Vive Montreal!

I have seen the future and it is on two wheels!

Montreal is absolutely brilliant! We arrived Sunday night with the intention of having a quick look around and are still here (leaving Wednesday after the footy).

My head is spinning with all sorts of things about Montreal. For example, there are bike routes everywhere in which the bikes have their own separate screened off lanes. Not surprisingly there are millions of bikers. We took advantage of this civilized urban opportunity today and peddled across town with the kids on the tag along bikes to the "Biodome" which started life as the velodrome for the 1976 Olympic Games.

Another cool thing about Montreal is that I can't figure out why I didn't need to catch a plane to get here. It is so INCREDIBLY different from anywhere else I have ever been. It feels a lot like France but is undoubtedly North American and yet it seems like nowhere else I have been in North America.

Today is "Quebec Day" (which is fab timing) and there was a parade and a huge festival down at the old Olympic park. They allow the public consumption of alcohol here (at least it is tolerated) and yet everybody was cool, no trouble, no scallies, no overly-aggressive cops. Very impressive.

During the day it absolutely poured with rain. We had run out of cash and the corner cafe we dived into for shelter didn't take visa. Amazingly they sat us down and made us some food anyway. How cool is that? I made it to the cash-point in the end so was able to pay but I was so impressed by their warmth. While we were in there I got talking to Enrique....a Quebec Nationalist. I have never given this much thought before but he described how the Francophone-based culture is being eroded by immigrants to Quebec who learn English instead of French and adopt an English-Canadian approach to naturalization. He welcomes the immigrants but wants to use political means to preserve the French culture. Without knowing any of the details, it seems to me that any dilution of the unique character and culture of this wonderful place would be bad news.

I have, however, struggled to banish thoughts of Blackadder III. I am thinking of the French aristocracy episode with "Le Pimpernel Scarlett" and the enormous trousers etc.

"Vive indeed"!!!

PS: Sorry for the lack of pics. Dead camera. Will try and solve before New Hampshire which is our next stop.