cerealjoe | Entries tagged with pix:canada2010:montreal

Ah, les temps sont durs, faut faire des économies partout. Mais bon, le train non-chauffé le matin alors qu'il fait 0°C dehors, je trouve que c'est un peu limite de la part de la SNCF. D'habitude on se croirait dans un four mais là on s'est amusé à regarder la buée quand on respirait. C'est pas très pratique pour lire non plus... mes gants ne sont pas l'outil idéal pour tourner les pages.

Et puis c'est un de ces jours où je me dis que j'aurais mieux fait de rester au chaud, j'ai complètement zappé le fait que j'ai laissé mon déjeuner dans le frigo ce matin. Bah! C'est pas grave, il y a où acheter de bons trucs à manger par ici mais ce midi je devais manger de la purée de pomme de terre faite maison avec une sauce aux champignons aussi faite maison et des kiwis pour le dessert. Ca sera pour ce soir alors!

In other news I will probably have two more films to scan tonight so I should get the redscale one posted. Here is one of the reasons I love the Diana family: you can have multiple exposures and advance the film as much or as little as you want.

(click to see a much larger version of that image)

Montréal. End of August 2010. Diana Mini. Redscale 100.

( +3x2 - more of the canal and some other things )

All good things must come to an end and this is the final entry on Canada (up until I finish the Diana Mini roll and get it developed). About 140 double photos later, that's it! Starting tomorrow there will be new exciting adventures known as "going back to work", you should see my schedule (settle in/meeting/lunch/meeting/discussion/meeting/project thingy thing).

Lots of love for the country, lots of love for the lovely people of Quebec and lots of love to everyone who hasn't complained about the hundreds of photos and random babbles.

That bottom photo was taken from the bus to the airport. Now this is advice for peeps who might be coming to Montreal later on, those express buses will not stop if they are "full" to pick up people and they will not put more on the line during rush hour. So yes, you might have to wait an hour and a half to get an express bus that will stop to pick you up to go to the airport. Also, their definition of "full" is a bit strange because honestly if people didn't mind being a tad squished, twice as many people would get on and it wouldn't have been such a mess with people waiting for over an hour. Thank goodness I only had to wait for half an hour and at least it's apparently much better than it used to be, before you only had a normal city bus going from the airport!

I wish you had those limousine buses from Korean airports everywhere. From now on I'll forever compare transports to and from airports to those buses!

( 2x2 more photos - waiting in airports and flying )

My last night in Montreal I caught the start of the Festival des Films du Monde and the first outdoor screening. The film was Que la fête commence... from 1975, a proper French film d'époque, with Philippe Noiret and the forever-amazing Jean Rochefort. Alas there were no subtitles and many left early on as not everyone enjoys those kinds of productions.

I could probably watch anything as long as Rochefort's voice is there. Heck, I even got into equestrian sports because he was the commentator for those during the Athens Olympics!

The best part is that many people came prepared with their own folding chairs. You could also borrow a small pillow to sit on. Such brilliant organisation!

( 5x2 more photos - sky at night, reading lamps and more random food )

Things that make my morning: calling a place to know if they develop film (those places are getting so rare these days!) and having them tell me that they not only develop film but they also have a parking lot. It might sound strange but small places in Marseille on busy streets usually don't have one and that means either you park "en triple file" or you leave the car far away. Well, I could cycle there but I also need to go visit my friends at an SNCF boutique so I can get the papers to get my monthly pass TER + RTM.

Fun times this morning.

Back in Montreal though, the adventures along the old port continue!

They now have wifi along there and you can download and listen to stories related to the old port. Those stories are kind of cute and I would love to be able to tell you if those stories were in French or in English but I can't remember. They probably were in French.

( 7x2 more photos - listening to concerts, enjoying the rain and more adventures of that kind )

Well, it's good to be back home. Although now I'm starting to panic because "home" is no longer Helsinki and that's kind of scary and I have to commute to Toulon next week already. Driving down from the airport proved a good point though, you can't substitute driving experience in Marseille. If anyone asks me how to drive to the house from the airport I wouldn't be able to explain, I really don't know in my head but once on the road, the route just makes sense.

Oh and I was welcomed with one of the most impressively strong Mistal we've had in a while!

