helen-louise's journal

I should probably update you on what we've been doing in Montréal. Though it's not very exciting - Richard has been mostly working, and I feel as though I've done nothing other than sleeping and eating. That isn't completely true, though it certainly did take me a long time to recover from the flight and figure out how to pace myself properly. This is the first long trip I've taken since being diagnosed with chronic fatigue, and is the first holiday of any sort we've had since going to Zürich in August 2012 (and that was hardly relaxing since we were away with my mother who is exhausting!), so I didn't already have the skillset.

On Saturday we went out for our anniversary dinner (which was a bit rubbish) and for cake afterwards (which wasn't), and then to the Musée d'Art Contemporain de Montréal. Most of the museum was closed for rearrangement, but we saw A Matter of Abstraction and On Abstraction III, both of which were utterly, hilariously awful. There were a few good paintings and/or sculptures - the ones which had had actual effort put into them (you can download the PDF brochure if you're interested - some of the pictures are really worth seeing). But we were extremely unconvinced by the sheet of aluminium, identical to any other sheet of aluminium from a mill, leaning against a wall and claiming to be a piece of art! At least Marcel Duchamp signed his urinal and turned it into art that way!

On Sunday, we went to the Biodôme. That was awesome, but then we like plants and animals so it was hardly surprising that we enjoyed it. The rainforest and maple forest areas were particularly interesting, and we're looking forward to going to the Jardin Botanique this weekend. papersky said there is a lot to see there even in winter because there are greenhouses. I am sad that we can't go up the Olympic Tower because it is closed for annual maintenance, given that it has a FUNICULAR. (I managed to annoy my family immensely in Zürich by dragging them onto the funicular and rack railway and aerial tramway - what can I say, I'm a geek for weird forms of public transport. Apparently I wrote absolutely nothing about that trip on livejournal, which saddens me now, but I assume I was just too exhausted).

We are currently unsure when we are leaving Montréal because we are currently uncertain when Richard's job here will be finished. Going to Toronto by myself just isn't at all practical when I can't lift my own case or get into anyone's house due to stairs, so I might have to go home instead. Unknown. Ask me later.