When I look back at all the major cities we’ve visited in Canada, while I loved Toronto, Quebec City, and Vancouver, for some reason, I do not feel the “L” word is quite fitting for Montreal, and I’m not completely sure why. In 2014 when we first went, it was dreary and raining almost the whole time we were there. I am sure that did not help. But the other part that threw me off was that even though I know basic French since I studied it in school, when I listened to people speaking in French in Montreal, it didn’t sound anything like the French-French I learned in high school. I remembered people constantly bumping into me. I wasn’t sure if they were tourists or locals, but it was really annoying.

And somehow, similar things happened this time around, too! On our first day in Montreal, people were constantly bumping (or almost bumping) into me on sidewalks and streets. It was as though they lacked peripheral vision. Then, the weather was also crappy this time around, as well! It nearly poured within hours of our arriving, and we ended up having to duck into a little Italian cafe to avoid getting drenched by the torrential rain. Plus, with the rain came lower temperatures: it’s at least 10 degrees F lower than what the weather report showed for this area before we left. I was being stupid and naive when I packed for this trip, and the heaviest thing I brought for myself to wear was a flimsy cotton cardigan; the part that annoyed me the most about this is that I usually always pack an extra layer or two just in case (it’s my San Francisco “you can’t trust the weather” mentality). I have no real shoes and only two pairs of sandals. I was freezing here today.

I don’t know when I am going to Montreal next, but I do hope that if and when that next time comes, that the weather actually holds up and I’m not constantly getting wet while I’m there. Because if you are walking around a city as a tourist under dressed and freezing, it will never bode well for how you remember it.