2008: Week 37

The last week before we head to Europe, and where did we go? Quebec City, the most European city in all of north america! And what a city - such a contrast to Calgary! We camped on the outskirts of town, just a 10 minute drive to the old city where we spent a day exploring the streets and walking on the city walls. That's right, Quebec is a walled city! You can see one of the gates in the photo above.

Highlights included amazing house-made croissants in the cafe where we ate lunch, two shops devoted to selling medieval costumes and accessories, and seeing a woman walking her dog in a pram. I highly recommend a visit if you're in eastern Canada.

The other highlight of the week came on Sunday morning when Lynda called to say she was in Ottawa for a few hours. We were able to change our plans for the day and rescued her from a few hours of boredom at the airport. The time was mostly spent in the car (Matt's parents live about an hour from the airport), but it was still good to spend time together and catch up on the last few months.

Best of the week
- A completely unplanned afternoon with Lynda after her travel was re-routed through Ottawa.
- Quebec City. Gorgeous architecture, great food, and ils parlent français.
- Catching up with friends in downtown Ottawa on Saturday night.

Worst of the week
- The traffic as we tried to drive through Montreal. Unbelievable!
- The last minute rush to get ready for our trip.

Wednesday

Time for a mid-week update. The first day back at work was better than expected, and it took until today for the usual pattern of last minute requests and agenda-less meetings to recur. Our floors are being stripped and polished on the weekend, which requires all the lab furniture to be moved. Dust and experiments don't mix well, so it's mostly a week for reading and catching up on paperwork. The biggest achievement has been completing some work I had left from Cornell - it feels mighty fine to have that off my back.

We're back at French classes too. I was rather rusty at first, but it started to come back, and our new teacher is putting an emphasis on listening, which is my weakest area. I have also resolved to try and speak French at work with my colleague from Paris - it would be silly to miss the opportunity, but it's still scary to open my mouth and speak.