The Scars Are Healing

When Jay was 8, Montreal held the World Expo. It was a grand moment for Montreal and for all of Canada. His Grandfather took his parents and three oldest siblings to Montreal to experience this historic event.

Jay and his twin stayed behind in Stratford, Ontario with their Aunt Ril.

The scars are just now healing.

Now, staying with Aunt Ril was usually cause for celebration, given any other circumstances, but knowing that you were missing one of the worlds greatest cultural and technological events produced a deep and lasting wound.

But it's o.k. now. He knew he would see Montreal someday. And he is now.

One of the first insights that we gained about Montreal are the frenzied and vicarious personalities of their freeways. We were warned about them, and it's true. People in Montreal drive as if they have all attended the New York Taxi Cab School of Driving. Better yet, just imagine what driving these freeways, that twist and turn throughout the city, is like in 5:45pm rush hour traffic... when you are driving Big Blue, and you are a total of 72 feet long.

New scars are forming.

Ok, and what of Montreal?

We're not kidding when we say that we have never encountered a city that has more concurrent road construction underway than this beautiful city. We believe that this must be road-cone mating season, as they are out in abundance everywhere you look. And while it does deserve to be described as beautiful, it is at the same time very urban with area of blight and the typical graffiti.

While Blue is in the shop, Jay and Michelle are making lemonade out of lemons, and playing tourist. And having the Jeep really makes a difference. It's a fun and versatile vehicle that is perfect for tight city driving.

We drove downtown a few days ago and discovered St. Catherine's Street, which is a long (12 blocks or so?) street of retail stores. The amount of people on the streets at 4:30pm was staggering - it brought up images of Hong Kong. We didn't park and walk the street but perhaps we will do that today.

Spending any time in the province of Quebec impresses upon you how dang French the folks here are. Everyone we have met in Montreal speaks French. Everyone. The good news is that everyone has also spoken English. And they have been very gracious about it. No snobbery. Just sort of "Ok, let's speak English". However, it is clear that French is their first language, as their English is typically spoken with a heavy accent and they are much less confident in speaking it.

Getting directions over the phone can be a real adventure. They say things like "turn left at Saint Zhuh. Ask for Tim LeBluh.

Zhuh? LeBluh? How do you spell that.

Saint Jean. Tim LeBlanc.

Oh.....

Dang. Should have taken French in high school.

The prognosis on Blue is that the transmission must be rebuilt. As this should have been determined LAST WEEK when we took it in to be repaired, the labor to remove and install it will be covered by the shop. But the rebuild is our cost. Sigh. They should know all the parts that will be needed later today, and they will confirm availability of the parts, and that exercise will determine the timeline on the repair. Our crude estimate is that we will be road worthy by Tuesday of next week. Maybe sooner. Probably not.

Thanks for checking in. We'll have some pictures and hopefully a better sense of our travel calendar on Sunday.

Au Revior!