A visit from California

Mum and Dad arrived on Thursday. I went to class in the morning and took my first test, a quiz on the types and forms of sentences, then went to the first half of my Eastern European politics course in the afternoon. After a quick walk in the underground tunnels connecting l’UQAM to the métro, I got on the train, then the bus, and then another bus. An hour and fifteen minutes later, I arrived at the surprisingly small Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport. Compared to when I waited for Lauren the month prior, I only hung around for about half an hour before my parents were visible from my point in the crowd. Soon enough, we were in a taxi (what luxury!) on our way back into Montréal. Being relatively well established at their hotel room, we bought them some tourist passes for the metro, at a relatively good price too. We passed by my place, and I showed them my room. It is, as I have mentioned in the past, nothing grand but it works for me! We need grabbed some more public transport, during which they remarked at the heat of the metro stations. I had forgotten about it, as it is something that you just get used to after a while. We soon arrived at our destination, La Croissantrie Figaro, where Gabrielle works, in the Mild End. It is quite a cute resto, French and cute all at once! The lightening is a little bit darker than most people are accustomed to, but it adds to the atmosphere. We had a great conversation, and it a lovely seeing them again. We hoped on the bus back and called it a night.

Friday, I showed them as much of Montréal as I thought possible in one day. We climbed up the mountain, which was lovely with all the leaves having changed colours. It was raining rather heavy, but it was pleasant all the same. Lunch time arrived quite quickly, so we went to La Banquise for some POUTINE! I got regular poutine with hot dog slices mixed in, while Mum and Dad got mince with theirs. A walk around le Plateau Mont Royal, followed by another walk around Vieux Montréal ended the tourist part of the day. We then met up with Lauren and her mum for dinner at an Italian restaurant, then we called it a night because we were up early in the morning for the trip to Québec City.

Saturday morning consisted of our drive up to the provincial capital. It was really, really, really pretty. My favourite childhood pastime of walking through piles of leaves was fulfilled on numerous occasions. If you ever do the trip between Quebec City and Montréal, take Le Chemin du Roy. It takes longer, but is well worth it. The capital was similarly very pretty. We finished Saturday with a walk through the Upper and Lower Old Town and some calzone for dinner. It was a great day!

Sunday was a similarly fantastic day, albeit cold. We did some more historical visits around town, then we went to Montmerency Falls. The waterfall is 1.5 times the height of Niagara, and it was really quite spectacular. You get a gondola up to the top, walk over the falls, then you take the steps down the side of the cliff. The views were great. After the falls, I wanted to see l’Île d’Orléans, so we drove through that. The village of Ste. Pétronille is relatively well known for being picturesque, which is most certainly was. Our dinner back in Québec City was in the more locals-focused area, and the dinner was delicious. It also started snowing!!!!!!!!!!! It was my first snow in Canada, and I have a video uploaded to prove it!

Coming back was still a great drive, and we arrived back in Montréal around 5pm, as did the groceries and MICROWAVE that Mum and Dad got me! It has been put to good use, no need to worry! Tuesday morning included a lovely breakfast at their hotel, then some lunch at a quirky restaurant that I really enjoy in the Plateau. I continually forget its name, but I know what it looks like J They left on Tuesday afternoon, and I can’t wait to see them and the rest of the family at Christmas!

Here is quick photo to give you an idea of the leaves!