Need a loaf of bread? Look for the horse-drawn cart in Pointe-St-Charles
The Bread Run, organized by Maison Saint-Gabriel, marks 350 years of Canadian horse in New France
If you hear a bell ringing in the streets of Pointe-St-Charles this summer, it may not be coming from an ice cream truck.
Every Saturday from now until early September, residents of Pointe-St-Charles will now be able to purchase a loaf of bread from a horse-drawn cart.
The Bread Run, organized by the Maison Saint-Gabriel Museum and Historic Site, marks the 350th anniversary of the arrival of the Canadian horse to New France.
The program is an ode to a time when the bread delivery man, much like milk men and knife-sharpeners, offered goods and services from door-to-door in the streets of Montreal.
Eric Michaud, a historical reenactor who delivers the bread, circles Pointe-Sainte-Charles in the morning aboard a 1930s-era cart, pulled by his horse, Betty. The horse and cart were acquired with the help of the Écurie de Montreal.
Just like in the early 1900s, residents are alerted bread is available by a distinct bell, once used to differentiate bread deliveries from other goods and services on offer.
The bread available this summer is baked by Première Moisson, but the recipe is an old one provided by the nuns of the Maison Saint-Gabriel.
Michaud said the first Bread Run, on July 4, was a massive success.
Of the 150 loaves of bread bought from Première Moisson, 100 were sold during his two-hour route around the neighbourhood.
Michaud said residents, some of whom were on their way to buy bread at the store, relished the old-fashioned experience — and children, some still in their pyjamas, enjoyed the novelty of seeing a horse in front of their homes.
For Michaud, "it was a blast to ride in an old cart and horse," and luckily, Betty loves children, he said.
Montrealers hoping to travel back in time can get a glimpse of Michaud and Betty every Saturday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. until the first weekend of September.