OK, I got it off my chest a couple of days ago. Travelwise, the return from Montreal ranks high on the list of bad trips I have taken. Montreal itself, however, was a whole different experience. In addition, it was unexpectedly warm...the first few days had highs in the 70's, and lows in the 50's, followed by a few with highs in the 50's.
There were a number of highlights, which I'll talk about in coming days. Basically, they boiled down to the food, the wine, the antiquity, the churches, and the opportunity to practice speaking French.
I'll start with the language. In Montreal, most people are bilingual, French and English. I grew up an Army brat, and I learned to speak French as a child when we lived in Verdun for four years. In fact, my first two years of grade school were spent in a French school.
When we moved on, we reverted to English and never used the French. So I took four years of it in high school, and some in college, and then, never used it.
I've been to France a couple of times since, and found myself falling into using the language, though my vocabulary was limited, and I got over my head easily.
In Montreal, it didn't matter that I got in over my head. All I had to do was ask them to change to English, and things moved right along. That motivated me to stick my neck out and try my French on a regular basis, and in just a week, I found myself defaulting to "bonjour" and "merci".
Sandy, who'd been to Montreal before and also had studied French was also right in there "s'il-vous plait-ing" like a native.
I'd love to go back for a longer period, just for the immersion in the language (and the wine, and the food, and the cobblestones...). I've heard Quebec is just as beautiful. Either way, I'd love to take a month of vacation some time and rent a small apartment and just concentrate on the language.
Right now, the prospect of a month off makes me salivate, but the chances are right up there with winning the lottery.
That doesn't mean you can't do it.
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