My first stop on my trip back home was Montreal, Quebec. It's going to be a long one.
I left Middlebury on Saturday August 17 and drove into Montreal that same day. I was pretty exhausted from re-packing my car in a livable manner, having it unpacked again by the Canadian border control, and re-packing it again. So I was just going to read then go to bed.
But my hostel in Montreal had an attached bar. I would just have one beer, chat for a little while, then go to bed at 10.
But, I met a couple of friendly Canadian guys in their early thirties who took me out to a karaoke bar, and suddenly it was past midnight.
I met a couple of German girls at the hostel with whom I could communicate haltingly in German. They used a cutesy version of goodbye that I'd not learnt at Middlebury: "Ciao ciao", all run together and said with the second syllable held out, like "good-ba-eye".
The next day, I went to a crepe place Owen recommended. Very friendly staff and good food.
I read De Daumier-Smith's Blue Period from J. D. Salinger after breakfast, which takes place mainly in Verdun, a neighborhood in Montreal. So I took the subway there and wandered for a while. Montreal's subway system is pleasant, and so was Verdun. It was a poor neighborhood in the 50s when the story was written but that has very much changed.
Finally I went to Sunday Mass in a nearby church. It was all in French. But I am growing more familiar with the order of the Mass, so it was still comprehensible.
Then on Monday, I went for a run by the port of Montreal and through Old Town. Gorgeous.
Next was a Mass in the Basilica of Notre Dame in Montreal. Stunning.
That evening I lay in the so-called "hot tub" on the roof of the hostel. Great view, but it was a lukewarm tub.
On my last day, I went once more to Mass in the Basilica. The building with its beauty and the priest with his reverence inspired me.
And I hiked Mount Royal, also at Owen's recommendation. Thanks, O.
Finally I slept at an interstate rest stop.
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