Suitably refreshed from my unexpected stay in Cornwall, ON, it is time to hit Montreal
Unbeknownst to me, Montreal is actually on an island – albeit an island separated from the mainland by rivers as opposed to oceans/seas/bays. It’s not really relevant, but hey, a little geographic education as we go can’t help.
Montreal is the first major stop in “Practice France” (as I heard one comedian eloquently describe Quebec province on the radio). That description will stay with me for life.
By LAW, businesses must first greet all customers in French, before they can reveal an ability in that OTHER language.
Year 11 French got me around real France a decade ago, albeit as a “yes I’m a heathen, but a heathen who at least can poorly enunciate 3 sentences to you in your native tongue, even if I don’t understand your replies, so please be kind to me because I made an effort” sort of way.
(Generally, they were.)
In reality, the legal obligation is fulfilled by saying Bonjour, and as many locals told me, replying with hello was not rude, or ignorant, and allowed suitable economic transactions to take place without hindrance.
Montreal takes it’s Frenchness a little less serious than other places, but more on that later.
The first thing to note is that Montreal is a bicycle city with a strongly defined bicycle infrastructure. Bike lanes, bikes for rent/hire, no my nanny/conservative helmet laws, and a different understanding between vehicles and bikes than we have back home.
Here the bike is premier, cars give way, bikes take precedence, even the traffic lights take this into consideration
As a result the vehicular traffic in Montreal flows at a more pedestrian pace and there are none of the “patently aggressive, I’m cutting into a spot 3 inches wide” mentality that prevails in the US. It’s a true exxample of that Gallic laissez faire mentality.
Speed limits are obeyed, and drivers queue instead of bolting down an inside lane only to push in right at the point of obstruction!
That’s not to say that Montreal drivers are perfect.
They are not.
They do possess that certain Gallic mix of sang froid, laissez faire and entitlement. Rules are obeyed, but no-one, and I mean no-one thinks there is anything wrong with blatantly ignoring them, especially when to there is the minutest chance that they might be personally inconvenienced.
Apparently putting on hazard lights are sufficient to simply stop next to a parked car, making traffic divert to the other side of the road, on the premise that doing so means you have 20 m less to walk than that the parking spot you can see.
Parking within 10 cm of the corner of the road (we have a 15 foot no go zone I think) – no problem.
Standing next to your car with the door wide open – You’ll drive around me won’t you?!
The lack of shame people have of doing it is actually impressive – a delicate mix of understanding other’s audacity, whilst recognising that I’ll do the same thing later in the week
And everyone accepts it.
Happily in some sort of construct that allows them to be absolutely selfish individuals within a reasonably generous and considerate community.
It’s a little bizarre.
Only the French
Yet I digress about the traffic. And the attitude.
I will end up spending close to a fortnight here, though this is not yet known to me.
And I must admit, I love it.
In tribute to my Montreal friends I choose to inconvenience you and tell you more about that at a time more suitable to me.
Get over it.
