Montreal

Montreal was beautiful, with the one exception that I did not realize until after passing through customs that Citibank had cut off all access to my checking and savings account due to “fraudulent activity.” They shut everything down before they contacted me. So I’m in Canada, with no cash and no ability to withdraw any cash. All I have is my AmEx. And, it’s late Saturday afternoon. Amex office is closed until Monday.

I was so pissed. The only form of transportation I could use with a credit card was a limo. I made Citibank reimburse me for that, and half the cost of the limo back. I convinced the limo driver to charge an extra $10 and give it to me in cash. I exchanged the $9 US I had on me at the hotel, where they didn’t charge me an exchange fee. So I had a total of $19.72 CDN to last three days. I’m in Canada. Just like in the States, the only people who accept American Express are rather pricey restaurants and upscale stores.

I rode the Metro once (it's $2.50 CDN), and used the cash I did have to buy food. My dinners while there consisted of a loaf of fresh bread, a liter of fresh orange juice, pate and gruyere. I did treat myself to pomme frittes with remoulade sauce ($4 CDN) and a meat pie ($4.50 CDN, not worth it). Also, a croissant and coffee for $2.25 CDN. I haven't been on such a tight budget since I was in college. The benefit of not having any cash to get into museums or ride the metro, is that I had the chance to walk all over the city. There was a 5k walk on Sunday, of the Underground City, so I did that. Followed by a walk to Chinatown and to the Latin Quarter. I tried to go to the Beaux Arts Museum on Monday, but of course, it was closed on Mondays. I did, however, have plenty of time to spend with my new digital SLR, so learned a lot about how to use it over the weekend.

I was quite close to squatting on a corner and begging for cash to take the metro.

I can’t believe I’m bitching about limo transportation and pate.