Montreal in two days.

I'm not going to lie, I took it easy in Montreal. My flu is still hanging on making me tired and the cold weather is aggravating it. I saw the main things I wanted to see however.

Day one Lisa took me to a local market where we picked up supplies for dinner. I think everyone in Montreal speaks English and pretty much everyone speaks french as well. The Lonely Planet book is right you will listen to two people talking and they will switch from French to English. Its surreal. Everything is written in french however, but its pretty easy to work out that the huge red hexagon with "arret" written on it means stop :D After the market we went into Old Montreal where we walked around taking in the scenery. We did stop at Basilique Notre Dame, there was so much construction I had to climb a fire hydrant to get a good picture in front of it. The $5 entry fee was sort of worth it the church was beautiful, I know I am not religious but I felt calm being inside.. its absolutely amazing and I think if there is one thing you should see in Montreal its that.

Day two,

We had breakfast at a cute little cafe on Ste Laurent. I managed to order for myself, benedictine was pretty much self-explanatory and our waitress's first language was English anyway so she helped. After breakfast we hiked up Mt Royal which offered a stunning view of Montreal. I think it took a little longer because Lisa was distracted by all the men jogging past. Then we headed down and went shopping along a main street. My car has remained outside Lisa's apartment and last night received my first ever parking ticket in my history of parking illegally (only in Darwin I usually park legally elsewhere). In my defense I was unaware that parking on the street was illegal for non-residents (need some kind of a permit sticker.. I bet one of the signs in french told me) I think I will frame it, its all in french and there is no bloody way I am paying $50. I will be leaving Canada by July next year and my car registration isn't due until August. TAKE THAT QUEBEC!!

Tonight we are going out on the town then tomorrow I am leaving Montreal. I will be driving to Quebec City for a few hours then arriving in Rimouski for the night.