This wasn't the first time that I took a trip by myself (that would be Mexico earlier this summer) and I wasn't really alone as I was meeting up with some friends who live in Montreal. I planned to meet up with a friend from home, Bob, who I haven't seen in a few years and just finished up his degree in Montreal. Another friend, let's call her Mon Amie, who I met a year ago through my new favorite activity (some may call obsession) called CouchSurfing, invited me to crash at her apartment.
After briefly catching up with Mon Amie before she went to work, I took a brisk walk to the nearest Metro station. I eagerly approached the local gas station employee to ask for directions in French. Ok well, we spoke in English but I did ask if she spoke English in French. It's a start. I realized I had no Canadian currency, or Monopoly Money as my mother always referred to it growing up, and had to find an ATM. This led to my first encounter with non-English speaking Quebecois! After throwing in a few words in French, and a myriad hand signals, I got some cash and bought my 3 day Metro pass.
Mon Amie worked until midnight and Bob and his band were shooting a music video on a boat somewhere until 9 so I had a few hours to explore. I walked around aimlessly for awhile, bought a map since I couldn't find the tourist center and gave the rest of the fries that I couldn't eat to some friendly vagabonds from Vancouver. I was quite tired so I grabbed une biere at my favorite poutine place, Frite Alor.
Bob invited me to a book debut of a friend of his who just published a book of short stories. It was held in someone's apartment downtown and it turned out to be quite interesting. We listened to the author read some of his stories, drank some Tecates, and listened to his friends' band play a few songs.
Thanks to the great Metro and bus system, I managed to make it back right on time to meet Mon Amie to go to a party that she invited me to. We drove through the rich "English" section of town, far from her own neighborhood that she referred to as "Proletariat." This was a good introduction as I got to meet several self-proclaimed anti-capitalists, social democrats, anarchists and Québec separatists. Clearly, to say that I was excited would be an understatement. I learned some interesting things about Quebec politics and their relationship with the rest of Canada, which to many of these folks is another country.
The following day Mon Amie introduced me to perhaps my favorite Quebecois novelty; Bixi bikes. These are bikes that you rent for five bucks that you can use for up to 24 hours. You can only use them for 30 minutes at a time in order to allow everyone a chance at riding them. There are tons of pick-up/drop-off stations throughout the city so if your time is running up, you just have to drop off the bike and pick up a new one...simplicity. We went all around the city in these bikes, stopping in between to walk around the old section, grab a bite to eat and watch the fireworks at night. The last day we visited the Mont Royal Park. There was a massive jumbai drumming session that takes place every Sunday over the summer. I was a little out of it after two nights of the Montreal night life so this relaxation was much appreciated.
Throughout much of the weekend I caught myself daydreaming about living in this ville magnifique. Maybe some day...
Je t'aime Montréal
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