Ernie spends much of his time wandering the streets and ruelles of the Plateau and Mile End, as you can see from his Flickr albums Montreal, Plateau, and Ruelle.

Colorful Plateau houses on Laval

The ruelles are the back alleys found between most streets in the neighborhood, which often look like country lanes, with fences in various states of repair. One gets glimpses into back yards, some formal, some like urban vegetable gardens (particularly in Little Italy).

One of the ruelles in the Plateau

The ruelles on either side of Clark between Fairmount and St. Bernard are favorites. Some ruelles become streets in their own right, like Chateaubriand near Marie Anne, or Demers between Henri-Julien and Hotel de Ville.

Photogenic streets include Laval, Henri-Julien, and Drolet south of Duluth, Berri in the same block, or the streets around Square St. Louis.

Now there’s even an app and some maps of interesting ruelles here: Parcours verts et actifs