Mont-Tremblant – Day 8 – Ottawa

The heat wave was forecast to continue so we planned to do a 14 km ride I found on the “Ottawa Rural Routes” Ride with GPS account, followed by a visit to the air conditioned comfort of the National Gallery of Art.

I love the spiral staircase at Laurier Avenue.

We turned too soon as we rode across Laurier Avenue to get to the east side of the canal where the route was, which meant we ended up at a dead end below Wellington, causing us to carry our bikes up a long staircase, emerging beside the old train station where the Senate is temporarily housed as renovations happen on the Hill. There was a lineup outside, waiting to have a tour.

In front of the Senate is a monument to the suffragettes who were instrumental in getting women the vote.

We crossed Elgin and went back down another long staircase.

We then started to ride down the east side of the locks. When I stopped to take this picture, someone pointed out that there ais a sign at the bottom of the hill, saying that the pathway was closed. We thanked him and decided to give up on the route as I have a reasonable mental map of Ottawa and knew where the things that we wanted to see were located. That path was severely damaged and being repaired the last time I tried to ride it in 2017.

We rode down Spark Street, which has long been pedestrianized, and long been a challenging place to have a business. It seemed that there was a rib festival on, but many of the stores seemed as challenged for business as they have been in the past. We were in search of a coffee, but in several blocks were unable to find a coffee shop, which is ridiculous on a pedestrian street. We found a Tim’s, and McDonald’s, but neither had outdoor seating, and both were busy. Eventually, we ended up at a Starbucks, which had a patio, but after Cindy went in to get our coffee, she came back out and suggested we sit inside to get out of the heat. It wasn’t even 11 o’clock.

We did a loop around the Supreme Court and had a look at the river and views.

We then rode across the Portage Bridge to Gatineau. There’s a bi-directional cyclepath on the bridge.

There’s a lot of construction in Gatineau as you can see in the background of this picture I took of a relief map of the area.

As we were cycling along the riverfront, in the distance I noticed something colourful and suggested we ride there. I love street art.

It is Place Laval and was a parking lot in 2016. In 2018 the murals were painted.

Now the parking lot has been removed (at least for the summer) for a second year with a summer program to attract people to the downtown.

We saw this interesting planter on one of the side streets in the area.

There were a series of information panels with metal sculptures on them along the Gatineau side of the river.

This is the Museum of Canadian history.

We crossed back to Ottawa on the Alexandra bridge, which has a wooden deck for cyclists and pedestrians. It’s a rough ride on our road tires.

We had lunch in the ByWard market at the Blue Cactus Bar and Grill. It was uncomfortably hot, even in the shade.

A short ride later and we were at the National Art Gallery. This giant sculpture is known as Maman, by the artist Louise Bourgeois, who was almost 80 when she created it. It is a recurrent subject for Bourgeois, and she sees the giant spider as “ a nurturing and protective symbol of fertility, shelter, and the home”.

We left our bikes locked up in the bike racks right in front of the gallery and proceeded to explore. Moshe Sardis is the Gallery architect. He also designed Habitat 67 in Montreal.

This piece, Brillo Soap Pads Boxes 1964 (plywood boxes with serigraph and acrylic) by Andy Warhol has a funny story behind it.

“In 1965 thirty Brillo Soap Pads Boxes intended for a Toronto exhibition were held at Canadian customs, as officials questioned their status as art. The officials contacted Charles Comfort, then-director of the National Gallery of Canada who, on examining a photograph, determined the works were not art, but merchandise. Two years later, Brydon Smith, curator at the NGC, together with Jean Sutherland Boggs, the Gallery’s new director, purchased eight Brillo Boxes. For them, the works were indeed art and, more than that, art worthy of the national collection. Purchased 1967”

I quite enjoy a lot of modern art, but I found this wire, strung diagonally across an otherwise empty room to be rather ridiculous. It is by Fred Sandbank and is untitled.

I like this piece and learned something new. It is by Edward Wadsworth and entitled Dazzleships in Dry Dock at Liverpool 1919. Apparently, “during the First World War, battleships were painted with bold geometric patterns as a form of camouflage called “dazzle.” The irregular shapes broke up the ship’s form, making it difficult for enemy submarines to accurately determine its course. Wadsworth depicts a freshly painted vessel in dry dock, towering over the men completing their paintwork.”

In short hallways between the galleries, there were windows to see into the space between the galleries. It was quite interesting.

This is one of my favourite pieces and reminds me of batik fabric. It appeals to the quilter and me. It is by Sam Gilliam.

It also appeals to me when there is humour in art. This is by Thomas Couture and is subtitled, “Every Party has its Consequences”.

The building is quite spectacular and affords views of parliament hill.

I was amused by the fact that many gallery attendees , had put their proof of purchase stickers on this lamppost in front of the gallery.

When the gallery closed at five we went across the street to the Notre Dame Cathedral Basilica.

The columns were wood and painted to look like marble.

This public art piece is known as the Tin House. I found out about it on AtlasObscura. The original façade was crafted by Ottawa tinsmith Honoré Foisy to advertise his services. It fell into disrepair, and the building needed to be demolished, but the national capital commission saved and stored the façade which was later restored and placed here in this courtyard, named Tin House Court.

There was another piece of public art called Our Shepherds by Patrick Bérubé. The information plaque reads “Two shepherds stand face-to-face atop two sheep. The figures are notably joined by a long stick that connects their noses. This stick recalls both the long staff carried by shepherds and Pinocchio’s famously growing nose, suggesting an underlying discord between the shepherds role as protectors and the clear evidence of their lies. But what motivates their deceit?”

“The playful blue colour and simple, symmetrical structure of the sculpture act as an enticement to consider deeper meanings. Our Shepherds speaks of those who take power and those who are led, inviting viewers to question who are the shepherds and who are the sheep.”

This war memorial is across the street from the National Art Gallery.

This is the best protected bike lane I have ever seen. No, wait, I’m outside the American Embassy. Once again, it seems to be over the top barricading of the American Embassy, just as I saw in Bratislava, and Prague, compared to all the other national embassies that I saw.

This short bi-directional bike lane that switches sides, partway down Rideau Street, and then turns into sharrows after less than a kilometre was confusing.

We managed to make another dinner from the food we brought from home. Not much food left, but only two days to go.

We went out for a walk at twilight. This is the armoury and City Hall.

This is the Fire Services Memorial in front of City Hall.

I think this is a stylized maple leaf.

This is the aboriginal war veterans memorial. It faces the Lord Elgin hotel.

This is the view from the Laurier Avenue bridge over the canal. When we got to Colonel By Drive and were waiting for the light, Cindy realized that she had dropped her room key card. We were tired, so we decided not to look for it. On my last night in Bratislava, I lost my key card and when I told the front desk, they simply replaced it for me no charge. Cindy reported to the front desk here at the residence that she lost it and we were told that there was a replacement fee of either $30, $40 or $50. The student working the desk seemed uncertain. I thought it was a ridiculous amount of money so I told him we would go back out and look for it tomorrow.

It was a lovely walk and the heat has dissipated. We’re looking forward to a day of riding in more comfortable temperatures tomorrow.


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