Lora Weaver's Montreal
Montreal, like Lora’s hometown of New York, is an island city made up of several boroughs and dozens of neighbourhoods with distinct architecture, cultures, and landmarks. (And bagels.)
If you’re comparing, Lora’s adopted neighbourhood of NDG is similar to Brooklyn’s Park Slope: casual, hip, and brimming with young families. Westmount, an affluent district that sits atop part of the city’s mountain, is most similar to the Upper West Side or Prospect Park. The Plateau, home to Canada’s densest concentration of creative types (and those three-storey iron staircases you see on Instagram), is Montreal’s Williamsburg (with a splash of Bushwick and Cobble Hill). And Old Montreal, with its ancient offices and churches, is kin to lower Manhattan neighbourhoods like Soho and Tribeca.
Here are 36 gorgeous snaps of four neighbourhoods that make up Lora’s Montreal, accompanied by descriptions from the novels (and a cameo by the author).
Vieux montreal
"Michel had outfitted all the offices at Prêt-à-Marier in antiques which were easy on the eyes but not so easy on the derrière. The antiques fit well with the beamed ceilings, wood plank floors, and the exposed stone wall that ran the length of the main space and was original to the building. Square footage didn't come cheap in the Prêt-à-Marier neighbourhood of Old Montreal, but charm was aplenty." The Pas de Deux
NDG
"The sidewalk was dry and the evening air fresh. Eager buds glistened on trees under the streetlight haze. In the driveway, my Mini sat beaming white, gleaming after its bout of spring showers. I took one look at the car, pocketed my fob, and turned on my heel. City living had many perks and one was having stores and restaurants in walking distance, and I was in the mood for a stroll." The Ménage à Trois
The Plateau & Mile end
"Sidewalks were busy with local residents coming home and passers-by heading to one of the many restaurants that filled The Plateau neighborhood where Camille and Laurent"s PI agency, C&C, was located. The area bordered the mountain Montreal was built around and local development picked up in the 1800s and hadn't stopped since. Over the years, many immigrants started their new lives in The Plateau. Nowadays, it attracted lots of artistic and bohemian types. Building were mostly stone or brick, many attached in long rows of triplexes with winding metal staircases out front. Housing prices were on an upward swing, and lucky investors were reaping the benefits." The Pas de Deux
WEstmount
"Smithy's was an upscale dry cleaners in Westmount—a predominantly English neighborhood valued for its hilly, tree-lined streets and posh properties." The First Faux Pas
