Vive la Francais!

I spent the last couple of days in Quebec City on a press junket. It's still February there -- instead of time zone change, they just have month zone changes. There's snow on the ground. I wore cute open-toed flats. The other shoes in my bag were open-toed stilletos. Needless to say, I spent a lot of time inside the hotel.

That was, until we got a "shopping list" of stores from the publicist. All within walking distance. If you've ever been to Quebec City, though, you'll know that for every clothing store there are 15 Canadiana stores. For every shoe store there are 15 fur stores. (Apparently no one from Peta lives in Quebec City). If you have a shopping addiction, Quebec City is a good place to visit. You will save your money. Unless you like wooden canoe tchotchkes or fur-trimmed Eskimo figurines.

Still, we found a Simons.

And then a shoe store.

I managed to buy three tops and a pair of shoes. I like to think I was helping the economy in a tourist-driven town that has a tough time sustaining in the off-season.

"Don't you already have that sweater?" my friend asked me. It was argyle. I probably have about 15 argyle sweaters. Argyle is my fur.

"I have ones like it," I stressed. "But not in this colour."

"Really?" She said skeptically. We only see eachother about once every month or so, so the fact that she knew how many argyle sweaters I had was a tad disturbing. Still, I wasn't about to let it get me down. "But I like argyle. It makes me happy."

She was holding 2 jackets. "I feel like I have too many jackets," she complained. "But I love this one. But I can't even wear them all. I still have jackets with tags in my closet." She looked at me helplessly. "What should I do?" I knew what she wanted me to say.

"Jackets are your argyle. You should get it." She got the jacket. I got the sweater. We were very happy.

And then... we found the HELLO KITTY store. All Hello Kitty all the time.

"Let's take a picture." We didn't have a camera, only had my phone - which is like a girl with PMS - so I wasn't sure it was going to work out.

We did a test shot to see if we could fit us and Kitty in the shot.

Then I got in the picture.

Or so I thought. Turns out I didn't get either of us. We tried again.

Not our best shot. "Hold the camera up higher so we only have one chin each instead of two," my friend instructed.


I liked this one. "But you're only half in the shot," my friend said. "I know. I like it like that. My head doesn't look so large."

Still, we tried again.

In the end, there was no room for Kitty. Only us.

Then, exhausted from our photo shoot, she got poutine and I got creme glacee. (Note: if you refer to any food in French, it is then acceptable economy supporting and can be classified as a city experience).

Then we went back to the hotel to watch Le Speidi on La Tyra.

Bonne journee!