last lundi!

Yesterday I finally got to explore a little bit of Montreal on a week day. James and I were busy running around town picking up last minute souvenirs and things I had my eye on throughout our stay, and trying to spend all of our Canadian cash! I managed to get knitting supplies for cheap at a dollar store, a dress for Steve and Bethany's rehearsal dinner, and souvenirs for friends and family.

We also met up with Karen and Amos one last time for a dinner of savory and sweet crepes. I had wanted to do the crepe thing since we got here, and finally found a creperie with solid enough reviews. We managed to get there 30 minutes before they closed since they are only open til 6, so we were the only people there and had a great time. I got a crepe with potatoes, chicken, mushrooms, Dijon sauce, and swiss cheese, and James and I shared a banana crepe with chocolate sauce and ice cream for dessert. Yumm!

It's definitely sad to see our time in Montreal coming to an end, but I'm glad that I've had a few days to wrap everything up and that we haven't been rushed to get packed and head out. We leave Wednesday morning, and then will head to Boston, Rhode Island, and finally back to Tennessee!

a quick trip across the border

Since today was Canada Day and I didn't have to work, James and I decided to take a day trip to Vermont to do some outlet mall shopping. James needed a pair of Brooks Brothers khakis for Steve's wedding at the end of July, some new tennis shoes, and we needed to get an inflatable air mattress for our overnight guests over the next few weeks.

We were stopped at the border for almost an hour--it was strange to see so many cars from Quebec going into the US, which is probably what took so long. After satisfying my craving for some Mexican food, we hit up the Essex Outlet Shoppes in Essex Junction, VT. James managed to find a pair of Nikes on clearance at Dick's, Brooks Bros. had khakis 40% off, and he got a dress shirt from the Polo Ralph Lauren Outlet for $20. I bought some clothes that were UBER cheap at Osh Kosh for Danica--and luckily there was a post office right across from the outlet mall so I mailed them right off! The best part of this whole excursion was....there is no sales tax on clothes in Vermont!

We (unfortunately) had to swing by Walmart to get the air mattress, and boy, was that a "Welcome the USA" experience. There were so many loud, overweight, and just plain embarrassing people there--it was driving me crazy being in that environment. And let's remember, my regular Walmart is in Shelbyville, TN...I should be used to an eclectic crowd...but this was a whole new level of strange.

One interesting fact about Canada that we noticed A LOT--July 1 is not only Canada Day, but it is also "Moving Day". Every lease expires/is renewed on July 1, so EVERYONE is moving in/out on this day--and who can blame them? No one's working, so it makes sense...but it does make driving difficult.

We returned to Montreal around 6:30, ate dinner, and hopped on the metro to head down for our first taste of the Jazz Festival. WOW, were there a lot of people! We saw some good acts--a lady with curly red hair who recovered from a double lung transplant to sing really awesome 30s still swing music--Alex Pankerman was her name, I think. We also heard a rock/blues guitarist play who was also really good. And it was all for free! We found out the B-52s are playing a free concert on July 4th, so we'll definitely make a trip back for that!