Montreal – a step closer to home

It seems quite fitting to be in Montreal before we get on a plane back to Paris. Listening to French and walking through the old town.

We came to Montreal to meet a Pig – yes, that’s right. A pig. Will tell you more later. But this quick trip became an unexpected opportunity to re-connect and to re-ignite friendships.

First, Peg came from Ottawa to meet up with us. We got to know Peg through her cockapoo, Bailey – who passed away at age 16 years quite a few years ago.

We wrote about Bailey and became friends with Peg through the blog and on Facebook. Two years ago, we met Peg on her stopover in London.

And also because Mum has never been to Montreal, Peg was a great help. She also took me for walkies when Mum needed a lie in –

And she sat with me when Mum went to get coffee because I couldn’t go into Starbucks or any of the other restaurants.

We were already in Montreal when it suddenly occurred to Mum that she actually has two friends living here – James and Azeb. She quickly texted them and came an immediate response from James. Hooray! Luckily they were in town.

Mum had seen James, a brilliant architectural photographer, a couple of times the last few years since they moved to Montreal from London.

But it’s been 16 years since she had last seen Azeb.

They have definitely not met me. As it turned out, we were all on a mission to change James’ mind about getting a dog. There’s some positive vibes as he thinks cockapoos are top of his list – woohoo!

Just like time had not passed the hoomans walked and talked – catching up after years of not seeing each other.

It was a good long walk for me – saw a few squirrels along the way – yup!

I have now seen squirrels in California and in Montreal. And they are all the same – a good tease.

And of course we had to see the old town – and have our photo taken at the Notre-Dame Basilica.

May’s comment: And so that was our Canadian experience. Darcy’s 21st country visited. 🙂

We stayed at a most dog-friendly hotel – Hotel Alt in Montreal.

This has got to be the most dog-friendly hotel I have ever been in. Not because they have fluffy beds and beautiful dog bowls, but simply because of the traffic of dogs – as many dogs as human guests. All dog sizes are welcome.

They do not have a hotel restaurant so that aspect of it doesn’t matter. And just a short walk is a dog park. I’ve been there a few times – I didn’t really want to play with any of the dogs there but it was convenient.

And so our journey home begins.