Day 2 – Means getting settled and discovering things. First thing. It’s cold. When Daddy was in Montreal for work, the climate was similar to London’s, mild and occasionally sunny.
In Saint Anne, there is a crispness that taps you on the shoulder and tangos your face in the morning. Grabbing that hoodie in the afternoon is needed.
Luckily the property has heating and air conditioning so we have best of both worlds, but that is why the property was affordable. April can be unpredictable.
One key goal of today was to set up a gym membership. Daddy found a gym 17 minutes away (a short trip in Canadian terms), and they also offered ad-hoc, no-contract based membership. Perfect.
The problems started when Daddy arrived.
English is not as widely spoken as in Montreal. Daddy walked through the main door to lots of shouting from the main office. A large man who looked like Bob Hoskins after several cycles of testosterone walked out and shook his head. He did a double-take at me, then shouted to someone else.
Enter Viki.
A wonderful women sent from the heavens to help me. She spoke broken English, but filled out my membership form out by hand with a black fountain pen. Mobile phone numbers were a challenge, so we decided that they wouldn’t call me about new offers.
The gym wasn’t bad; it had all the necessary equipment, and they provided me with a small fob that allowed for 24/7 access. People at the desk are here from 11am to 3pm – part-timers!
The giant man noticed that I wasn’t here to sell something, so he returned and spoke perfect English.
His first words to me…Sorry for all the shouting in French; someone keeps stealing my clipboards.
He continued to ask me what was happening with the Royal family and if Harry was allowed back into the country. There is a strong love here for the monarchy. He kept peppering me with questions until I couldn’t improvise any longer.
Luckily, Viki saved me and let me use the gym while Hoskins shuffled around moving the leg press equipment and sweating profusely.
We decided that food was pretty high on the pyramid of needs, so we headed to the supermarket for the essentials. A couple of things that stood out straight away.
Milk comes in bags.
Daddy asked why and was told it’s mainly for large families, and the milk bag is placed directly into a jug.
We have Cadburys (now American owned) with a few slight differences.
We also have Me Freeze in a box so big, it looked like a box of fireworks.
The boys were mainly excited to pick cereal and ice cream. The cereal is interesting…
The ice cream comes in a handy 4 litre buckets.
The French love a cake, pastry and especially bread. We are spoiled here; none of that soft, weird American bread. We’re talking about crunchy, warm baguettes in all sorts of variations.
We unpacked and got ready to start exploring; Daddy is technically working. The current setup is a dining chair and a make-shift desk in the kid’s playroom.
Tomorrow, Mummy wants to go to the lake, as there is a pedalo is available for use! We haven’t seen anyone on the lake, so it’s ours to explore.
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