Almost 30 years in the making, not even exactly finished, actually, and drawing out not much more than a collective yawn from the local press for its architectural qualities, the new Montreal Symphony Hall (
la Maison symphonique de Montréal) nevertheless opened its doors to a select group of invitees and hosted the inaugural concert on Wednesday...
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As we have previously mentioned in these pages, the city of Paris is readying a car equivalent of the hugely popular bike rental service, Vélib’. The new service, predictably named Autolib’, will allow renting small 4-seat electric cars for short trips in the city and environs. Vehicles can be dropped off at the most convenient docking station (not necessarily where they were picked up). Pricing is by the minute (with a 20-minute minimum), with the rate beyond one hour increasing (to encourage customers to take shorter trips).
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Last year we wrote about the massive reconstruction project in the
Quartier des Spectacles - namely, a new plaza for the yearly Jazz Festival and similar events. One year has passed and the project bore its first visible (or, rather, walkable) fruit.
The $40-million Place des Festivals plaza was unveiled last month with an inaugural show featuring fluttering multi-colored water jets (a rather expensive spectacle, opined some local journalists) and packs of awe-stricken tourists enjoying the last warm days of Montreal’s short summer.
Having snubbed the inauguration festivities, I went by with my camera to take a look a few days later...
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With only a minimal delay, Le Westin Montréal by Starwood opened
this month in the Quartier International, right next
to the Palais des Congrès. The hotel appears to be
a solid, reasonably stylish choice for business visitors,
although some PR claims do seem a bit exaggerated...
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