Bonjour de Montréal

So how depressing is this? Here I am in my favorite city in North America and what happens? The weather has been nothing but grey, crummy and wet. It rained the moment we got in the car on Saturday, all through the 10-hour drive here, and continued to pour all of yesterday and it's still raining as we speak!... Of course as luck would have it, I had packed in anticipation for spring, with a bag full of skirts, sandals and t-shirts. Do I have water-proof jackets and good shoes for walking in the rain? No. Could I do with at least a pair of sneakers and a windbreaker of some sort? Yes. Should I wear a hat and a scarf? Double yes. Do I have them? No. Have I been a stupid packer? Most definitely. Were the $199 I spent all those years ago on my leather Birkenstock mary-janes the best $199 ever spent? God yes.

But testimony to how much I love this city, despite this all, I'm still having a whale of a time. The food has obviously been great (we've made our friends undying devotees of Pho Bang and Schwartz's), but also hanging out with our uncle (he's still the coolest 60-something year old I know), meeting all the SI people again, and just soaking in the heady vibe of being in the city, rain or no rain.

Jude's at his conference right now and I'm sitting here in this cavernous multi-colored conference center stealing the wireless. I'm going to have to do some necessary shopping in a bit (read: waterproof shoes and a raincoat), but maybe something less commercial tomorrow. I'm thinking of a themed-day perhaps, tim-sum for brunch and the Chinese Botanical Gardens after- mmmm...

What can I say? j'aime Montréal...