Of course the next few entries will still contain photos of Montreal! On Thursday I took the metro to the Atwater market and walked back to town from there because I wanted to see at least one of the locks on the canal.

It just so happened that the market wasn't all that interesting but I had one of the best pain aux raisins ever there. It was buttery, it was perfect!

( 10x2 more photos - locks, chess, ports and up until the start of the really touristy area )

Apparently yesterday was some kind of "demonstration"/"go on strike" day around Montreal. I was walking back from Chinatown and the Old Port when I saw two demonstrations complete with signs and all of that. Then in the evening I was one more.

While walking down some small streets in essentially what is Little Italy I noticed these two papers plastered on almost every lamppost. I don't know if it's because I grew up surrounded by what was supposed to be communism but these pamphlets amuse me so much. Yes, the world is fucked up but who can really think that everything can be solved by blaming the rich people. Sure they have money, if they didn't someone else would have it and be rich. It's not like in "communist" areas there are no rich people.

And world-famous-bagels #2. I took the exact same ones I got at Fairmount. I'm not quite sure which ones I liked best. All I know is that they're still both better than the regular store ones.

I should start thinking of going to go get my bags and head to the airport. I have no idea how the security lines are these days... I hope nothing as bad as at JFK, after all this is a much smaller airport. And my planes leaves at almost midnight. Midnight! I'll arrive home and it will already be 1pm. Sometimes I say I wish time would go faster but travelling eastwards always makes time travel way too fast.

I realise that there must be some gods of travelling that like me quite a lot because I seem to always have rather good weather abroad. And I'm not complaining, although it's true that a rainy day is a perfect excuse to sit in a cafe reading, sunny days are perfect for walks in the park and reading on stairs, etc.

The other day I woke up to a cloudy sky and I even got to use my umbrella for a couple of minutes. That was the day I headed out to the islands across from the old port... I don't know what I expected but those islands turned out quite less paradisiacal than I hoped. In the middle of it all I got the chance to have the most depressing, yet enlightening, discussion on a bus.

Alas some asshole cut down that flower the day after I got the photo. And the bioshpere is closed because of ongoing strikes.

( 4x2 more photos and stories of people who hope to win at slot games )

Ah. Montreal. I pretty much know the city center by heart now, the same for the old port, the walks along the river, Saint Urbain and Saint Laurent and to some extent Saint Denis. I had some major revelations to write but now they're gone from my head. So much for that.

From what I've seen in the past week, the best time to hang around the city is when the sun starts going down. It makes all those really tall buildings look much better.

( 3x2 more photos - chinatown, fashion choices and place des arts )

To the west of Mont Royal there is Lac des Castors but there weren't any castors in it. Very disappointing. There were lots of ducks and fishes and children feeding those ducks and fishes.

Judging by the signs close to the lake there must be a mini-skiing hill somewhere close by. At least they have a remontée mécanique. What is it called in English? Not a chairlift, not a gondola lift thing... really, I should know. There must be a more generic name than "j-bar".

In other news, in a way I'm glad I'm going home tomorrow (at midnight, who makes planes leave at midnight?) as my feet are starting to protest. Actually my black chucks are almost ready to fall apart but the photo doesn't really capture that. That's ok though, they've visited with me more cities and countries than some people will see in their lifetime.

( 4x2 more photos of squirrels, lakes and ducks )

Yesterday I went up to Mont Royal.

On paper it was a great idea but perhaps going there after already walking all the way from the city center to go get the Fairmount bagels was not so great. I wish I had a way of tracking just how much I walk around sometimes...

Mont Royal, what a perfect place it would be to go for a run! The main road goes up quite pleasantly and I bet there is time to get tired on it. I didn't bring my running shoes in my backpack, opting to bring dressier shoes for the conference days, but next time I shall bring them along.

( 7x2 more photos - Montreal from above, crosses and Marseille references )

Is there anyone else from the Oregon-Trail-on-school-computers era? I quite like this "trailer" that was made. I would absolutely love to see a real film based on the game with all the cult phrases. The trailer is hilarious, they've got so many details right... down to the way how we used to give horribly random names to the characters!

