So I moved to Le Plateau, and that’s when Montreal became my home.
Although I had already lived there for a year, it wasn’t until I left the bubble of the university and started forcing some bumbling French from my lips that I really felt connected to this city. I moved into my apartment in Le Plateau with my best friend Shanti (whom you saw a picture of in my album last week), and together we plunged into Montreal culture. We pushed each other to practice ordering coffee or paying for our groceries in the little bit of French we’d picked up, and thankfully we befriended our next door neighbor Aude, a Montreal native who five years later is still one of our closest friends. With that move, I started truly building my life in Montreal.
Now, when I meet Aude’s other francophone (French-speaking) friends, I talk to them in French. I spend time in the park across the street from my apartment. And when I climb the spiral staircase up to my balcony, I wave to my neighbors across the alley, and chat with them. Sometimes they even give me fresh produce from their gardens!
And best of all? There’s not one office building in sight.
