Behind Julie's in Montreal

You know that thing people call boredom?
Not happening!

A friend was telling me recently how life always seems more exciting for others, especially when they are traveling. Well, fair enough, I can't judge for anyone else, however, though this week was full of events, some of them we will certainly be calling funny anecdotes in a few years, if you see what I mean.

So yeah, this week, though slow, has been pretty full of random events including and not excluding getting lost next to the US border without a passport and seeing my friend handcuffed by a couple of border officers whose IQ also bordered on the retard (about 25 put together at a wild shot), trying to buy my ticket to New Zealand via internet for 3 days consecutive and finding out that my credit card payment was being refused, but then finding out it is currently being used fraudulently by someone in London (where I last was in about 1999).. hours of Transatlantic conversations with my useless banker, riding my bike 140 km along the St Lawrence River, and more shockingly finding out it's really fun to watch hockey (after going to see a group of alpha males practising at the local hockey rink :D )

Tiger, Julien, Max

Un week end on va se balader dans les Cantons de l Est
Au chalet de Luc
Au verger de Val Caudalies, chez les amis de Julien, on boit du bon cidre glacé!! :o)

It was really freaky to see bike come out of box like that (see above)
After way too long though, bike was put together and I set off towards Trois-Rivieres with my Mr. cRockadile much lighter weighted.. The ride was very fun and beautiful, though cold of course. After the 90 km run on the 2nd day I was getting pretty wrecked (hell I'm getting old, tired knees!!)
I stopped in Trois-Rivieres and met up with my friend Véro, also not seen in 3 years, it was soo soo nice to see her!!
We had a real good time... knitting (so what's new? :P) and she doing courtepointe.
Derriere chez Vero, l'amour passe a travers le linge!! :o)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fd7xTxQjPhE
I love Trois-Rivieres.. they decided to make it cultural capital of something or other, and amongst others, there is a poetry festival every year. All over the town there are about 350 plaques with verses from different authors' poems (mostly from Quebec I think) and this on the photo above is actually a monument to the Unknown Poet.. Legendary!!
The box next to it is a boîte a poemes, like a letter box for people to go and deliver their poems. Brilliant!!
Thursday I was going to ride back towards Montreal, but it started snowing, so I got lazy and took a ride back in a car.

On the bright side, I found a swimming-pool in Trois-Rivieres and got to pay the insane price of 8 bucks to go and take a dip (kraest *whimper*).. well, the actual price was *only* 6 bucks, but then you get to the changing rooms and find out the only solution to get your locker to lock is... rent a lock. For an extra 2 bucks. (?!) but It s ok, you can buy one at the shop next door if you prefer, quote. Hmmm.
Snow in Trois-Rivieres!!

Now it's Sunday night and instead of heavily procrastinating I should be packing my stuff, as I am leaving for the airport in about 3 and a half hours to go and catch a plane to Guatemala to see my sister (yipee!!)
BUT, we are watching the Godfather, so I guess (as usual) my case will be packed in 3 minutes, 5 minutes after the time we should have left, and I'll probably be wondering why I have 3 gloves and no swimming-costume.

Oh well, I guess... you learn... :o)

Retour a Montréal!! :o)

A view of Halifax airport..
Montréal vu du ciel
Puis Montréal underground!! :o)

Well well, hello again.
Funny, I m back in Montréal at last, and writing in English feels strange now, probably because I am experiencing every day en francais dans le texte..

When I was elsewhere imagining my coming back to Quebec, i often thought I d have this song in my head, by Ariane Moffat, a singer from here..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2dSxQQhi_o

In the event, it wasn t in my head.. I was coming from St John s, wasn t I? She s coming back from Paris in her song.. :o)

The last couple of nights in St John s were a little strange.. Even if Noofnland (as they pronounce it) is ok, I was beginning to feel it was time for me to move on, and I was really looking forward to coming back to QC (after 3 years!!!)
Dunno if it was the weather, or if I was homesick (where the hell is home now anyway?) or what, but the jizz wasn t there, I wanted out.

Gros Morne was very nice though... beautiful colours, very friendly people, really a nice area of the island, definitely worth the trip. As I hitch hiked back I even got to spot my first 2 moose!! :o)

On the downside, more or less the moment I got back to my host s flat in StJ, he was being burgled, which made for a pretty awkward atmosphere for the last day or so, and much ruminating on how much some people really SUCK.

Sunday I had to be at the airport around 4 am. Not having an alarm clock is always fun in these cases (mental note: get one!!) so I got a sweet little taste of nightshift back on my brains. Because of burglary and collateral damage, plane trip and a very fun time at the first Montreal ska festival on Sunday night, by the time I went to bed on Monday morning, I hadnt slept for... hmmm.. not quite 40 hours. And it s strange, cause it didn t even feel like it. The excitement of being back I guess!

