Somewhere else

I suppose that because I have travelled in the US quite a bit, I had not quite appreciated just how different Quebec was going to be. Yeah, I knew all about it being the Francophone region, but had not appreciated that there would be quite a few people who didn't speak English at all. But, hey, that's fine - I can still summon up enough French to get by, and it is really good fun having to do so. And people like you to make the effort anyway, and it is only polite to do so.

We were only very briefly in Montreal on our way to Quebec City. Easy to get a shuttle bus in to town that stopped right outside our hotel (sheer coincidence) We were able to have a very leisurely start on Monday morning, getting to the central station in plenty of time to negotiate the ticket situation - which again was ll really easy.

Montreal station is an experience all by itself, so we were glad to have plenty of time to look around and pick up a sandwich and salad lunch. The train journey was effortless and comfortable.

We have found ourselves a really interesting place to stay; old and slightly shabby, but very comfortable and very well placed for pottering about. The apartment is only a couple of streets away from one of the main roads leading in to the Old City - certainly walking distance. A residential area, lots of shops and restaurants, quite funky. Today we found a brilliant wholefood cooperative for su[pplies, but are spoiled for choice with places to eat.

Other than that - it is sunny, cold, snowy and amazingly French in appearance, and indeed in sound - there are churches nearby that ring bells at frequent intervals, and i can easily imagine myself somewhere in the French countryside. Lovely!

Selection of images! Nothing all that exciting so far...













I'm still a bit brain-dead, I am finding - keeping track of photos is proving somewhat tricky! Better stop for a cup of tea, and do more tomorrow.