I have this thought every time I head along the Decarie Expressway and pass by the Orange Julep. It’s kind of shocking so I’ll just whisper it. Come closer. Okay.

The truth? I’ve never eaten at the Orange Julep. Ever.

I know. Everyone who hears that is shocked. Not because it’s the best place to eat in the entire city but just because it seems everyone has gone there at least once. I’ve lived in Montreal since I was six months old and I’m 32 now, and yet I’ve just never gone. I have no idea why. I used to drive by it every day when I worked at a recording studio downtown. About once a week, my husband and I would stop to pick up breakfast at the McDonalds just across the street from it, but although he always said, “some day you HAVE to at least have one burger over there” we just never got around to it.

So now I’m curious. What have you never done or seen, where have you never gone in this city that surprises people because “everyone else” has?

I got off a plane from Paris on Monday and took my bike to get to work Tuesday morning. Either it’s the jet lag or the city has painted a new bike path on St-Urbain. This is awesome news. More info here:

http://tinyurl.com/m56oq
http://tinyurl.com/qozmp

Working at a school, I have to admit that I love the students. Generally they’re upbeat, bubbly and carefree. They’re quite amusing to observe sometimes, talking on their cellphones in the hallways complaining that their boyfriend didn’t call them back last night or so and so’s girlfriend has been seen a little too often with the new guy! Ahh, to be young again and barely have a more serious care in the world than dating (at least that seems to be the main topic of the conversations I overheard)!

There is one downside to the academic year kicking into full gear, however, and that’s the overflowing Metro, sidewalks, hallways and shopping mall (Plaza Alexis Nihon). They’re so carefree about their surroundings that they pay little to no attention to the folks around them. Stopping in the middle of a narrow passageway through crowded hallways in order to speak to a friend. Standing in front of exit doors or actually in the doorway. Not taking their backpacks off in the Metro… the list can go on and on, so I’ll quit while I’m ahead!

It was nice over the summer months with a reduced number of students attending summer classes, but for some inexplicable reason, I missed them.

Welcome back!

This store on Ste Catherine near Place des Arts is always a good conversation piece when walking by, but it looks like it’s going out of business. I wonder how many of these boots they actually ever sold? I guess now’s a good time to stock up!

When you travel, you get an interesting view of how other people view your city. Here in my former hometown of New York, Montreal is thought of fondly. I had lunch with a casual friend from college who asked how I was getting adjusting to Toronto. When I corrected her and said I live in Montreal, she exclaimed, “Oh, I’m so glad! I thought you were in Toronto, and I felt so sorry for you.”

A couple of weekends ago, we went camping at Oka. It was my first time there and I found the approach to the beach from the campground interesting. As we arrived at the beach area, there were tall pine trees, picnic tables, and a small three meter wide beach. What struck me was the multi-cultural make-up of the people in this section. Asians, Africans, Arabs, Eastern Europeans, Latinos, and those from the Caribbean. They were in groups, probably extended families, and most were barbequing and having picnics. They were also gathered playing games or conversing. One reason it surprised me is because I had been thinking the other day how although Montreal is known as a diverse city, that diversity is within a small percentage of the population. Yet here was a mini-United Nations a ways away from the center city.

Another thing that was interesting was that the beach proper was primarily composed of people of Western European origin. There were some extended family groups, but for the most part it was individual families (like ours). The people in this area were generally either sunning, splashing, or playing in the sand.

This dichotomy was reinforced the following weekend when we picnicked in Mont Royal Parc. The large groups were primarily immigrants, while the smaller groups were usually natives. It wasn’t as cut and dry this time, but it still fell along those lines.

Immigrant groups getting together in a new land is nothing new. My ancestors did the same. But the difference between where the immigrants and non-immigrants congregate and what activities they enjoy is quite interesting.

Kids aren’t the only ones who cringe when all of those “Back to School” ads appear in August. Yesterday, my two teenage daughters and I went to Bureau en Gros to stock up on school supplies. Fortunately they were pretty good. They stuck to their lists and mostly contented themselves with the store brands. Nevertheless, when we were done, my bank account was $550 lighter. This comes after paying $1100 in books, $2000 for the school bus and it will probably cost me a few hundreds to update their uniforms. Private schools are expensive even after you’ve paid the tuitions.

It makes me wonder how low income families manage to pull it off.

Tonight while walking home, I had the good fortune of seeing 2 lovely little pugs strolling along on Prince Arthur. Then I had the misfortune of some clodhopper driving their bike up my back and leaving some tracks up my leg. No apologies… No look of regret.

Anyone else have this happen to them? How have you reacted?

Seems that advertising has now taken to the skies in the form of hot air balloons. Saw this red one float by followed by a blue one. I’ve seen blimps now and then and also planes trailing a banner but hot air balloons in the city appear to be a new phenomenon. This one was for “brother”, the office supply company. As long as we don’t end up with 99 of them, I find them quite pleasant to look at. A few people around me were smiling and pointing. It certainly seems effective when you can get strangers in the city to stop and share a moment.

With one week to go in the summer vacations, Le Journal de Montreal has released a study on the quality of the water in the city’s outdoor swimming pools. Since this made the front page, you can guess what the results were…Breaking news: Pool water exceptionally clean…Not!

Results for individual pools can be found on the drop-down menu at the top of this page. Our local pool is the 4th worst. Bleh!

[update] Just a quick note to help you in your interpretation, the acronym TNC in the microbiological tests means Trop Nombreux pour Compter or Too Numerous to Count.