I’ve just wheeled over in Quebec City to scoop wifi and get online for the first time today. I’ve come up with a sneaky way to “fish” for wifi in a new city. As I drive through, I throw the iPod Touch on the dash with the wifi settings panel opened up. When I see an unsecured wifi connection I’ll pull over (potentially having to drive around for a block or so to get a good signal) and turn on the macbook so I can get on the internet for real.

This morning started off with a short, but scenic, drive through farmland to Montreal. I’ve never been to Montreal but have always wanted to go there to check it out. The thought of being in a French-speaking community appeals to me and every few years I debate moving there. The only problem is it’s a smaller city, I don’t know anyone there, and I don’t speak much French. I think one day, when I’ve made my fortune, I’ll have to go there for real and enroll in a French program. 

So I was pretty excited when I drove into Montreal for the first time! I found parking downtown right away and jumped out of the car to start exploring. Rue Ste-Catherine seemed like an interesting strip and I made my way down it. It was still early so there weren’t many people out so I got to look things over while it was still quiet. Once I’d made my way west I decided to head up towards Parc Mont-Royal, so named by Jacques Cartier who was the first European to scale it when the local natives guided him to the top in 1535. It’s a huge and scenic park. The view from the top is amazing!

After going back down into downtown it was time for some food. On Rue Ste-Catherine I’d spotted a cool looking diner called Nickel’s. Now that I’m looking at their website (www.nickelsrestaurants.com), I realize it’s a chain owned by Celine Dion! Agh! That’s like thinking you found a great bar only to discover that it’s owned by Nickelback. 

At any rate, it was a cool place, and I got thrown into the French-speaking world when the waitress started in with the French. I tried my best to keep up and I did manage to get some things across in French. Her English was far superior to my French though and I’m a little disappointed with myself for not taking more time to learn French in the past. This may strike you as funny, but I feel that as a Canadian I should at least have a grasp of French since it is one of our official languages. It’s always humbling when you go somewhere with a new language, try to speak to people, and they have this excellent command of English in addition to their native tongue. 

After breakfast it was time to check out the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, which I’d passed on my initial walk through downtown. The exhibition was the work of Yves Saint Laurent, who I’ve never heard of, and didn’t know what to expect walking in. Turns out he’s a famous fashion designer who brought women’s wardrobes into the modern age. When I first walked in I thought, “I paid $15 to check out fashion?!?” I was prepared to accept that I’d been ripped off and thought it would be a short tour through the exhibition. Turns out it was an incredible exhibition! I had no idea you could do so much with fashion. One display showed the collection inspired from different places in the world, like China, Russia, Morocco, and most colorfully, Africa. Another was based on different painters such as Mondrian (whose work also inspired the White Stripes red and white stylings) and Monet. Monet was particularity interesting since a wedding dress had been designed using Monet’s style as inspiration.

I was quite impressed with Yves Saint Laurent’s work and glad I’d taken a chance on the exhibition. I also investigated the gallery’s permanent collection of paintings which included a number of paintings by the Group of Seven. There was even a Tom Thompson painting in there, even though Tom Thompson passed away prior to the Group of Seven becoming an official group. His paintings are some of my favorites and it was great to see his work again. 

After that, I headed to Trois Rivieres for dinner at a wonderful little place with a patio. Again, my French wasn’t the best, but it got me by. Trois Rivieres is a neat spot too. Small, funky, and well worth checking out! I’m going to make a point of stopping there again on my way back. 

Tonight I’m going to head a little way out of Quebec City with the goal of being in Fredericton tomorrow.