Canadia part two

[nathan_nothing]

Hello kind readers, here comes part five of my epic journey.  I arrived in New York last night and that part of the trip has gone quite wrong and I want to go home, but more on that subject later.

Before that, Montreal was pretty great.

Comments

Re: They're cheese curds, by the way. Bring me back some with a can of gravy!

[nathan_nothing]

All is not well but some things are.

[bitbat]

I'm gonna have to look back to see when and where you started this grand tour... I seem to have missed the very beginning

take care, and I hope there's lots more good stuff to come for you
x

[nathan_nothing]

I flew to Los Angeles on Wednesday 19th August. Away home this Wednesday coming, so a full four week trip.

[gavlees]

Stop trying to be all cosmopolitan with your Frenchy-froggy speaking. We all know that everyone understands English if it's LOUD and S-L-O-W.

Sorry to hear about New York woes - hope it was nothing too serious.

[nathan_nothing]

No, just disappointment, shame and regret. Not any shame or regret actually. Bad times for my intended hosts so my thoughts are with them and mustn't grumble.

[nemesis_to_go]

I found the Frenchness of Montreal to be un peu faux, personally. They seem so insistent that everything has to be really, really, really French, to the point where it almost gets like a Monty Python sketch at times.

The classic example is the stop signs: in France, they say 'STOP'. But that's not French enough for les Canadiens français, so in Quebec the stop signs say 'ARRET'. If you fancy a bargain bucket in most countries, you'd pop down to KFC. In Quebec, you have to go to PFK - which stands for the reassuringly Francophone (but frankly a bit daft) Poulet Frit Kentucky.

It's all a bit silly and completely inconsistent. I mean, General Motors don't have to call themselves Moteurs Généraux as soon as they cross the border. And there's a thing: if the Quebequois are so complètement français, how come they don't buy French cars? You'd think it would be a prime market for the old country, but when I went to Montreal it was Detroit and Tokyo tin on every street. I didn't see a single Citroen.

Ils sont des types bizarres, je dis!

[nathan_nothing]

I didn't notice too much of that, but I did think the Arret signs looked odd. I did notice a "Le Body Shop", which I guess may as well have been "Le Magasin du Corps" or something excessive.

Good point about the cars. I forgot to write how Canadian number plate slogans are slightly sillier than American ones. "Beautiful British Columbia" might be accurate but is rather pompous, but their new design, with some stuff about the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, wins the competition hands down: "The Best Place In The World"! "Ontario: yours to discover" sounds really gay, and although I was told there's serious history in "Québec: je me souviens", I think it looks rather funny as if they're stating that they remember where they live or where Québec is!

[ravennoir]

hehe my ex is from Montreal.I actually miss it quite often.I enjoy reading of your adventures:)