Now Montreal has two bagel addresses which fight over the title of "best bagel in the world". Both are open 24/7. Yes, tiny bagel shops open 24/7.

Yesterday I went to visit one of them, the Fairmount one. It's true that their bagels are good. They're fresh, they're not hard to chew and they're not perfectly round and with a perfect shape like the perfect ones you can get from a normal shop. I'll go try the other shop today to see how it compares.

But see... bagels and I, we're not in love. It's true those bagels were very, very good but I just don't seem to have what it takes to love bagels, it's not them, it's me. I suppose that for me bagels are meant to be breakfast food but they're just too heavy for me to eat them for breakfast. They could be lunch food when stuffed but honestly between a sandwich made with a fresh baguette and one made with a bagel, I'll take the baguette one.

As I said, it's really not them, it's me.

( 1x2 more of a 'regular' bagel from a 'regular' shop and some transformers on the street )

I live about three minutes away from Place des Arts and the other day I fell on a light/water show. That show ran for three test nights and it run for longer in September and October.

The kids usually quite enjoy the fountains, even without the coloured lights, but this time around they liked them even more.

( 4x2 more photos of Montreal adventures during night time )

I blame the next few sentences all on Henry. I honestly would not have known what the heck Tim Hortons was and would not have wanted to go there if Henry hadn't whored out TH and spread his love for that place. At least I didn't try to act like him and hang out with buddies in the parking lot of TH like it was a park... I think you really have to be a proper level of Canadian to understand the logic in that.

(Henry, I totally understand your love for TH. Their stuff is pretty good. I still don't understand why you love tacos and gardening as much as you do... but at least we have the TH issue settled.)

~~Yes, my references keep on getting better and better. At least I didn't learn this on a random Canadian variety show.~~

I also tested the local trains. This might amuse quite a few but I find it so amazing that you can check in your luggage for long distance trains... just like for planes! Alas my 3.5 hour trip was deemed too short and no check-in option was offered. The train I was on also had airplane-like overhead compartments that could be closed! Yes, I am easily amused by small things but I had never been on a train with overhead compartments that could close before!

( 3x2 more photos - train fun and hotel fun )

Dear world,

I hope that you remember all my pay-forward/help-fellow-traveller-in-need karma thing if ever I need some help later on. No really, I think you should.

Lots of love,
Me.

In other news, the hunt for cupcakes continues abroad.

And in other other news, let's learn some local French. Here they use some different words for common things... as shown in the photo below. I suppose this is the equivalent to an "ophtalmologue" but it seems that they also do the work of an "opticien". The other difference that made me giggle was "ordinateur portatif". I don't know why but "portatif" sounds funky, I almost want to use that from now on instead of "portable".

Ah. Je retrouve mon âme d'étudiante! I am, indeed, now in Laval University housing.

But before going into that story, let's have a photo dump from yesterday in Montreal.

Now I've realised something, I, somehow, expected Montreal to be a very European city but it turns out it is looks and feels very American. At least to me. Almost everyone who lives in North America seems to tell me that for them visiting Montreal means almost seeing Europe.

I can't even describe what makes it that way. I want to say it's the skyscrapers and the streets and the huge amounts of food places. One can say that cities like Paris also have tons of skyscrapers and restaurants but they really aren't the same. Have I ever mentioned the huge amount of food places? I do have to wonder how in the world all those can survive? I guess people don't cook at home a lot...

I have yet to really get out of the city center of Montreal, that will be for next week... so maybe then my opinion will change. Who knows!

( 9x2 more photos - stuff, Italian restaurants, some moose and other friendly creatures )

So where have my little two feet taken me now that the conference is over? To many different places. Too many places, perhaps, considering that the last session (which was the session I presented at) ended after 5pm. Cupcakes, Italian restaurants, Korean for dummies books, wine and long discussions were involved.

And it's also way past my bedtime so all those stories will have to wait.

The paper presentation went well, in case anyone was doubting it. In my session there was also a guy who was presenting his first paper at a conference, I do hope that back in 2008 I wasn't reading and doubting myself so badly. I really do.

Et maintenant, douche et puis dodo. Et puis demain, c'est l'assaut de Québec, mais pas du Québec, le Quebec est un peu trop grand mais par contre la ville, ça va, c'est pas si grand que ça.

