Montreal... and aprons!

In celebration of our one year anniversary, we planned to rent a car and take a little road trip to Montreal over Labor Day weekend. Coincidentally, both "holidays" happened to be on the same weekend, so the plan worked out beautifully. 


This was my first trip to Montreal and I absolutely fell in love with the city. It should be noted that Montreal (or perhaps Quebec in general) feels like an entirely different country from the rest of Canada; very European and, therefore, very quaint and lovable. And let's not forget to add, very French. Not only does the city of Montreal feel and look like a smaller version of Paris, the majority of its residents speak French. Ken, having been raised in Canada and forced to take French classes from a young age (against his will, or so he says), made it a point to speak what little French he could muster whenever the opportunity presented itself while we were there. I, on the other hand, just muttered the obligatory "bonjour", "merci", and the occasional "Je ne parle pas Français" in such opportune moments. (My French is embarrassingly non-existent.)


As per usual, I didn't take any photos of the entire trip (surprise, surprise). Unfortunately, Ken, who is usually our photographer, has apparently fallen under my bad influence.... He took only three photos of the whole trip. Here are two of them: 

The view from our hotel window (it was actually much more impressive in real life), and...

...a really cool building we spotted while we were out and about and exploring the city. (What in the world is holding it together anyway?)

Here are the pictures we should have taken....

Old Montreal, in all of its Parisian glory:

 

There is even a Notre Dame in Montreal! See? Just like Paris (sans the Eiffel Tower):

(Apparently Pavarotti sang here on a number of occasions because apparently the acoustics inside the building are perfect.)

And here's what we should have eaten while we were there:

Montreal is famous for its bagels and its poutine...

...but every time we were hungry, we couldn't find a place that served either of these heart-stopping snacks and, of course, we always found such establishments after we had stuffed ourselves with croissants or something. Oh well, better luck next time!

On an entirely different note, my mom made two aprons for both Ken and me after she saw this picture in a previous blog post:

She gave them to us a couple of months ago when we were back in Michigan for a visit, but we just now got around to taking pictures of them tonight:

 

Aren't they cute? I think she should start a little apron-making business, or at least resurrect her blog with some pictures of her fun little creations. I'm sure if you want one, she'll make them to order! (Right, Mom?)

Bye!