In the garden of Lachine, baby

>> Bike out to some great art in the great outdoors

by GENEVIEVE PAIEMENT

There's something about witnessing art out of doors that's akin to skinny-dipping. Both are best done in the summertime and both involve shedding a constrictive cloak of convention (the soggy bathingsuit/gallery/museum). Throw in a picnic and you've got yourself a perfect mini holiday. This is where Lachine's Outdoor Sculpture Museum comes in. To get the body fully frisky and more open to the visceral pleasures that open-air art affords, the best bet is to bike out and make a day of it by combining all the necessary elements of a grand old time: you've got your sport, art, food and drink (the picnic), sunshine (hopefully) and good company (if you plan it right). Boasting over 50 sculptures and a lovely waterfront location on Lac Saint-Louis, this is the largest park of its kind in Canada and it's only about 20 minutes away from downtown Montreal by bicycle.

Your mission: to make it to Lachine and back. Your tools: a bike, a backpack, a picnic blanket, sunscreen, sunglasses and any other goodies you deem necessary for frolicking in the sunshine.

Pit-stops and picnics

The first step is to get down to the Old Port, onto the bike path that runs alongside the Lachine Canal and head west like a bat out of hell--or a meandering tortoise, if you prefer. About five or 10 minutes into your adventure, you will come across the Atwater Market on your right. This conveniently offers you a perfect picnic pit-stop for your increasing appetite. Fill your empty backpack with a freshly baked baguette, a fine, odoriferous fromage, a bottle of red, some fruit and you're good to go.

Continuing along, you will enter into the realms of Verdun and LaSalle, where the Canal widens and becomes lined by beautiful, towering poplars. Ooh and ah at all those rusty trains piled high in the Turcot Yards, where the Trans-Canada meets Décarie. To the left, factories sit smug in their aluminum siding while on the right, when it's not blocked off by factories-turned-artists'-lofts, a wonderful view of the city peeks through, with the green of the mountain dominating much of it.

Eventually, entrance into the land of Lachine is signalled by the yacht club's boats cluttering the canal. At this point you will want to cross the canal via the locks and get down to the Parc René-Lévesque which extends off the island of Montreal like a narrow green antenna. A more delightful spot is hard to find, as this small, peninsular park features a small arboretum and the calming sounds of a choir of chirping birdies and the soft swishing of the waters.

Upon setting foot in the park, you'll come across Dominique Rolland's "Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe," a playful stone and granite riff on picnicking. On a giant plate lay half a baguette and a huge slice of brie, next to which stands a bottle of wine; a little further off, an oversized woman's shoe accompanies a dog who appears to begging for scraps from an imagined eater. Further along you'll hit André Fournelle's "La Ville blanche," a striking decomposition of the column, good for playing hide and seek with. Other park gems include Dominique Valade's fantastical, dreamy Greek- temple-like garden within a garden, "Les Cariatides," and Robert Roussil's uplifting, bulbous and cylindrical "Hommage à René Lévesque," made of cement. Now would be a good time to give in to those tummy growlings and dig into your grub. One word of warning: it's awfully windy out there, so make sure to bring items to weigh down the lighter things which are in danger of blowing away.

If you're feeling especially audacious, you could actually step inside one of the neighbouring museums that make up the Lachine Museological Complex. These include the Maison Leber-LeMoyne and the Dépendance (the oldest houses on the island, built in 1669), the Benoît-Verdickt Pavillion featuring contemporary art (all three are at 110 Chemin de LaSalle) or the Entrepôt (2901 St-Joseph), which specializes in all things multidisciplinary and multicultural. All this is but a stone's throw from the sculpture park. Or, if you prefer to stay out of doors and have the courage to keep heading west, more sculptures await along the lake. Finally, if you're feeling overheated and wildly ambitious, you could always jump in the water to cool off before the long ride home. (But remember: Lac Saint-Louis got the nickname "Pewy Louis" for a reason.)

The museums are open Wed-Sun, 11:30am-4:30pm; info: 634-3471, #346