Montreal is a perfect city for getting the feel of being in a foreign country while still being able to communicate clearly with all the natives. All of the signs are in French first and sometimes (but not always) they have English subtitles. Everywhere I go I hear people speaking French to each other. Most adorable are the small children speaking French with childish mispronunciations. I’ve been here two days now and I find myself wanting to be able to speak French. I want to understand all those words rolling past my ears. I want to be able to order my food in French. I even decided to do it once. I figured I could just read the words off the menu, but as I tried to compose the words in my head I realized that I was not composing French I was composing Foreign which was parts French and Spanish. I realized this would be less intelligible to the Quebecois in front of me than if I used straight English. I’ve always been leery of traveling in a country where I did not speak the native language, but after being here, I can picture myself doing it and happily learning the language in question.
Tonight we ventured out into the city to a restaurant recommended by a local Schlock fan. We walked into Old Montreal which involved walking past some buildings with beautiful architecture. The weather was perfect and then we arrived at a restaurant that served amazing crepes. It was French style service with lots of long pauses between ordering and delivery of food. This was perfect since the point of the event was to visit with Schlock fans. Every time we have a chance to meet with Schlock fans I realize how very fortunate we are. Howard and I send out the comic and the blogs into the world and they find intelligent and interesting friends for us to meet. There is so much more to tell, but the hour is late.