The first good omen was flying into LGA over the amazing NY skyline,
the Statue of Liberty, the park that was in the finale of "Men In Black".

Air Canada had perky flight attendants and scary snacks.  Cheddar
Cheese Cheerios?  Uh...no thanks.

Fred and Stevi scooped us up at Dorval.  As they'd already spent
several days in Montreal, they knew the city intimately and were
able to navigate us out of the city and onto the road to Quebec
in a matter of mere hours.

Mussels in salmon sauce.  And beer.  Mmmmm.  

Snow sculptures by moonlight.  The Angel of Armaments.  A naked
snow foot stepping on snow skulls and the beginnings of a snow
spine.  This, clearly, is what inspired Kate to invite us all
here.  

The Ursuline convent museum was lovely.  Beadwork made from
porcupine quills, painstaking embroidery, gilded wooden figures,
letters, letters, letters.  Yes, Marie of the Incarnation
spent her whole life saying yes to Jesus ("Yes, yes, but can you
come back later, after I've gotten married and had a child?"), and
I'm sure she died a saint, but I was most impressed that a woman
in 1633 would cross an ocean to a savage country and found what 
was basically a small business (Nuns-R-Us).