Another picture perfect day in Montreal. About 23 degrees, then add the no pollution and no ozone layer factor and it feels like 32. It’s effectively our last day in this beautiful city and the district of Verdun. It’s one thing to admire the current weather but the reality is that winters here are harsh. Seinfeld joked that summer is when the locals step outside for the first time in 6 months and start taking gulps of warm air as they tentatively walk down the street like newly born birds!

Yesterday we had a late start and walked along the St Lawrence River north. Acres of stunning parkland, water fountains for the kids, baseball and gridiron fields and bike tracks. These are photos of the same area yesterday and in winter. The river is frozen and the park becomes a freshly laid 17km Nordic skiing track.

After making it to a restaurant recommended by our host Achim we headed into the CBD again. Our first show “Best of the Fest” was at 8pm in a tiny venue that held no more than 70 people. We love these venues more than the big ones as they are more intimate and you get all the body language and expressions as well as the anxiety. It was a terrific show but sadly we didn’t remember any of the comics names and they weren’t’ listed. After the show we had a couple of hours to kill so we headed a couple of km down St Catherine St again to the hub of the festival. It was in full flight and we started by watching a comic on the big stage do a rendition of George Michael’s “Careless Whispers”. We were waiting for the punchline but there wasn’t any. He just sang it verbatim. Appalled, we moved on then we bumped into a giant. That’s right, a Canadian Andre the Giant. See photo below. Lovely bloke. Around the corner was another stage that hosted three singers, one Roland synthesizer player and a transvestite dancer with gorgeous legs. Only the French could somehow pull something like this off and it was great fun despite everything being lost in translation.

Our last show was at midnight and went for two hours. It was called the Alternative Show, I guess because it was a bit more satirical and improvised. It was hosted by Andy Kindler a very funny veteran of TV and stand up. A familiar face on the show was Arj Barker who has spent a lot of time in Australia, but for me the funniest was New York comic Todd Barry. As dry as they come. Also Wyatt Cenic an award winning black comic from NYC, who’s delivery is so relaxed some of his audience mistake him for being stoned and offer him dope after the show like athletes get handed Gatorade!

The festival has been a blast. Only issue last night was no trains at 2am but there were plenty of cabs and only a 15min drive home. It is the biggest comedy festival in the world so there’s plenty there for everyone’s taste. Again I can’t stress enough how friendly everyone is and easy it is to get around. Also the dollar is almost the same as ours so it has been more affordable than the US.

Reality is soon approaching as we head home tomorrow on a 30 hour trip. Not good but I’m missing the kids quite badly now and there is a footy season to finish with the mighty Mt Waverley Demons. Fortunately we have a few days off before going back to work, which will give me the opportunity to remember what it is I do for a living.

This is my last entry so if you have had the misfortune to read this I hope you’ve gained some insights into the places we have visited that may help. I will do one more entry with photos only of out-takes called “reprise” as it will help kill some time going home. Trust all’s well. Cheers Willow & Lynda.