I don't know if I should blame the failure known as today on the 3rd-day-jet-lag effect or on the fact that I sat through way too long sessions by the end of which even basic stuff seemed confusing... but by 6pm I was ready to sleep. But I did not. I went out for bubble tea and I set out to work on finishing my paper presentation for tomorrow.

Three hours later, my Japanese green tea bubble tea is done and my mango bubble tea is three quarters drunk... and my presentation is still as unfinished as before. That's motivation for you! I blame it on the fact that I seem to have no fear of addressing large crowds and improvising in front of them, it's talking to small groups and single individuals that I hate. No stress and no fear means that my procrastination knows no bounds, plus I can always present almost the same ppt as at one of internal seminars.

I'll get back to everyone's comments tomorrow or already in Quebec City. H-21 or so till my holidays start again. Unless the research group peeps want to go out for dinner tomorrow and still talk about work.

Sleeeeeeeep! Must resist another hour or so. Sleeeeeeeeeep!

It was bound to happen sooner or later. I cannot possibly live across from Chinatown for more than a day and not go buy sweets from one of the shops. The shop was closing so I just picked up the first things I could see... and now I have a stash for tonight and tomorrow.

Acting childish has never felt better!

Also there are shops selling bubble tea everywhere. I'll have to stop by for some on another day.

On an unrelated note, I'm really not a fan of Lady Gaga but damn Lady Heehee rules this world. Pictorial proof right here. Yes, that is the one and only Heechul aka the best diva on this planet and the person who makes up about 99% of the best content on Twitter (he even tweets while drunk, that's how dedicated he is to Twitter) aka the person who should be my BFF but he doesn't know that yet. Because yes, we should best friends forever and yes, we would totally call ourselves BFFs and strut around as if we owned the world.

Sorry about this fangirl moment but my inner fangirl must come out sometimes. And well, it's freaken Lady HeeHee. Have another photo tweeted by @heedictator himself because everyone should admire him... and as a bonus you get Kyu with a funny face in this one.

Cultural expansion was on the agenda tonight in the form of socialising with some food and drinks in the old market building in old Montreal. I must say that old Montreal still puzzles me a tad because it's really not "old Montreal", it's a mixture of old and new. I'm used to "old" parts of a town being just restored old buildings but here it's old and new together, quite intriguing to say the least!

I had a talk with some locals today and it was fun to hear that their main annoyance while cycling around is having to wait to cross the river while a small boat crosses a lock. Such problems! (And now I also want to find a boat actually crossing a lock around here.)

( 5x2 more photos of the storm this morning, more Montreal and everyday life )

It's about three in the morning in Marseille right now but here it's barely past 9pm. I will try to stay up till about ten and hope not to wake up at 2am.

I did not get to sit next to a window on the plane but maybe it was for the best. Alas it seems that the Sunday direct flight to Montreal is a favourite among families with small children because there were children everywhere. Normally children stress the hell out of me but it just gets worse on planes. I survived though.

When I got to the hotel I met the two other guys from the research team and we scouted out the location of the conference venue... it's in a rectangular building that's called a chic hotel and that costs a lot. Following that disillusion we headed to the old part of town for dinner and we kept things local and Italian because honestly, what is the national food of Quebec?

( 2x2 more photos - view from the hotel and funky expressions that amuse me )

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Where is Gali(nette)?

aka The day we caught the train

Entries tagged with pix:canada2010:montreal

My hands are kind of frozen now.

Et c'est la fin!

Un festival, des festivaux?

Le Vieux Port... sans les petits bateaux

Atwater and the canal

Strikes and bagels

Of parks and depressing casinos

Sonic... can you beat him?

Lac des castors

Mont Royal and down the Oregon Trail

Bagels... it's not them, it's me

Montreal by night... involves Korean food for some reason

Of train rides and Tim Hortons.

Still easily amused.

Day some number - I can't come up with a proper subject.

Day 4 - je veux dormir!

Day 3 - and now the jet lag has caught up with me.

Gali goes to Hollywood... or wait, that's Chinatown.

Day 2 - Montreal - sleeeeeeeeeeeepppppp!

Canada - Day 1 - still alive.