bosco et maman vont à montréal

bosco and i hop a train to montreal - july 17 to 20 - for some special alone time
i thought it would be a great way to practise our french while recentering myself in his world ( a la gordon neufeld) - he'd be forced to 'mother duck' me without his siblings to offer cues
HA !
foolish me left home with a credit card, a bank card, and bosco's health card (as a just in case, you know)
i brought NOTHING to prove he was mine. so i spend the next 4 days sticking to him like glue :)


check out Kerouac... journaling about his voyage already


bosco loved the train - especially the snack cart that went by often: he got an orange juice, a can of pringles, a pouch of brownies and a kitkat.
it was a lovely quiet ride. bosco read me some english books; i read him some french. we watched some tumble down books in french and english together (let's hear it for wifi on via!) bosco wrote in his french workbook and he watched 2 episodes of fraggle rock on my laptop.
but eventually he gave in to the rhythmic clickety-clack...

in montreal, we located our hostel, wandered st. catherines, and ate pizza for dinner. we played a game of chess back at the hostel and gorged on choclate cake.
on sunday we took the metro to laurier for our pastries testing. Fous Dessert was closed (boo-hoo) so we skipped contender #1 and went to Le Fromentier.
every boulangerie was a chance to compare croissants (both chocolate and plain) and baguettes. it was also a time for bosco to waste my money indulge himself. he had a feuille at Le Fromentiere - didn't like it; he said it had too much honey in it. to me, it was too rich (imagine!) but it was more like a shortbread version of a palm leaf, all buttery. at Première Moisson, bosco wasted tasted a chocolate eclair and then declared that it was - can you imagine? - too chocolately!

we found a delightful park at Laurier...

... and visited McGill

we went to the redpath museum, wandered through the place des art where the Just for Laughs festival was on, walked through Luminarium, watched a street show and ate nachos at the mexican restaurant we were tempted by during our visit last year.


this is Luminarium being blown up, and then bosco inside. still photos don't do it justice: it was a maze and a piece of art and a sensory experience all rolled into one. and i think the air pressure had an effect as well - you felt giddy inside


we find the crocs shop, as promised, and get a new pair for bosco, plus some jibbies (or whatever they are called) i'm still shocked the price was $47.


on monday we went to the biosphere, a favorite from our last visit. this visit, we had enough time to see it all. we shopped for the famous montreal bagels, walked down st denis, stopped at a cafe for a cup of tea and returned to the hostel for some down time before we headed out for laser tag (where i latched on to his collar and ran with him, still terified to lose him!) and some crepes.





this is bosco after he eats 1/2 a montreal bagel... not sure if all those seasame seeds are visible, but man he looked cute!

vacationing with only 1 child is entirely dif from taking the whole family. it's easier to indulge in treats (like a $6 crepe) when it's only one :)
i remember in ottawa we let the kids share 2 beavertails but all it did was whet their appetite, and cause complaints that so-and-so was taking more than their share. so it was lovely to buy one said treat - a crepe, an eclair, a feuille - and have it be plenty and hear nothing but thanks.
same for indulging in coin-operated entertainment. bosco played pool, air hockey and basketball.
in many ways, vacationing with only 1 child is like being your child's grandparent: you indulge them, you say 'yes' easily and often.


on tuesday we packed up, strolled through town one last time, had another crepe (to go - it's a different presentation and still just as much fun to watch him make it) and then took the train home. an equally pleasant journey, and an equally over-indulged boy when the snack cart went by :)
and here's where i'd like to say that i could live at the montreal train station
it's clean, spacious, and filled with great food including their own première moisson. when we switched trains in toronto and had to use their facilities, i wanted to gag. what is wrong with TO that they allow this to be the face of their city????



bosco finishes his english book / workbook - he's reading and spelling really well. he really did deserve the DS. but no, i didn't let him bring it on the trip. i wanted to be sure we spent the most time interacting together. and we did. i wonder what memories bosco will have of this trip 3 years from now?