Montreal

We are in Montreal now, and enjoying it muchly.

We're hoping to have a refresher on our high school French as much as possible on our visit, and it's certainly a good place for that. I wasn't sure exactly how French it would be, but it certainly seems to dominate. What makes it a great learning opportunity is that just about everything that's written comes in both French and English versions, so it's like having flash cards everywhere. My vocabulary has been skyrocketing in just a few days here. And people typically will greet you in French, so you always have the opportunity to respond in kind. Unfortunately, we've typically been getting the polite thanks-for-trying smile followed by a response in English.

Yesterday was rainy and so we mostly just putzed around and did some shopping. In the evening we went to a lovely French restaurant, Restaurant Le Mas Des Oliviers, chosen largely because their menu posted on the street had no English translation, but again we were spoken to in English. They were very nice though - we have yet to encounter the notorious French snottiness - and the food was delicious.

Today we walked to the Parc du Mont-Royal overlooking the city. We had lunch at a Montreal institution, Schwarz's Deli, then hired public bikes and rode down to Old Montreal.

It's a shame that the winters are so harsh here; it might otherwise make a lovely place to live.