Montreal: my ticket to France

Let me preface this by saying I am well aware of, and support, a person’s right to speak in any language they choose. But this is Canada. So why are you speaking in French??

This sentiment has been floating around in my head for two days now. I’m not frustrated by it anymore. Now I just find it funny.

I arrived in Montreal on Tuesday night, after finishing my trip on The Canadian, a one-hour stop-over in Toronto and a six-hour train up to Quebec’s largest city. I’m staying with a friend of mine, Lucie. I hosted her through CouchSurfing twice last year and we’ve stayed in touch. Lucky for me she’s French so is helping me navigate this culture-clash of cities.

For those that don’t know much about Canada’s east, let me fill you in. The province of Quebec (which Montreal is in) is part of Canada. But it probably would prefer not to be. The last referendum on the matter was about 50/50. For a super quick history lesson: the French settled in Eastern Canada before it was taken over by the British. It’s still a sore point. So French remains Quebec’s one and only official language. On a national level, Canada recognises both English and French as its official language. Up to speed? Good.

So I get off the train in Montreal and every sign is in French. The only time a translation appears is for emergency signs. Apparently that is the only situation I will need to understand anything. Most maps are in French. My bus ticket is in French. The street signs are “Rue”. The French word for street. You get the picture.

From the station Lucie and I go straight to her place, in the Ukrainian neighbourhood, where at the supermarket everything is still in French. And despite saying “hello” to the cashier, she still speaks to me in French before I managed to stumble, “um, I don’t speak English”. “Do you want a bag?” she asks. Nearly everyone here speaks perfect English, just not to each other. Or to me, it seems.

I’m exhausted from my days on a train. After writing me a great Montreal To-Do list, Lucie cooked me some dinner. I showered (first in two days, oh it felt SO good) and collapse into bed.