Kim visits Montreal

[noteful]

It's not that difficult to find Sylvain Gagné's restaurant. It is, as Meg said, written up in several guidebooks.

And late morning isn't a bad time to arrive, at least on weekdays -- the breakfast crowd has gone, the lunch crowd isn't really there yet. There's no line out the door, no wait to be seated, just a hadful of patrons lingering over coffee at the tables on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.

It's a beautiful summer day in Montreal.

Comments

[noteful]

"Dr. Ford, if you were an intrusion, I doubt very much she would have told you about this place, oui?

"It's about a twenty minute walk, or we can call a taxi, if you would rather."

[bannion_sight]

"Okay, good point."

Kim glances up at the sky, toward the sun, then looks back at Alain.

"It's too pretty a day to spend it in cabs."

[noteful]

"D'accord."

Alain calls back into the restaurant, in French, that he is going back to the house, but will be back for the dinner crowd.

"May I?" he asks, indicating Kim's bag, and holding out a hand.

[bannion_sight]

"Um, sure," she says.

Kim slips the strap of the backpack from her shoulder and hands it over to him.

"Thanks."

[noteful]

De rien," he tells her, and sets off down the street.

"You live in England, don't you?"

[bannion_sight]

"I do," she tells him. "Glastonbury."

"Have you always lived in Montreal?"

[noteful]

"Yes, I have lived in Montréal my whole life," he says.

"I cannot imagine wanting to live anywhere else."

And certainly not some place they don't speak French.

[bannion_sight]

"And your family's here too, obviously."

Kim's smiling.

"It's a beautiful city, from what I've seen of it so far."

[noteful]

Alain gives her a curious glance.

"This is your first visit?"

[bannion_sight]

"Not technically? It's my first time here as an adult, though."

[noteful]

"Bienvenue à Montréal," he tells her.

"Left, at this corner," he says, of the turn ahead.

When the cars are clear, of course.

[bannion_sight]

Of course.

"So how did you meet Meg, anyway?"

[noteful]

Alain's smile get bright.

"My brother was in a play, Tartuffe, at the university. Ah, the Université de Montréal, not McGill. And I bought a ticket for the wrong night. Your sister had an extra, because her friend was sick, and gave it to me.

"Don't tell my brother, but I don't remember a damn thing about the acting, or anything on the stage."

[bannion_sight]

Kim laughs.

"Sounds just like her. And it sounds like you were kind of smitten."

[noteful]

"Smitten? I don't know what that is, en français."

[bannion_sight]

"Romantically struck?" she tries. "Enchanted? Only not literally."

[noteful]

"Ah, I see," he says. "Smitten.

"Very much so.

"Meg is very special."

[bannion_sight]

"She is that."

Kim smiles.

"She said you helped carry things when you met our parents at the end of term."

[noteful]

"She had a lot of things to carry," he says, amused. "Heavy things -- books and papers."

[bannion_sight]

"Still, it was nice of you to help," Kim points out.

[noteful]

"It, ah, makes a good impression, yes?" he asks, still amused.

"Just up here," he adds, indicating a right turn down a side street.

[bannion_sight]

"So I hear."

She makes the turn with him, glancing around the neighborhood as she does.

"It's your uncle's restaurant, right?"

[noteful]

"Oncle Sylvain, yes," he says. "And his wife is Tante Ginette, and this is their house," he says, stopping in front of a small, tidy, two-story house with a small tidy garden in front.

[bannion_sight]

Her eyes light at the sight of it.

"It's beautiful."

[noteful]

"Tante will be pleased to hear you think so."

Alain lead the way up the steps, opens the door, and yells, "Tante Ginette? Meg? C'est moi. Où êtes-vous?"

"Dans la cuisine," his aunt calls back.

"Excuse me for a moment," Alain says. "If you want to wait there," he adds, and indicates a family room.

The room is a little dark, and the furniture a little dated, but tidy, and full of photographs.