Bonjour!
We have now spent 2 nights in Montreal, Quebec (the only officially French-speaking province of Canada) and have one more night to go before we spend our last couple of nights away from Toronto in the provincial capital, Quebec City.
We're staying in a gorgeous B&B called Le Rayon Vert in the Plateau de Mont Royal neighboorhood of Montreal, where our hostess, Diane makes breakfasts to die for - this morning we had waffles with strawberries, blueberries and crushed almonds - plus the obligatory maple syrup! - you'd think I'd be the size of a house the way I'm carrying on, but I'm actually doing some (shock horror) actual exercise! We're walking about 10km a day and yesterday we hired bikes for Canada Day and cycled another 20! That should burn off a pancake or two at least.
As I've said, yesterday was Canada Day, so we cycled down to a carnival at the Vieux-Port and took our fair share of Canadian flags, badges and stickers to fit in with the crowds, despite being in one of the least 'pro-Canada' provinces in the country! Then we cycled up and down the Canal de Lachine, stopping for lunch at the Marche Atwater, where I yet again managed to get pizza down my front (some things never change do they mummy).
Our evenings have been spent with Maher and his family, who have been staying in Montreal for the long weekend, downtown at the Montreal International Jazz Festival - there are hundreds of concerts going on, indoors and out (we only go to the outdoor ones, for the ambience of course - and the fact that they're free).
Despite a bit of rain, Montreal has been great - it's very French but also very North American - an interesting mix! Quebec city is meant to be very European, so we may feel closer to home there. Tonight we're hoping for an early night - breakfast is at 8am each morning and Maher's family have been keeping us up late, so we're shattered.
Hope you're all safe and well, despite floods and crazed doctors - love Catherine x x x
