Montreal, 18-20 July

Up early in a rainy, flooded NYC, off to Penn Station for the 10hr Am Trak train ride to Montreal.

The journey is slow and frequently stops, but a good chance to catch up on much needed rest and relaxation!

The border officials on the Canadian side are much more strict than I imagined. Aussies all come out of the woodwork, it turns out there are 5 of us within just 2 seat rows! haha. Kokoda Track...

Arrival in Montreal good though, it is quiet, hardly a soul around, neat and tidy. Dinner includes poutine, which is French Fries with chicken type gravy and melted cheese. You know I loved it! the strawberry cheesecake though was on the huge size.

French speaking is funny here, as everyone we have met speaks perfect English also, so it becomes a matter of me trying to say something in French, but for the receiver to reply in English...ah well, so much for getting some practise!

All signs are either bi-lingual or in French only. One interesting one is that the road sign for STOP is "ARRETE", yet in France they have "STOP"! I guess after 200 yrs they develope their own thing. "Ice Tea", which is the same in France is "The Glace" in Canada.

The TV stations tend to dub alot of English programs to French too, which is interesting for me but annoying for Keith, who prefers the English TV!

Also notice quite a difference to all the incessant NYC TV drug ads, Canada seems to have all its own advertising more for home goods.

The chain stores here are all local too, and most of the brand names I have never heard of. Fantastic!

We take a walk underground - they have a shopping city underground, linking half the city, its quite an amazing experience, using 2 maps, one for above ground and one for below. The metro is reminicent of the Paris Metro, but the ticketing is slightly more archaic, you place your ticket in a box and the station guard buzzes you through. Its clean and very quick.

Also lucky for us there is a carnival in town in the Latin Quarter. They shut off some streets and all the street theatre is out showing its wares. It reminds me somewhat of Edinburgh during the Festival, but warmer! One interesting one was two people dressed up as Indian gods doing funky hair designs to people off the street, all to Indian dance music, hilarious and enthralling to see their creations.

The rain soon came though, and we are quite drenched today on our way to Quebec. The walk from the train station to the hotel was up up up. Soaked but successful in our quest for the hotel, we rest up well. Tomorrow, the sun is supposed to shine!!