Costco in Quebec

 Some observations from a short, compact weekend trip to Quebec, the largest province in Canada (there are territories that are larger, but Quebec surprisingly stretches through most of the eastern part of Canada, and MJ and I definitely felt that distance just driving along the banks of the St. Lawrence River from Montreal to Quebec- almost a 3 hour drive). 

1.) COSTCO! Nice to see justification for my heavy investment in Costco stock firsthand, as it's almost literally eating other retailers' lunch in the grocery department, but also wading into gasoline territory: I've witnessed really long lines for gas at every single Costco that offers gas stations (they don't all have them!) from coast to shining coast; it looks like a breadline from the 1930's except it's the cars demanding fuel and we're beholden to Costco. Well, Quebec ALSO has Costco and the lines for gas also stretch way back even during mid-day on a Monday, even with 3 pumps in every lane instead of the usual 2. This may be because gas in Canada is more expensive than U.S. possibly due to different trade agreements with oil-rich countries, but 20-50 cents per gallon discount on every gallon makes up for the cost of a Costco membership for sure. Only downer: only accepted Mastercard, which I didn't have, so I had to drive off with my tail between my legs. 

2.) Montreal and Quebec City: beautiful cities, but also beautiful attitudes toward veganism! Reflects the general progressive attitude of the country (see universal healthcare system) and love of animals (MJ posited that Canada tends towards veganism due to having more species of wild animals within its borders- hey, maybe!) and we were able to go the whole trip maintaining vegan. 

3.) The return of real breakfasts! It's been quite a long time since I've had a real breakfast at a hotel (most chain outlets will just stick you with a breakfast bar and some fruit and advertise it as a free breakfast), but the hotels we stayed at offered a real spread, even accomodating MJ's strict vegetarian needs. In general the hospitality experience was as expected Canada-friendly, no sourpuss service people making me feel unwelcome, very hearty "BONJOURS" wherever we entered and no smugness/disdain at all when we started speaking English. I'm convinced everyone in Quebec speaks at least English and French well, with French being the lingua franca but English accepted everywhere you go.....like both Visa and American Express credit cards being accepted at most establishments, with small exceptions. 

4.) The language portion is a big deal because I always feel a bit of a superiority complex from some people who I work with on Japanese and Chinese projects.....I feel a bit of "better-than-thou" attitude from some speakers who can speak multiple languages to "come down to you" and speak your mother language even though they know I can speak their language too. No pressures at all in France and Quebec with English, and even though people just started speaking English to us I felt more relieved than anything. 

5.) The search for the Red Door- part of a fun scavenger hunt for me throughout Quebec City for filming sites used in the hit Korean drama series "Goblin." Of course being me, I was about 5 years too late for the craze where many Asian tourists (a lot of Chinese people also watch Korean dramas) flooded to Quebec City to see the awesome views depicted on TV, with the most famous spot being a red door in Old Town Quebec found in a very European alley......I'll never forget the feeling of coming upon it, spotting the telltale color of the walls and the familiar feeling of having been there before.......and also of the Asian tourists who were taking a photo there, clearly also having been searching for the Red Door as well. 

6.) Montreal is a bustling city whose residents I'm jealous of.......I'd have liked to have worked there on a job assignment or something for at least 3 months, in the summer of course or at least not during the dead of winter.......it's got an impressive art museum, a scenic hilltop that overlooks the city, a river that runs through it, an old Olympic grounds from the 1968 summer Olympics and 1967 Expo, a botanical garden, an old town, and MJ's most desired spots: vegan croissant bakeries. What else do you need? Oh and the mystique of an "underground city" with tunnels and shops to hang out during the winter. 

7.) Montreal is not far from the Canada-US border, just a one-hour drive, but it takes a while by driving to GET to that border, as New York is a big state by population but also by land mass; there's a whole more to the geography than just the Big Apple. It goes Catskill mountains, Albany, Adirondack mountains as you go up, and it definitely feels like a drive up from Los Angeles towards San Franisco, Oregon. Except the roads are not free in the Empire State. Maybe that's why they became an empire. 

Did I mention there's Costco in Quebec? Forget Amazon (bad quarter sunk the price of my shares, Costco's taking over the world!)