Monday in the ruelles

I would normally slip into James cliché, and tell you that 'normality has returned' to my life in Montréal. But in all honesty it's not easy to say what has been normal in for me in Montréal. About the only 'normal' thing to which I return is a state of being penniless. I've been on the move for six weeks now, and the excitement and variety of travelling has come to an end for now. On 21 May I left Montréal for what can reasonably be described as one of the most amazing and rewarding voyages I've ever taken. It finished up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, just over two weeks ago, when I met up with BMM who had flown across the Atlantic to meet me.

We toured southern Nova Scotia by car, and then returned to Montréal by train. A week passed quickly in Montréal before a moment of spontaneity overcame us, and we drove a 2,000km round trip to Washington DC to see 'The Prairie Home Companion'.

The wind being rather knocked out of us by this weekend road trip, once the keys to the Chevy had been returned, we spend a leisurely Monday waking up slowly and walking through Montréal to visit Habitat '67, the landmark housing development designed for the 1967 Expo by the then-student Moshe Safdie. En route, we diverted our path through the ruelles of Montréal's plateau, stopping to read graffiti, say hello to cats, and just to listen to the distant sound of muffled traffic, children playing and builders building. As a six week long sojourn closes, it's good to be back in Montréal.