For the longest time I couldn't find "The" Underground City of Montreal. I had been to a lot of the metro stations in the area, but I didn't see any sign of this subterranean world that people talked about as if it were a magical place. People would point out the downtown parts to me on maps, but that only showed the surface of the city, so the underground part was still unknown, elusive, mysterious. There's a sense of wonder in that phrase: "The Underground City." As if it was a secret place, hidden and eternal. Like it's Atlantis or something.
Along with not knowing where it was, I didn't exactly know what it was. At first I thought it was all in one place - a shopping mall in the shape of an underground coliseum, but I soon learned that it was a series of tunnels. Like a giant maze. It's a Labyrinth, not a coliseum... and so it's not easy to point it out on a map. It's everywhere, right under your soles. In my mind I envisioned a vague blur of tunnels, railcars, shops, and moving, talking, bustling crowds of people. And when I discovered what It was, I realized I was not far from the truth. La Ville Souterraine is a vague blur.
Don't get me wrong, it's an amazing feat of architecture and there is a sense of enchantment about it. It's no Atlantis, but it puts you in a kind of daze with all the flashy lights, glass, decorations and most of all, the people. Hundreds of thousands of people walk through this Labyrinth every day. And at night it all empties out, back into the sea of surface-life like tides. And what do they all come here for if they're not riding the Metro? Shopping. There are levels upon levels of shops connected by tunnels that lead to... even more levels of shops! The excitement never ends down here, you see. You walk and walk and you pass a shoe store, a clothing store, a jewelry store, another shoe store, a sushi bar, a magazine vender, another clothing store with more mannequins dressed in more flashy clothing, a video game store, a food court with another sushi bar, and it just goes on and on and on. Not all the stores down here are from Big Corporations and chains, but aside from the fact that this intricate network of tunnels was built by the City of Montreal, it seems to have less to do with the city's culture and more to do with its capitalistic economy. It's not too distant from the idea of the American mall. Some of the shop names are different, but they're all selling the same material objects. Fashion, Food, and Fun in all shapes and sizes.
If you love to shop, then this is Heaven. If you dislike shopping or don't have the money to shop, the Underground City is still an interesting Labyrinth to explore. I visit it frequently these days, almost as much as I climb Mount Royal. I haven't explored half of La Ville Souterraine, so all I've had to say about it is merely a first impression. I go there just to see the buzz and hear the drone of this thriving underground hive. In a place like this, you learn from a first-world perspective what the 21st Century is all about.
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