QUEL LONG VOYAGE ÉTRANGE C'A ÉTÉ (WHAT A LONG STRANGE TRIP THIS HAS BEEN)... (long post)
Day Two of my trip to
Quebec was befitting of the aforementioned title of the post. Monday night I stayed local, hitting one of the local jazz clubs and ended up meeting some pretty nice people. A couple of
McGill University students among others and I have to say, it was pretty nice to be able to just kick back and talk to people without worries about what's happening in the bar. One thing I noticed right away is how aware everyone is when it comes to politics. Whether it be on the local level or the international scene, the folks here are on top of their game when it comes to world affairs. And folks here in Canada are keenly aware of what's happening in our Presidential Race and voice their opinions quite freely on what they would like to see happen. It was refreshing to gain an insight on how others view us and our government and how it impacts upon them.
After checking out on Tuesday, I had a full day to kill while waiting for the
Habs/Canes hockey game at the
Bell Centre. I figured that this would be a good time to do some sight seeing and more importantly, find a battery charger or battery for my camera. As luck would have it, as soon as I checked out, it began to rain. So this made my sight-seeing difficult because, quite frankly, who wants to walk around in the rain, looking like a friggin tourist?
So after some fruitless driving around trying to navigate the streets of
Montreal (this French thing has become a pain in my ass; more on that later), I finally found the
Eaton Centre, one of the larger shopping centers in
Montreal. I parked my car and began the search for the camera battery. Two hours and five different camera stores later, I'd still hadn't found my battery and I was becoming nervous because without a battery, I'd have nothing to take pics with.
At this point, I decided to make my way towards the
Bell Centre. I had to pick up the tickets for the game that my NHL contact had set aside for me in Will-Call. I figure that I may as well get some lunch while I was there and try to salvage what was left of the afternoon before the game.
After picking up the tickets (sweet seats, by the way: ten rows from the glass, behind the MTL goal end), I went to the sports bar
LA CAGE aux SPORTS, located in the Bell Centre. Now the food there isn't anything to go crazy over. Typical continental pub food, but with decent looking chicks serving you drinks and lots of sports on TV's everywhere. Apparently it does a very brisk business before and after games. When I finished I realized that I still had at least an hour or so to kill and by now, the rain was falling at a steady clip. I didn't want to sit in the bar and drink all afternoon because I still had a long drive ahead of me to Quebec City after the game. So I walked over to
TIM HORTON'S (my new best friend, by the way) and ordered a coffee and sat in my car, listening to Sirius satellite radio. (on a serious note- why we don't have
Tim Horton's in NYC is a travesty to me). This is where the fun really begins.
About an hour after sitting in the car, I get out to put more money in the meter. I figured that I'd ride out the meter as opposed to paying an arm and a leg for event parking next door. After getting back into the car, I turn the ignition and the car won't start. I keep turning the key and again, nothing. It seems that yours truly ran the battery of his Ford Fusion into the ground. So now, not only do I have no place to go until game time, I have no car!
Oh mon Dieu???
Lucky for me, I see a Hertz car rental place right across the street from where I was, and seeing that I had a Hertz car rental..... Let's give it a shot?
I go to the place, meet with the desk attendant and explained my situation to her. She tells me (in her sexy French voice) that she would be able to get me a replacement car and that everything would be fine. So what do I get? I lose my Ford Fusion (which I was slowly falling in love with), complete with leather seats, cruise control and Satellite Radio, and I get in return: A piece of shit
Chevy Cobalt, something I'd never heard of before, with dingy cloth seating, AM-FM radio and no Satellite Radio (which would come back to bite me later).
By now, the rain is at torrential levels and folks were beginning to stream into the
Bell Centre, so I decided to join them. The next two plus hours were pure bliss as I experienced one of the most unique moments in my sporting life. Watching a pro hockey game in
Montreal is like nothing else I'd ever experienced in my life. From the touching/inspiring pregame ceremonies to the game itself, it's pretty obvious that this is a REAL hockey town. By the time the game ended, I felt like a converted Canadians' fan (no offense to
Ottawa).
Now that the game was over, reality kicked in. I now had to drive up to
Quebec City, 232 miles northeast from
Montreal. A good three-hour drive if I was lucky. To make matters worse, I had no Satellite Radio, which meant that I had to endure
Celene Dion and five hundred
Celene Dion-wannabes the whole time. Simply painful. If I liked French before (and it is a soothing language to listen, mind you), by the time I reached
Quebec City, I thoroughly hated it. And to make things worse, the rain had turned into a driving snow and with limited lights on the road and constant signs of deer crossing warnings, I couldn't help but to wonder if I would end up like those professional wrestlers who often meet an untimely death after driving off the road while swerving around a deer or moose.
I finally arrived at the
HOTEL DOMINION 1912 at around 2am. The city was pretty deserted at that point and I felt like I was pulling into
Mayberry, North Carolina. Lucky for me, the night manager was still around, as if he was actually waiting for me. He checked me in and when I got to my room, I was again blown away by the digs. This place (a former bank) was just as nice as my first place in
Montreal, if not better (if that's possible). Unfortunately, I don't have any pictures to back it up because of my dead camera. After checking out the digs and unpacking, I took a nice hot shower and hit the sack.
More to come....Nuff Said
