Saturday, November 14, 2015

O Canada!

We loved our time in Canada when we went to visit the Montreal Temple.  We left work on Tuesday afternoon and drove to Burlington, Vermont where we spent the night at the Holiday Inn Express.  In the morning we headed towards Canada which was barely an hour away.  We had gone to Canada when we visited Niagara Falls on our way to serve our mission but this was much different because the border crossing was very small and we didn't have to wait to show our passports and be on our way.  What a beautiful area.  Once in Canada we had another hours drive to get to Montreal but the areas we drove through were beautiful and there were farms everywhere.  It reminded me a lot of Nebraska.  I was really impressed when I saw my first speed limit sign and it had 100 written on it.  Fortunately I realized quite quickly that probably wasn't MPH!  It was actually 60 mph for us and so we drove along enjoying the many little towns along the way.  I noticed the houses didn't seem to be very old compared to what we are use to seeing in the New England area and I'm sure if we would have been able to drive around downtown Montreal we would have seen many more vintage buildings.  This area is different because everything was in French and there


were NO subtitles.  Good thing I learned all the shapes of signs and what they mean when I took the driving test!  We spent about an hour at the Montreal Temple open house and then headed back home.  We decided we had better get some gas and eat some lunch before we left.  We pulled into the gas station and put our card in the machine but it didn't work.  A voice came on in beautiful French and told us something which was wasted on us.  We went inside and again she only spoke to us in French and wasn't giving away her secret that she knew exactly what we were saying.  We managed to get our gas and then moved on to the McDonalds where again we encountered a French only employee.  I thought we would be okay because I just gave her the number but then she started asking us other questions and we were in trouble.  She finally gave up on us and called her manager over who spoke excellent English (with an accent!) and he completed the order for us.  After that we were happy to move along and head south to Vermont and into New Hampshire.  It was a great experience and I wish I would have realized how close it was because this summer we would have definitely gone exploring around Montreal.  The skyline was beautiful!

1 comment: