Blogs from Montréal, Quebec, Canada, North America - page 13

Well here we are in Montreal - the city of beautiful people and where everyone speaks French! And then there's us - two independent Aussies (well 1 Aussie and 1 kiwi) who can't speak a word of the spoken language. We drove the 80 km into Montreal no problem - even though all the road signs were in French. The first 40 km of the drive were through beautiful countryside - dairy farms and local crops being grown in the region. All of a sudden the scenery changes and the highway becomes a mass of vehicles and the scenery is that of a big city. Tonight we are staying at a KOA in South Montreal - the closest RV park to the city - 22 km drive to downtown. We got directions to the Metro station ... read more

September 1, 2013 We arrived in Montreal early this morning and unloaded our luggage in a locker at our "boutique hotel" in the Latin Quarter since check-in wasn't until 3. The girl at the desk led the way with our "close encounters of the nicest kind" with the citizens of Montreal. Yes, French is the official language here and everyone has greeted us in French. But we've found if we say "Bon jour" and "s'il vous plait" and "merci" that those few words go a long way in convincing people we are worthy of their attention. Almost everyone here can speak English, too, so no problems with getting what we need. It really does seem like we're in a country other than Canada. Joe says the people in Quebec are pretending they aren't in Canada. It's ... read more

Hallo zurück, einige von euch werden sich bestimmt wundern warum es von dieser Seite schon wieder etwas Neues gibt. Die anderen werden wahrscheinlich schon gemeckert haben, ob ich euch vergessen habe. Aber ich kann euch vergewissern, dass ist nicht der Fall und wird auch nicht eintreten. Diese Mal schreibe ich aus Montreal, Kanada. Nanu, was macht er denn jetzt schon wieder da, heißt es bestimmt gerade in vielen Köpfen. Mein neuer Arbeitgeber, bei dem ich eigentlich meine Bachelorarbeit schreiben will, aber das ist noch ein anderes nicht so interessantes Thema, hat mich gefragt, ob ich für einen längeren Zeitraum nach Kanada möchte um dort eine Wartung eines Flugzeuges zu begleiten. Kurze Info zur Firma: Das Unternehmen operiert Europaweit Geschäftsflugzeuge und kümmert sich um die Aufrechterhaltung der Lufttüchtigkeit, sprich den TÜV. Eines dieser Flugzeuge, eine Bombardier Global ... read more

I was sort of intrigued when friends decided that Montreal would be their next vacation destination. I was actually quite surprised as I thought we were headed to England & Scotland. But I am flexible. “Count me in” I said. And with the weak American Dollar, I was not looking forward to the financial ouch of European travel with conversion of the lagging American Dollar to the British Pound or Euros. And I can speak French and would enjoy a Parisian style ambiance without the 7 hour flight time for a pittance of a trip to France. As a devotee of haute French Cuisine, I could be useful translating French menus in a flash for not so French cuisine addicted friends. I was surprised by the small Delta Connection aircraft from NYC to Pierre Trudeau Airport ... read more

1. Even though I never get to see them often enough, I'm completely at home with them. And I never get told to use my "inside voice" by Shane because I am never the loudest in the room around them! 2. We are all either laughing or crying together...when one starts the rest of us start too! Thankfully it's almost always laughter! 3. They got us free tickets to a Just For Laughs magic show, which was great fun. And then Auntie Di entertained everyone once she figured out one of the card tricks! 4. Getting lost on the drive home after the magic show, which was equally entertaining! Special mention goes to two cousins, Brandon "I've got a good feeling about this way" Rae and Lindsay "I can't find my house of the map" Rae. ... read more