Sleepless Nights

The drive to Montréal was pleasant enough, watching the road signs change from English/French to just French. I saw a lot of barns.

We spent our first day exploring Kev's childhood, driving around the West Island in the suburbs of Beaconsfield and Baie-d'Urfé where Kev lived and went to school. Uber suburbia, very leafy and green and friendly. It was a lil emotional to see where Kev spent his childhood, so many basketball rings and bikes against front doors...

We then headed in to a shopping strip, it may have been called Fairfield, to try a Dagwoods sandwich/sub/Dag? Kev realised that the reason he loved Dagwoods so much was because of their sauce. I hate sauce. But then the friendly, competent, considerate sandwich maker chucked sauce all over my sandwich and then turned and asked, "Oh, did you want dressing?" Thanks. It was ok though, I felt like my mouth was being violated by mustard, but whatever. Kev was happy, so...

Then we began a DVD hunt, starting at Future Shop. We noticed a pet store in the same strip so we went in there first. Guinea pigs everywhere!!!! Really cute ones (not as cute as Sunny and Toffee of course) with tufty hair and cute colouring, and also some breeds that aren't available in Australia - the American Crested which reminded me of my Dad (the colour and the fluffy head), and the 'Teddy' which looked just like a teddy bear!! Their hair stands straight out from their bodies, so they are sooo cuddly! The one we saw was dark brown, like a wombat, but this one is very cute too.

Future Shop was disappointing, as it apparently has reduced its DVD selection and the prices weren't that great. So we left for Chris's house. As we left it started raining, and it wasn't light Aussie rain, it was the kind of rain where one drop could saturate you. And this is Montréal's summer rain...

We arrived at Chris's and found a KFC... I'm sorry, PFK, and grabbed a disappointing dinner. We then decided to go to a movie, "A Scanner Darkly" at the Pepsi Forum. Kev tried to get friends to join us, but it was too short notice. So the four of us headed in and took in the very entertaining movie. Best performance I've ever seen from Robert Downey Jr. If you liked the style of "Waking Life", Richard Linklater's other 'animated' movie but craved a narrative, you'll love this.

Upon our return to Chris's house in Verdun, we attempted to assemble a comfortable arrangement of a single foam mattress, two pillows and a sheet. It was like sleeping on cement. Or rather, lying for 8 hours on cement. Mmmm. But we appreciated the generous accommodation regardless.