Sunday evening I met up with Louis-Philip, a friend I had picked fruit with in the Okanagan back in 2005, and we went to this ska festival which was really totally AWESOME. You can check out the programme here http://www.montrealskafestival.ca/
It was all the more great as I ve been feeling an urge to see good live muse recently..
There was actually a Newfie band playing, they were quite fun, but Chris Murray and the Slackers, and especially The Fabulous Lolo crooning her rock steady, mmmmh!!!
Actually, I m over the moon at being back here!! :o)

I'm staying with Julie and Martin.. Julie I met in Iceland last year. She picked me up at the airport, dunno what I'd have done otherwise.. not so easy to be mobile with a bicycle box bigger than you, entre autres! (was very funny moving in the airport with that on my trolley, couldn't see over the box.. help, small French menace ahead!! Tous aux abris!!!!)
My friend Enoal has been living in Montreal for the last 5 years, and I hadn't seen him in about 8 or 9, since university, we hung out down town on this beautiful sunny day!!
It s always nice to see friends, but there s something really special about people you ve known for AGES.. :o)
Today Enoal and I went up the tower of the Olympic stadium.. nice view on the town. Apparently on a clear day you can see at a distance of up to 80 km! La ville tentaculaire.. We went off to the botanical garden close by.. Cool garden furniture there! Flintstone Enoal.. :o) A few more days in the city and I'll be heading off to probably Trois-Rivieres to see Veronique and knit some more and watch Dirty Dancing, hihihi!

Seminorth of the Island

A few preview pics of a trip North.
After finding out on the day of my arrival that the last ferry to Nova Scotia via Argentia (130 km from St John's where I was headed, see Placentia Bay and St John's far right on map), I resigned to having to catch a ferry from Port aux Basques, about 1000 km from St John's, see far left beyond Corner Brook.
How to get there with a bike?
1) hitch hike- Pro: fun/adventurous/random - Contra: try hitch hiking 1000 km with a bike in a country full of bears (in the rain) and we'll talk about it.
2) put bike on bus then on ferry- Pro: why not?- Contra: bus fare 109 CAD+ bike 26 CAD+ ferry 30 CAD + ferry for bike 13 CAD (+taxes?) = about 180 + having to pack the bike to leave at 7.30 am from a street corner to go on a 12 hour milk run to the ferry terminal. NO thanks.
3) book a flight to Nova Scotia- Pro: same price as bus, 1h50 minutes instead of 20- Contra: have to pack bike all the same and get it to airport + have to reduce luggage drastically.

Anyway.. cut a long story short (one of my specialties recently it seems..) I will end up having to shed a lot of my load, as I have booked a flight direct to Montreal for next Sunday, departure 5.30am from St John's. And will end up having to pack bike and cart afore-mentionned to airport and and and, but even if a little *disappointed* to miss Nova Scotia and not be cycling there, I'm quite happy with my choice of going to Quebec directly, as for some reason I'm starting to feel under pressure with time.

In the meantime, I hitch hiked to Gros Morne on Monday, about 800 km from St John's (see top left again).. an incredibly beautiful national park in NL. Driving through it I was thinking "wow, had I known, I would have come earlier" but I didn't, and anyway I was cosily knitting with Christine, so that's no time wasted.

I have yet to explore.. On the way up I saw this buddy
a youngster bald eagle, bouncing very statelily on his branch..

Spent the night in Woody Point in "the House that time forgot" (THANKS BILL!!!)
Woody Point is a most beautiful little settlement on Bonne Bay (pronounce Bombay).. there are a lot of crafty people there, and incidently a shop where they sell the most gorgeous and sweet-smelling wool ever. I will hardly admit to the fact of having bought half my life saving's worth of wool after sending back half the amount I bought back to Iceland the day previous.
On fait ce qu'on peut! :P


Hiking in Gros Morne today.. there are quite a few bears (pronounce bare, Einar, ekki beer) and 8000 moose. Apparently that's a big problem, especially since they are not endemic animals, but were introduced in NL so that hunters could have their sport; and yet it is not allowed to hunt in a national park. So the vegetation is turning pretty flat. Considering a moose can eat up to 40kg of plants a day, that's a lot of forest disappearing down their moosely tummies!!
And despite there being 8000 and trying to follow a couple of moosetrodden tracks, I never saw one.. but a lot of hoofprints!And beardung..
Baker's brook falls
A view from Berry hillThe lighthouse at Lobster Cove
And our jolly sailor who'll hitch back to St John's on Friday to catch her flight excruciatingly early Sunday.

Bless bless!

I told you it was Christmas!!

Well, I was cycling back into St John's today and saw this guy on the side of the road. It was very sunny and even warm today, October the 3rd .. *sigh*