shannon & mat

shannon and mat, our friends from london, came over for the christmas period to visit their families and friends. they had a busy schedule but took the time for another excellent dinner "chez jolaine et sébastien" and they took us to "la veillée de l'avant veille" at club soda. the latter is an annual evening (every 30th of december) of traditional folk music and dancing. some of shannon and mat's friends played in the band called le vent du nord. and so we danced, together with geneviève and mathieu (pictured in the top right corner) and hundreds of other montréalais. the band improvised while the "calleur" shouted the dance instructions through his microphone.

mont royal

the weather was nice, so we decided to go for a walk on the mont royal. first picture was taken before the climb, the second picture one hour later.

boxing day

the day after christmas is better known as boxing day. for shoppers this means the start of the sales or 'soldes'! on the left you see people waiting for the apple store to open, on the right you see marie after buying a pair of trousers.

christmas

lise-anne, one of marie's colleagues, was so nice to invite us to celebrate christmas eve with her family. lots of great food and lots of huge presents! our christmas day was rather unusual since obviously we couldn't make it to our family reunions. instead we made pancakes with apple and watched the "curb your enthusiasm" dvd (a christmas present!).

xmas card

HAPPY XMAS EVERYONE! we didn't have to look far for inspiration for this card. people in the neighbourhood love to decorate their houses with flashy lights and inflatable santa clauses. you can watch our neighbour's animated house here (quicktime movie of 3,45 mb)!

new coat of paint (2)

we're not going to spoil your christmas by not telling you which paint we used for the bedroom! and the majority got what they wanted. thanks everybody who sent us their advice. it's more or less the same as it was before, but the new paint is softer, less flashy and warmer. the winner is... "abricot"!

curry

the best curry since the famous curry bazaar changed chef! and i can buy it in a canadian supermarket! how cool is that?

if you're not sure where you've parked your car...

... you've got a problem. pictures taken at rue chambord after a historical snow storm.

bon jovi

marie's boss had a present for us: two free tickets for the bon jovi concert in centre bell (the local 'vorst nationaal')! it took us only 40 minutes to go from our living room to our reserved seats. i knew the bon jovi guys had a sense of humour. when the lights went out jon bon jovi (the rascal!) wasn't on stage with his buddies but at the back of the giant hall, singing the first song on a tiny stage. it confused the teenage girls who were waiting (and fainting) at the main stage. after the first song jon had to walk to his band through the audience, accompagnied by ten bodyguards. girls tried to touch him, boys did the devil sign. in short: the audience went through the roof of excitement. especially when they continued their set with a hit like "you give love a bad name". personal highlight of the evening: their one minute rendering of tom petty's "i won't back down". quote of the evening: "when bono is in town, you want peace. when i'm in town, you want pieces of me", while desperate girls tried to stroke his hair.

new coat of paint

if the owner of the flat agrees to pay the paint - which is not uncommon in montréal - we'll give the living room and the sleeping room a new coat of paint. we're not sure which colour goes well with our retro bed sheets. if you have a spare minute you can give some advice by telling us which picture looks the best. number one is the original colour. thanks! and let's hope we can paint soon...

my corner

the loyal readers will recognize this picture (yes, it's still the same living room). but there's a difference and it's not the food on the table. it's my desk! we found it on the sidewalk during a walk around the block. that's how people get rid of their stuff. fingers crossed that we find a kitchen table and some chairs on our next walk. other information about the picture: (1) the guy upstairs lent me this spanish guitar and (2) i hope to give the walls of the living room another colour pretty soon.

avenue laurier est

one of the good things about our appartment is that we live close to avenue laurier est, a very cosy street with great places to discover. we had a look for you, interested reader. there's le toasteur, "a cute resto that serves breakfast all day long" and an equally nice and not expensive restaurant called "les saveurs". there's even a 'frietkot'! two shops in the avenue repair and sell second hand fridges. which is not a luxury since the fridge that the previous tenants left us, broke down after 2 days. as important as a good fridge is a big video store that will help us through the long winter (they have 3 series of curb your enthusiasm)! last but not least: i was told by sébastien and mat that the best bakery in town is next to that video store. i'll check that out now because it's time for breakfast.

settling down