urban exploration: Maison Staint-Gabriel in Point St-Charles

We went for some urban history on Saturday with a visit to the 17th-century Maison Saint-Gabriel in Point Saint-Charles.




The modern front-view of the maison. In the old days, the other side of the house on the river was the front door, and everything came by boat.



Outside the kitchen window, this giant rock was also the indoor sink, and you can see the wedge-shaped drain in this picture.



Maison Saint-Gabriel from the front gates.

This museum and gardens are located in Point Saint-Charles (just off Wellington street), the museum is an easy ride south from the Lachine Canal bike path using Charlevoix street to get to Wellington. You can follow the road signs to get to the maison itself, but we do suggest you use a map. You can pass through the parc Margeurite Bourgeous to see some big sculpture installations.

You can go to the Maison Saint-Gabriel website by clicking here.

Inside, the house visit is by guided tour, and this proved to be an interesting afternoon and we learned that after the english "conquest" new technology arrived in the form of hot-water bottles! Lots of other interesting "life in the old days" facts were learned, like the fact that people slept in bed sitting up.

It's easy to get here fromthe Lachine canal a bit east of the Atwater market. Here's a live Google map of the directions from the Atwater canal where it passes Charlevoix street (On the canal Charlevoix street is the first under-bridge street crossing to the east of Atwater):


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