Catherine Dickson

I thought this was a bit of fun. If you need to find me, I'm somewhere between Edinburgh and Montreal, sort of.

Rue St. Catherine is the 'Oxford Street' of Montreal, and I live a stone's throw away from it this year. Pictured above is a very pretty market square that leads off from la rue, although this doesn't really reflect the reality of Rue St. Catherine. The street is lined with luxury department stores and fancy shop fronts, and filled with bustling shoppers all hours of the day. Not going to lie, having a shopping street with my namesake is far too much of a temptation/justification for some spending!

Between the entrances to these stores are far from obvious doors into enormous indoor, mostly underground, shopping centres where the majority of Montreal's vendors can be found. It originally baffled me as to how short Rue St. Catherine was - where were all the shops to cater for this huge city? They, and dozens of food courts, are all beneath the city, connected by a complex of tunnels that also link major buildings and metro stations. A very different way of doing things, but I am sure I will completely understand the necessity of this system come winter!

Dickson's Close is a typical windy Edinburgh back street which Helena and I stumbled upon walking back from Prince's Street last year. Beneath is a rather unfortunate picture of me on the street to prove I have frequented it . . .

 

Ah, well.