Blogs from Montréal, Quebec, Canada, North America
May 5th 2012
Another walk around Ottawa this morning. A beautiful city with olde world charm in parts. Walked around Houses of Parliament, Government House and went to a local market. Nice morning. This afternoon had a short drive to Montreal in Quebec and can certainly see and hear the French influence (main language spoken), signs in French and the old buildings look European (as least what I imagine to look like in Europe). Another walk around the old section and found an 'artistes' street. Nice not to spend a lot of time on the bus. Montreal is just as pretty as Ottawa once you get past the Industrial part of the city that you drive through to get downtown. Visited a store that sells Maple syrup and other products - had a few taste tests. They often use ... read more
March 31st 2012
En route to Montreal: Rebekah and Dan are relaxing in the Euro-styled lounge here at the Toronto airport: we have about 30 minutes til our connecting flight to Montreal. We've availed ourselves of the free almonds, diet Coke, and coffee. I'm enjoying the Mac lounge where I can use one of a dozen free computers. During the first flight from Chicago, I had unusual success with Scrabble on my Kindle. Dan got his celebrity news update by reading "US Weekly" magazine from cover to cover, and Rebekah spent some time with Kurt Vonnegut in Slaughterhouse Five. Kind of a gender-role-reading-reversal, I think! When we arrive we'll find the HI hostel and then go exploring. Rebekah has a list of pubs that offer special "craft" beers, Dan wants to see an art museum, and I want to ... read more
March 30th 2012
I wanted to share some of the autumn / winter pictures I have been taken the last few months, so therefore another blog from Montréal, Quebec. Against my expectations I have now been here 8 months. With now less than a month left before I travel to Boston and then fly via Iceland to the UK and onwards home, it is more than time to visit a few places in the vicinity of Monteal. Unfortunately winter has not quite yet left us, so not sure if I will get a chance to. Montreal is a city of festivals. No matter the season or weather, there's always something going on including url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Student+protest+Series+April+Fools+marches+planned/6387031/story.html student demontrations I was able to watch from my workplace at Peel the other week. In the heart of winter was the so called Igloofest ... read more
March 30th 2012
Onze aankomst in Montréal was het begin van een intensieve reisperiode naar (en binnen) Montréal, Québec, Les Escoumins, Saint John en uiteindelijk Weymouth. We hebben de hele periode gecouchsurfed. Geweldig dat dat kon! Het nadeel van couchsurfen in de Westerse wereld is alleen dat mensen het over het algemeen druk hebben en hun privacy koesteren. Het kwam er op neer dat we letterlijk aan het couchhoppen waren. Onze eerste drie dagen van de week die we in Montréal zouden doorbrengen verbleven we bij twee onderzoekers, zij (Françoise) AIO in natuurkunde en hij (Philippe) programmeur. Ze waren heel gepassioneerd over hun werk en deze paar dagen stonden voor ons dan ook in het teken van de wetenschap. Best fijn om daar weer eens wat dieper in te duiken. Ciarán kon zich met Philippe uitleven in computer-gerelateerde gesprekken ... read more
February 23rd 2012
Me voilà de retour a Bangkok. Ça fait du bien de se retrouver sur un terrain connu, après tant de vagabondage pendant plus de 4 mois. J'aime bien retrouver mon resto du coin favori, le ferry qui me transporte dans un pays de légende, c'est comme si je revenais "chez moi". J'ai décidé de me faire dorloter avant mon retour au Québec. Deux jours de massage. Le premier, massage thaï. Ce n'est pas du tout comme le massage ayurvedic qu'on avait eu en Inde. Là on nous demandait de nous mettre à poil et on nous "caressait" a l'huile. Pour le massage thaï j'ai du enfiler un costume en coton comme ceux de judo ou karaté et puis, c'était comme si un bulldozer passait sur mon corps: on m'a poussé avec les poignets, les coudes, les ... read more
January 5th 2012
I know very little about hockey and I remember very little from French in school. These two things are very important in Montreal leaving me very confused. I was just at the Canadians vs. Winnipeg game at the Center Bell, Montreal. I was right up in the nosebleed section with the cheapest tickets I could find and it seemed like I was with all the rowdy die-hard fans; I was the only one without a Jersey on. They absolutely love it up here! It was a sellout crowd of almost 22,000, absolutely crazy compared with the 100 odd you would get at a UConn hockey game. Most people here speak English as a second language to French, so I could only understand a small number of the announcements. I've found this the most difficult thing coming ... read more
Get Montreal! 2012
Published: January 5th 2012North America » Canada » Quebec » Montréal » Old Montréal
January 5th 2012
Soundtrack for Montreal, Canada 1) Nadia Ali, Starkillers & Alex Kenji - Pressure (Alesso Radio Edit) 2) Kaskade - Turn It Down 3) Martijn Ten Velden - I Wish U Would (Tom Novy Remix) 4) Jay-Z & Kanye West - In Paris 5) Gramophonedzie - Why Don't You 6) Avicii - Levels 7) Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Heads Will Roll (A-Trak Remix) 8) Inpetto - No More Serious Faces 9) Temper Trap - Sweet Disposit... read more
Les aventures de Sébastien à l'étranger...
Published: December 19th 2011North America » Canada » Quebec » Montréal
December 19th 2011
Mon départ est très proche.. Quelques jours et vous pourrez suivre les détails de mon voyage en Nouvelle-Zélande ! Departure is soon ! A fews days and you'll be able to follow me in New-Zealand !... read more
December 10th 2011
Décider de voyager 10 jours avant de partir pour un mois en Thaïlande? Telle est ma folie. À présent, il ne me reste que 7 jours avant de partir et j'ai tout plein de truc à penser encore! Il y a les trucs simples et rapides à faire : les vaccins, trouver le passeport, acheter le guide du routard, poser des questions à nos amis et connaissances. Il y a les trucs moins simples également : Penser aux trucs de dernières minutes qui dans un temps normal aurait été relégué au rang d’un souci futile et inutile mais qui dans le cas courant fait partie des ligues majeures d’un stress énorme qui va surement tomber tel un morceau de béton du site de construction du CHUM sur une voiture qui passais par là une fois que ... read more
November 26th 2011
Montréal, Quebec. A weekend of pride 2011, French-Canadian cuisine (in the form of poutine), a lot of walking, and getting info on buying a car to go travel Canada with. Well, that plan flew out the window! I have been here for 3 months by now, the time has flown by, summer has turned into autumn (a colourful one btw) and the first snow is on our doorstep. Yeah, plans change... Montréal really is a fantastic city as I had already see from the air actually when I first flew into Canada. Located on an island within the st. Laurent river, it is the birthplace of multiculturalism thanks to 'Pierre Elliot Trudeau' in the 1970's and the seventh largest city in North America. After that first crazy but fantastic weekend, I happened to get a job ... read more
