Villeray: the quiet quarter and Parc Jarry
The local cafés of Rue de Castelnau, then the big park with its ponds and tennis stadium. This is a Claude-drafted route awaiting the editor's walk.

1. Rue de Castelnau
Start where the Blue Line drops you, on the low-key café street just north of Little Italy. This is everyday Montreal — terrasses, a bakery, neighbours who know each other. Take a coffee and read the block before you walk it; nothing here is performing.

2. Place de Castelnau
The small market square the street opens onto, with its few stalls and seasonal life. Quieter cousin to Jean-Talon a few blocks south, and all the better for the locals who actually use it. A natural first pause.

3. Rue Villeray and the residential blocks
Cut north through the duplex streets — the outside staircases, the brick triplexes, the small front gardens that define residential Montreal. There's no monument here, and that's the point; this is what most of the city actually looks like.

4. Parc Jarry (south entrance)
Into the big park that anchors the whole north end — long lawns, mature trees, paths that fill with families on a fine afternoon. After the tight residential grid the openness lands hard. Aim for the water.

5. The pond at Parc Jarry
The park's ornamental pond, ringed by a path and benches, ducks in residence. The calm centre of the walk; sit a while. On a warm afternoon half the neighbourhood is here doing exactly that.

6. IGA Stadium (Stade IGA)
The tennis stadium at the park's edge, home of the Canadian Open every summer. Out of tournament season the grounds are quiet and you can walk right up to it. Jarry station on the Orange Line is a short step beyond — the way home.

Villeray: the quiet quarter and Parc Jarry