City Of Mary Or Bust

We drove to our first international destination Montreal, founded in 1642 as Ville-Marie, or “City of Mary”.

Montreal is named after Mount Royal, the triple-peaked hill around which the early city of Ville-Marie is built.

Along our drive we stopped at a New York rest stop shop.

We saw some hills on the route north.

I saw a number of blue jays at a rest stop, but they would not stay still for a picture. I did get this picture of one of their homes instead, though.

Here is where we crossed the border to Canada.

But still had a ways to drive before reaching Montreal. Of course, all the signs were now in French and distance and speed are listed as kilometers and kilometers per hour, respectively.

We arrived at downtown Montreal by crossing this bridge.

And stayed at an Airbnb in a luxury condo building which had posted in the elevator that Airbnb and related rental services are illegal. Our host assured us she had an agreement with the condo board.

French Lesson:

Plié

• Bend

Changement

• Change

Battement

• A high or low kick

Pas de chat

• Step of the cat

Pirouette

• A twirl, or turning movement

Barre

• horizontal bar opposite mirrors and along a wall in a studio for class exercises - where every class begins exercises

Cavalier

• This refers to the female ballet dancer’s male partner.

Chassé

• A step where one foot chases the other out of its original position. These are done in a series of movements.

Développé

• In this movement, the working leg is drawn up to the knee of the supporting leg and slowly extended to an open position and held there.

Fondu

• Lowering the body on the supporting leg.

Relevé

• The word refers to the motion of raising; which is raising the body on the demi-pointe (which is when the dancer is high on the balls of his or her feet, but still under part of the toes)

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