"Lovely and Snowy"

Church in Saint-Sauveur















Classic little street in Montreal. Note the Quebec flag next to center tree.














Montreal was "lovely and snowy" as Spin put it. It was very snowy in fact, and about five days out of 11 there was some snowfal. The up side to all that was that it was mild weather condition for the most part and we were not uncomfortable. It was great fun visiting my family and for the first time in I don't know how long, we were all four siblings together. My Sis did not miss an opportunity to let us know just how miserable she is and how terrible it is for her and her children that her husband left her. She also complained at lenght about how her brand new house (three stories, including basement, with three bedrooms, a large kitchen with all new appliances, huge yard, wood floors, fireplace, etc) was so much not as nice as what she should be living in! Meanwhile, "back at the ranch", I don't have a dishwasher, dryer, fancy stove, or storage space, but really, I don't care. I'm rather content with my wierdo house that is old and funky, except for the pincher bugs that plague my bedroom, and the occasional ant invasion. But, hey, we live in california, and an old, slab house.

Other than that, I had a great time, bought a ton of music and films that do not reach the us, chatted in french with loads of folks and that was grand. I now want to be served in french at every store I enter! It feels like such a challenge sometimes to live your life in a foreign language! (English) It was so fun even that I now miss the snow, and we had to dig the huge truck we rented (a 4X4 jeep, that was the biggest thing I ever went in, but it did serve its purpose for two out of practice snow drivers on country roads that have not seen a grate or snowblower for three snow storms) out of the snow to make it in time to the airport to return home yesterday morning!

Here are a couple of pics of our adventures.