Today was a horrible day, as far as being a tourist goes. I had set aside the day to actually leave Paris and head to Versailles, seeing as until yesterday I was getting by on a weekly pass for the Paris metro and bus system. But the day started late, and the weather was looking poor (but it had done the same the past few days without a big problem). 
When I got off the RER train and walked to the famous Chateau, it was undergoing restoration works, so large portions of the building itself were covered in scaffolding. Then I found out that the building was closed on Mondays (well how was I supposed to know?), and although there was plenty to do just wandering around the enormous gardens as well as Marie Antoinette’s dominions, I was a little annoyed with myself. And before long my camera decided to break, so some of the stunning scenes I did eventually see (although it was pouring by then), might have to be found on Google Images instead of JoelNothman.com/Photos. At least, while the day was horrible, it only cost 5.40 Euros! (more…)
Just when I thought we were about to hit melting point (and the streets would soon be covered with the slush of melting snow), the temperature dipped right back down to the -30s (and everything froze). If only I knew this before going for a 30 minute walk without my tuque (beanie) or long johns on. In fact, just the day before I had washed my long underwear and put it away, hoping not to need them again for some time.
They are finally predicting highs of 9 degrees by the end of the week…
Update: they bureau changed its mind: the best we’ve got now till Sunday is 1 degree.
What do you wear in -20°C but calm, partially sunny weather? Long underwear, or not? Argh!
Snow storm is an oxymoron
One is subtle and quiet
The other raging and thunderous
Together, the snow floats (or pours) down
In heavy washes of tiny drifting specks,
Building white, wind-swept dunes
This used to be a city with gutters
But the scattererd spatterings of silty white
Amass to envelop and elide
The distinction between road and path
So that cars slow to a stroll so unlike autumn’s rush
It silences the sounds, the steps,
Each stride only deepens and imprints the soft
Snowy coat upon the pavement, upon the streets
And it keeps piling, turning the once-green once-red brown hills white.
December 1. First day of a new season, at least by Australian accounts. And certainly too by the accounts of Montreal weather. It has hardly snowed since the day when I reported it, and I’ve been repeatedly admonished for calling that snow in the first place. (more…)
Not really in Montreal. It’s been raining for the past week or so, but rarely more than what I’d think of as heavy sprinkling. Still, people here don’t like this weather. Waking up to look out at a white sky and slippery streets of wet, yellow-brown maple leaves and people making their way around in rain coats, and everything tinted with grey. I personally think it’s much nicer than Sydney’s rain, which comes suddenly, heavily, or sloshes on for days in thick droplets, when it isn’t coming down in torrents. It’s not that cold here, either… yet.
When I got off the RER train and walked to the famous Chateau, it was undergoing restoration works, so large portions of the building itself were covered in scaffolding. Then I found out that the building was closed on Mondays (well how was I supposed to know?), and although there was plenty to do just wandering around the enormous gardens as well as Marie Antoinette’s dominions, I was a little annoyed with myself. And before long my camera decided to break, so some of the stunning scenes I did eventually see (although it was pouring by then), might have to be found on Google Images instead of JoelNothman.com/Photos. At least, while the day was horrible, it only cost 5.40 Euros! (more…)
