Okay, so I know that I posted something already about the recent (surprise) visit to the town of Montréal in the Yonne district of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France. Obviously, it happens to share the same name of the more famous, and slightly larger, largely Francophone city of Montréal across the pond in North America. Just that alone was enough to pique my interest once I actually heard about this town, and saw some pictures.
Admittedly, it never occurred to me that I might be able to pay this charming little village a visit on this particular trip. As it turns out, I was very fortunate. It felt almost like a happy accident, really. Having just pulled away from my cousin's frankly very isolated town (she lives in a hamlet of a larger town, which itself is quite small and isolated), I had to do a doubletake when I thought I saw the name of a village on a sign on the side of the roadway which I was driving along.
Surely that had not read Montréal, right?
Truth be told, I was quite sure that there must have been a mistake. My eyes were playing tricks on me. Besides, I was on a schedule. Needed to get back in the Paris area soon, and of course I had to return the car by 2:00 PM at Charles De Gaulle Airport. So I would not stop and reverse to see if I had indeed seen that name correctly, figuring that if it was actually that town, I would see more signs along the way.
Well, I went ahead. Sure enough, there was another sign. This time, I slowed down enough to see that there could be no mistake this time. Indeed, it seemed like I was heading right in the direction of the village of Montréal. The sign (which I took a picture of) indicated that it was 11 kilometers away (the first sign had suggested that it was 18 kilometers away).
Being that close to a town that I had long wanted to visit decided it for me. Even if it took me out of the way - which as it turns out, it did not, because the route that the GPS was taking me went right through it - I was determined to stop and pay at least a short visit to this town.
As it turns out, my visit lasted quite a bit longer than merely a short visit. I kept walking, kept taking more pictures. Soon, I largely forgot about this town's appeal regarding the name, because the town itself was appealing just to be in and look at. There was beautiful architecture and historical landmarks seemingly at every turn.
However, since the internet access at the last hotel (the Hôtel du Roussillon, near the Place d'Italie) in Paris that I stayed at right towards the end of this last trip to Europe, the internet was spotty at best. It seemed that uploading pictures was too much. It took far too long, and seemed to interrupt internet access consistently. So that forced me to keep the pictures here on this blog to a bare minimum.
Now I am back in Hillsborough. Feeling nostalgic already for France, and Europe more generally, even though (technically), I was only there yesterday.
So it seemed to me that the top priority should be to post pictures of this Montréal. Partly, because it was such a (pleasant) surprise. Also, however, the town proved to be quite appealing and attractive, as were a number of towns which I visited in Bourgogne (Burgundy).
As it turns out, this town dates back to the 12th century. Understandably, then, it has a distinctive medieval charm to it.
There are old gates, and the architecture has that old feel to it, as well. There are cobblestone roads, and there are the remnants of walls. The church, which is called Notre-Dame-de-l'Assomption, and also known as the Collégiale de Montréal, also proved to be quite picturesque.
All in all, a town which I was very pleased to have visited, for several reasons.
And now, here is the chance to publish the pictures which I never quite got to the first time around. So even though I just posted something about this town (just a few days ago, in fact), it still seemed like something which I really should post about far more extensively. This time, including many of the pictures which I never quite got around to the first time, because I couldn't.
Here are those pictures.
Enjoy.
***Side Note: After some brief research, I learned that there are, in fact, two towns in France that go by the name of Montréal. This one is, of course, one of them. Then there is another one, which sure enough, is in southern France.
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