Art gallery time

16.02.2008

JP and Normand made Josh and I a nice breakfast of eggs, fresh bread and ham. Everyone decided to come to the art gallery after all. It was so cold outside, they all wanted to stay inside.

We went to the Musee des Beaux Arts du Quebec way later than I expected to, but that was OK. I'd rather wait a few minutes to go with some friends than go by myself anyway. The gallery was smaller than I expected, so it didn't take all day to explore every room anyway.

It was nice, there was a lot of art on the theme of Quebec's history because of the 400th anniversary of the city, and also, I assume, because of Carnaval. There was also a special Picasso exhibit which was totally packed, I could hardly believe this small room in the corner of the gallery was so popular, but there it was. Works from the artist's Mediterranean era were shown. Mostly vague drawings of nude women and sea urchins, enthralling. Picasso was definitely one big weirdo.

Still sick and sniffling, I was having trouble staying awake and upright during the entire museum visit, I was kind of relieved when I found out our trip to the art gallery was over.

Upon leaving the museum, We formulated a grand plan to cook some soup, buy some sushi, caribou and ice cream, and have a feast. That's pretty much what we did. Back at JP and Normand's apartment, JP cooked the soup (I helped chop) while Normand and Josh chose the music, which Josh had actually brought. A whole external hard drive full.

The soup was pretty good, it felt good to have it in between sniffling and sneezing. Even though we hadn't been outside very long today, hot soup is always welcome on such cold days, especially for a person as sick as me. (Are you empathizing with my horrendous illness yet?)

After eating our sushi, listening to music and making fun of Josh for his Smiths collection, ("I bet you like the Smiths. I know all about you!") it was time to head over to Nelligan's, the CS meeting point for the evening.

It was only about a 10 minute walk, but it was still absolutely freezing. Never again will I go to Quebec City in the middle of winter like this. I say that now... but who knows where I'll be next February, most likely sticking my foot in my mouth, again.

Nelligan's was fun. I met up with Isaac, who I had met only for the first time yesterday, and we totally hit it off. Yeah, Louise and a gay guy, a compatible combination as usual, who knew?

Laurence was there. She had organized the entire weekend, as well as the "Boston invasion" in Montreal last fall that I attended. She's totally awesome and apparently moving to Holland soon to do an internship at the International Criminal Court.

Eli, who I had met twice before, once in Boston and once in Montreal, was there, it was nice seeing him again for sure. He's always up for fun and is a total social butterfly.

Mike was also there, who I had met in Boston in January. He's the guy who went on the harbour walk audio tour with me, if you remember.

So, all in all, a really good reunion of sorts. But mostly, I just hung out with JP, Normand, Josh and their friends.

Nelligan's was getting way too packed, so I was totally ready to leave, when Normand's friend Rene asked if we wanted to go to a bar down the street with better music, cheaper beer and more chairs. Yep. You bet. There's nothing worse than a packed bar full of hippies. I sprang off my seat and put on my coat ready to go. JP quickly wrote his address on my hand, in case we didn't see each other again, and I was off.

At the second bar, Sacrilege, we quickly found a big table near the window and I met a bunch of Rene's friends. One of whom had just come back from two months in Australia and another who is from the same town in PEI that my friend Amanda is from. Sadly, I can't remember any of their names.

Australia tripper/maple syrup farmer guy kept buying beer for us, so before I knew it, I was ready to go home. Just as I was contemplating the folly of leaving in the middle of the night, drunk, in a strange city, JP, Normand and Josh came in the door and sat with us. That was good, because I didn't have a very good idea of where exactly I was situated at the moment.

Mostly, all these people speak French all the time, so participating in this conversation at Sacrilege really tested the minimal French knowledge that I have.

However, true to Rene's word, the music was a lot better, and mostly I drifted in and out of the conversation while singing cheesy indie songs and listening to obscure '90s music.

So that was a good time. We stayed till last call, and then went back to JP's, ate the leftover soup and slept on his nice, comfy, black leather couch again.

Feast with Josh, Normand, JP