Wow, I can write you here too - sorry, MsA/Shawna, I'm just new to lj stuff so still getting surprised....When you come to Quebec in the fall, several things come to mind:
First, timing - by "fall" do you mean September or November? 'Cause Sept can be still hot (starting to cool off at night though) and November can be snow (as in blizzards even); you need to be aware of dates 'cause weather IS a factor here.
Second, most important probably - in Montreal, don't worry about lack of French; this truly is a bilingual city and only in the extreme eastern part of the city might you run into "kill-all-anglophone" kinds of francophones. (So, well, just be aware of where you are is all.) Being from California, any foreign language I recognize is likely to be Spanish or Chinese; I took a couple of French courses after moving to Montreal but am still shy about speaking it, mostly because although I can now say what I want to say, simplistically, in French, I can't actually understand the reply because the Quebecoise accent is nothing like French-from-France (which, oddly enough, is how the courses at Berlitz are taught even in Montreal). That said, if as an American you say "oui," "si'l vous plait," "merci" and, oh, "tres bien" once in a while, most tourist-spot Montrealers will be pleased that you have tried. In the outlaying regions, well, you're on your own - bring a French/English dictionary, show it obviously when trying to ask for directions, etc., and hope for the best. You won't be viewed as stupid, believe me; this region gets so many ignorant Americans that one who even recognizes that a different language is spoken here is usually given a benign reception....
For housing, there's a good "apartment-hotel" in downtown Montreal, called "L'Appartement," not surprisingly, that was reasonably inexpensive when I last looked (but, that was when some of my in-laws visited 7 years ago, prices may have risen a lot since then because we have since moved to a place with more room and could put in-laws up instead of having them in a hotel). The advantage being it's an apartment full-on, with its own kitchen, door, etc. And it's in a great location - Sherbrooke St. a block from Parc/Bleury (depending on which direction you go). Early September still has the World Film Fest going (until a week past Labor Day), I think October has the Festival of New Cinema (actually better now than the WFF, which is snooty and insular these days, sigh)
Waterfalls - your best bet is Quebec City, Montmorency Falls just outside the city and visited by riverboat regularly - higher than Niagara Falls, without any accompanying build-up of tourist-mecca-junk, it's pretty breathtaking. My husband Chris and I are going to take the riverboat cruise from Montreal to Quebec City in, um, 3 1/2 weeks I think it is, coming back the next day, and if you're interested I'll be happy to give you a "report" on that trip. But I don't think that trip runs much past mid-September, fyi.
Side trip to PEI - I visited there in 1994, when a Vancouver friend was working toward her PhD and teaching for a year at the university in Charlottetown; her year there coincided with a time in my life in San Francisco when I really needed to get away for a bit (my best friend and I had "broken up," two other close friends had moved far away to Germany and Hawaii respectively, I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and since I work as an adminstrative assistant I thought I was facing a loss of employment forever, and my younger brother was diagnosed with AIDS - not HIV+ it was too late for that, though he lived another 10 years). I REALLY needed someplace not where I was, took a 6-week sabbatical and spent a week of it with Fiona and her husband Tom in a country cottage on PEI. All I can really say about it is - if you find you need to be in a calm place during your trip, go there; or if you truly love Anne of Green Gables, there's a sight or two for you to see. Otherwise, well, it might be interesting to drive over the new bridge taking you there (10 years ago it was a ferry), but....
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
momijizukamori
Quebec
Date: 2004-07-04 03:41 am (UTC)First, timing - by "fall" do you mean September or November? 'Cause Sept can be still hot (starting to cool off at night though) and November can be snow (as in blizzards even); you need to be aware of dates 'cause weather IS a factor here.
Second, most important probably - in Montreal, don't worry about lack of French; this truly is a bilingual city and only in the extreme eastern part of the city might you run into "kill-all-anglophone" kinds of francophones. (So, well, just be aware of where you are is all.) Being from California, any foreign language I recognize is likely to be Spanish or Chinese; I took a couple of French courses after moving to Montreal but am still shy about speaking it, mostly because although I can now say what I want to say, simplistically, in French, I can't actually understand the reply because the Quebecoise accent is nothing like French-from-France (which, oddly enough, is how the courses at Berlitz are taught even in Montreal). That said, if as an American you say "oui," "si'l vous plait," "merci" and, oh, "tres bien" once in a while, most tourist-spot Montrealers will be pleased that you have tried. In the outlaying regions, well, you're on your own - bring a French/English dictionary, show it obviously when trying to ask for directions, etc., and hope for the best. You won't be viewed as stupid, believe me; this region gets so many ignorant Americans that one who even recognizes that a different language is spoken here is usually given a benign reception....
For housing, there's a good "apartment-hotel" in downtown Montreal, called "L'Appartement," not surprisingly, that was reasonably inexpensive when I last looked (but, that was when some of my in-laws visited 7 years ago, prices may have risen a lot since then because we have since moved to a place with more room and could put in-laws up instead of having them in a hotel). The advantage being it's an apartment full-on, with its own kitchen, door, etc. And it's in a great location - Sherbrooke St. a block from Parc/Bleury (depending on which direction you go). Early September still has the World Film Fest going (until a week past Labor Day), I think October has the Festival of New Cinema (actually better now than the WFF, which is snooty and insular these days, sigh)
Waterfalls - your best bet is Quebec City, Montmorency Falls just outside the city and visited by riverboat regularly - higher than Niagara Falls, without any accompanying build-up of tourist-mecca-junk, it's pretty breathtaking. My husband Chris and I are going to take the riverboat cruise from Montreal to Quebec City in, um, 3 1/2 weeks I think it is, coming back the next day, and if you're interested I'll be happy to give you a "report" on that trip. But I don't think that trip runs much past mid-September, fyi.
Side trip to PEI - I visited there in 1994, when a Vancouver friend was working toward her PhD and teaching for a year at the university in Charlottetown; her year there coincided with a time in my life in San Francisco when I really needed to get away for a bit (my best friend and I had "broken up," two other close friends had moved far away to Germany and Hawaii respectively, I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel syndrome and since I work as an adminstrative assistant I thought I was facing a loss of employment forever, and my younger brother was diagnosed with AIDS - not HIV+ it was too late for that, though he lived another 10 years). I REALLY needed someplace not where I was, took a 6-week sabbatical and spent a week of it with Fiona and her husband Tom in a country cottage on PEI. All I can really say about it is - if you find you need to be in a calm place during your trip, go there; or if you truly love Anne of Green Gables, there's a sight or two for you to see. Otherwise, well, it might be interesting to drive over the new bridge taking you there (10 years ago it was a ferry), but....
Hope this helps somewhat!