Two Meetings

Yesterday we arrived at the cathedral just as the bells were ringing, about ten minutes before the 10:00 am service. Because it was the day of the Montreal Marathon, a lot of the streets were closed, so we had sailed downtown from the Plateau on mostly-empty streets, not having to stop for stop lights and traffic at all. We were coasting to our normal bike rack when we noticed a film crew across the street, the "tournage (filming)/no parking" signs were on the street and the crew, mostly dressed in black and carrying lighting equipment and scrims, milled around outside the "les Ailes" department store entrance on rue University. As were were locking up our bikes, a woman who had been watching came up to me and asked, in English, if I knew what was going on. She had a southern accent and was both beautiful and perfectly turned-out in that blonde, model-esque style one rarely, if ever, sees around this city where "style" tends to be much more individual and funky than in the U.S. Her shoulder-length hair curled in the slightest flip, she was long-legged and thin, wearing tight expensive jeans, and a simple jade necklace. It was a sunny morning, and she had on movie-star sunglasses; when she spoke she flashed perfect teeth as white as her impeccable long-sleeved tee shirt, and she moved with an economy of gesture. I explained about the film crew, and said it was probably for a commercial - the name of a perfume was written on the street signs - and asked her where down south she was from, and what brought her to Montreal. She was here with her husband, she said; he was a surgeon attending a conference and when she'd heard it was in Montreal she had thought, great, I'd like to go there. She had thought maybe the leaves would have changed more by now. No, I said, it's still a little too early. This afernoon we're driving to Quebec City, she said. We're staying in that big hotel you always see pictures of. Ah, I said, the Chateau Frontenac. yes, she said. It will be a great drive, we're in a little sports car. I nodded; she was right, it would be a great day for a drive. You're going to mass? she asked. Yes, we said, and I wondered if I should explain that it wasn't a Catholic mass, but didn't. I'm just going to go get mahself some breakfast, she said, in the plucky tone wives use when they wish they weren't alone. There are lots of good places to eat right around here, we told her. By then we were at the corner, and she looked briefly up and down St. Catherine, already bustling, and then turned to me again. We were wondering yesterday, she said. Does American culture come up here? Like, do Canadians know who Brad Pitt is?

After church, during the coffee hour in the baptistry, we were introduced to two newlyweds who had come up from Queens last week and had been married in Montreal city hall on Saturday. They both wore conservative dark suits and ties, and were beaming, glad and surprised to accept sincere congratulations from this small group of friendly strangers. One man, the considerably older of the two, was small and quiet and hard of hearing, and had a slightly melancholy, tired air, and he kept one hand cupped behind his right ear as people talked to him. The younger was taller, with bleached blonde, spiky hair, dark-rimmed glasses, and a brightly striped tie, and was more outgoing. I shook their hands and offered my best wishes. The older man smiled sweetly and the younger one grinned. We thought it was about time, he said. We've been together for twenty-two years.

Comments

[Jean]

How funny, how sweet, how beautifully observed.

[kirsten]

Yes, I completely agree with Jean. I love the details in this piece. Perfect.

[Rachel]

What wonderful slices of life.

The second, in particular, offers some cheer in a moment when I needed it; thank you.

[Dave]

Nice juxtaposition!

I couldn't help wondering how I might have answered that woman.
"Does American culture come up here?"
"No, they stop it at the border and beat it to death with heavy clubs in order to preserve their colorful native folkways untarnished for the tourists."
"No. America is a dim rumor beyond the horizon. Expect to endure the open stares of unkempt children and their gap-toothed parents at every town and crossroads."
"No, American culture turns frigid up here and rarely comes at all."

[zhoen]

Did you see "The Canadian Conspiracy"? CBC special of satirical content about 15 years ago," A mockumentary illustrating a supposed conspiracy to infilitrate American culture through employment in the entertainment industry" -IMDB.

Sorry to have missed your blog so long, I bookmarked just the one archive insted of the main page, and thought you weren't posting. Finally got some sleep and figured it out. duh.