discontent, will there need to be a grand spectacle touring the city and highlighting its history and beauty?

The river, the mountain, the Jean-Talon market, the stairs in front of the houses, the steps of the oratory, the Clock Tower Quay, the Place des Festivals, the Expo islands, Habitat 67, the Old Port, the Notre-Dame Basilica, the Museum of Fine Arts, Place Ville Marie, the statue of Sir George-Étienne Cartier, the Samuel-De Champlain, Victoria and Jacques-Cartier bridges, the Ferris wheel, the colored glass roofs of the Palais des congrès, the murals, from Leonard Cohen to René Lévesque, the fountain on Place Vauquelin, the banks of the Lachine Canal, Verdun beach, Place des Tisserandes, the Farmer from the Maisonneuve market square, the exterior of the Olympic Stadium and the interior of the Botanical Garden.

No, but Montreal is not just orange cones! Can we get over those damn cones!? Can we raise our heads and look at what surrounds us? All these places that are good for the eyes. All these places where we are happy.

Will we have to hire Thomas Jolly to enhance our city? It seems to me that we are capable of it ourselves. Of appreciating what we have. After all, Céline is ours.

Of course, the city of Montreal is full of flaws, like Paris, New York and Tokyo. Like all large metropolises. But it is also full of qualities. It’s been too long since we’ve spent time there. Will we have to wait for the 400th festivities?^e anniversary of its founding, in 2042, to remind us of them?

I was born in Montreal. I have always had this city in my life. Because Montreal is MONTréal. It is mine. It is MY city.

Montrealers need to stop distancing themselves from it. Stop taking responsibility for it. No, it’s not all the mayor’s fault. She’s doing what she can. And if it’s not enough, it’s up to us to get involved.

It’s not the whiners who have restored Paris’s luster, it’s those who love it.

Montreal needs love, it’s up to us to give it first.

It’s crazy, it’s the foreign media that praise our city the most. Who place it at the top of the lists of places to visit. We never stop bashing it.

The French lived it. It was by loving Paris that they made Paris love them.

It’s up to us to do as they do.

Let us love Montreal, and Montreal will love us.

Aimontreal!

Because, let’s face it, all at the same time, Montreal is MONTréal!