Just after I posted yesterday’s update the fire alarm went off at the hotel and we stood outside for 20 minutes with the other hotel guests in the middle of the night.
The hotel staff were terrible as we got no instructions on where to go and no one came out to check on anyone. Luckily it was a false alarm, or there was no danger so all was ok. We felt sorry for the elderly guests who had had to hobble out of their rooms in to the street, but some of them took the opportunity for selfies with the handsome firemen on the way back in to the hotel!
After a fitful night’s sleep, we grabbed breakfast in a nearby cafe and sat on a table in the street which was nice. we then had a wander round Quebec this morning – i zoomed about taking photos while jane did some shopping, then we met for a cold drink and some people watching.
Back at the hotel we checked out and waited for our taxi man who soon arrived and was super jolly. He was french but spoke good english as he loaded our bags in to his giant mini-bus (with just the two of us as passengers).
On the way to the airport i asked a question to the driver in French, and he responded, in French, saying something like ‘oh, do you speak French ?’. I replied instantly with a well timed ‘no !’ and we all burst out laughing.
My ‘no!’ was meant to mean that i didn’t actually speak French and could he reply in English.
However, my question was (accidentally) pronounced so well he thought i could speak French and was being hilarious with my ‘no’ response. As a result he gave a long explanation about grain silos which i had to listen to and nod sagely to.
I asked my next question in English …
We arrived super early for our first flight to Toronto, as is our way, and we checked all our bags in, including our small carry on suitcase. Just as well as the short flight was packed with people’s carry on bags and it was every man for themselves in the overhead lockers. We had a nice video chat with Esther and Kezia while we waited for the plane as it’s Esther’s 25 birthday today. How did that happen!
Our second flight (just over 4 hours long) from Toronto to Vancouver was much more relaxed and spaciousand went by in a flash – although we were expecting some dinner but none came, so we had to raid my emergency chocolates. We grabbed some sandwiches from a shop at arrivals to eat in our room.
A rather crazy taxi man drove us to our hotel and our room is on the 18th floor and has its own balcony looking across at the other sky scrapers where we sat and ate our dinner. We’re here for 5 nights and the idea is to actually have a rest after our last 6 weeks of busy travelling. We’ll see how that goes !
It’s currenly 10.30pm on Monday night in Vancouver, which is half past midnight in Quebec time, and 5.30pm tomorrow (Tuesday) in Auckland time. Our heads are well and truly confused!
