We arrived at our university accommodation only to find out that it was again completely inaccessible. At the same time we met with a Home Care Coordinator to discuss care arrangements for Tim. We soon discovered that care was not going to be as easy as it had been in other provinces. A bit of a double whamy. Tim found us another place to move to which happened to be a 5 star hotel as this was the only other accessible place that was not booked. We did not arrive in Montreal at a great time as the International Jazz festival was on, it was Canada day the following day which meant most canadians treated it like our Melbourne Cup weekend, so nothing was open. Lots of businesses were closed including the ones we needed to help us find accommodation and care, and it was moving day. We discovered Montreal rental leases are all up on the 30th June so everyone is in search of new rental leases and long term accommodation. Then on the 1st of July all the renters in Montreal move and that is why one day of the year is called moving day. Now at the time we didn't think this would affect us but when we needed to book wheelchair accessible Taxi's to get to our new accommodation it turned out almost impossible. We ended up waiting for 3 hours. It was not our finest hour... or 3.
We finally arrived at out destination just in time to go and have some dinner. We went to this beautiful French restaurant. The weather was mild about 19 degrees and we were amazed at how the people of Montreal were dressed in their sweaters and over coats. It wasn't that cold yet they made it look like we were in the middle of winter. So Bizarre.
The next day we tried to hunt down our three suitcases that we mailed to Montreal a week before we left Toronto as it is easier to travel with 3 suitcases as opposed to 6. It turns out our luggage had not even been sent yet and when it did finally arrive, a week later, it seems Canada Post had lost a suitcase which has all my work resume stuff and all of Tim's clothes. At the time of writing this we still have not recieved it and have Canada Post searching for it's wherabouts.
We spent the next couple of days trying to locate more permanent accomadation and found that we really did not have much luck at all and it seems that accessible accomodation is rare in Montreal. Not surprising really when the place is full of hills and old heritage cobble stones making up the roads. I was really struggling with the French and the outlook of the possibility of getting employment here. It started to sink in for me just what we had left behind, career, home, friends, family and accessible networks. I struggled with this emotionally for days especially when I found out that my only employment option looked to be telemarketing. Thankfully I recieved a phoen call from Aunty Rosie and the world seemed a much brighter place. Poor Tim was struggling to as he couldn't seem to get any help with finding accommodation and worrying about the money we were spending on 5 star hotel rooms.
To cheer ourselves up we took ourselves off to the Jazz Festival. Now this was full on, so many people and so arty farty. We loved it. Tim took photos and thought lots about how John Shawcross would love the festival. We bought a nice poster that we can frame and remind us of this time and all the great artists we saw.
Tim and I talked a lot about Cirque and when he was going to contact them etc. Tim will write all about his experience of cirque so I won't go into any detail here.
Montreal is a stunning place. Apart from the fact that it could not accommodate our needs, it really was such a colourful arty place. I fell in love with Old Montreal and spent a lot of time there on my own as it was a little hard to get Tim down there with the hills and cobble stone roads. Plus most of the shops were not accessible. The tiny little shops were adorable. Many I came across that reminded me of certain friends and family that would love the items in there. I loved all the little french clothing stores, if only I was able to afford the beautiful french articles.
The buildings and door ways are a photographers delight. I have taken lots of great photos of doorways that I believe are worthy to add to your wall of doors Aunty Kym. Check ou the next post of some that I've taken.
It was after a week that Tim and I decided we were not able to base ourselves here in Montreal so we made the decision to move to Toronto so that we are still close to Montreal if something came up with Cirque. It is still close to New York if we want to get over there and it has great accessibility and job opportunities. Both Tim and I felt the pressure ease a little.
In the meantime we explored more of Montreal. We searched through the underground city which is so big it takes up most of the city. They are so big and spacious that sometimes you can be the only people in there and it can be kind of creepy. Each underground city connects to another one via tunnels & linkways. They did this so that during winter you never have to experience the cold, you can just stay underground. The only problem is if your in a wheelchair you sometimes have to exit the building to get into the next one. They haven't yet worked out the access between one city to the next because of the undulating geography outside.
Tim and I decided we would have dinner at a restaurant down at the Jazz festival as it was the last night. What we didn't realize was that the festival finished with the Marti Gra parade. Montreal, so we were told has the second biggest gay population in the world. We expected a big parade with loads of colour and 
questionable items on display but the parade was very small compared to Melbourne or Sydney's Marti Gra parade and very tasteful. I was alarmed 
to find out that although Montreal is a very progressive place, it certainly would not be accepting of employees being open about their sexuality. Most gay people hide their sexual identity in their work place. For a city that has one of the largest gay communities it seems very surprising that there is an expectation not to be open about their preference.It was so hot in Montreal that we spent a lot of time in our hotel. Tim and I love the heat but a whole week and a half of 40 degrees is a bit much to walk around the city. But it gave us a good chance to regain our strength and rest a bit.
So we booked a train back to Toronto. We were sure that life in Toronto would be a lot easier. We just hoped we were able to find long term accomodation, we knew care would not be an issue, and we hoped jobs were there waiting for us.
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