Over Memorial Day weekend, I took a road trip up to Montreal. Much like New York, Montreal interests me both as a place and as a concept. I started learning French in school when I was in 3rd grade, although I've never actually lived in a French speaking place, so every visit to Montreal always reminds me both of how much I'd like to be really good at French language, and also how far away from that I am relative to native French speakers. Still, I've always had a good time there. It's an interesting mix of old and new, French and English, Europe and America. I've often idly fantasized about living in Paris or Rome, but I honestly find the immense and long history of those place distracting to the idea of imagining a quotidian life in them. Montreal, on the other hand, is about as recent as most of the northeast U.S. but has this distinctly European vibe because it's French-speaking.
