Montréal people: Toujours l'hiver

We haven't been people-watching for a bit, partly because I freeze my fingers taking photos at -21C (-6F)! But last weekend temps rose to -8C (17F), so let's watch Montréalers, out on a sunny but still-wintry weekend. Men and women alike bundle, but we see the first hints that the next season beckons.

Her dots on yellow lift a wintry grey puffer and wink at spring.

A fellow in an audacious pink bomber and Fair Isle hat, his companion in red with a boldly-striped scarf:

 

"Girls can wear pink, too", she says. Her mother told me she loves rose et jaune.

 

Gentle, soft celadon with its generous ruff of cream flatters and gives a visual vacation from the ubiquitous darks of February:

 

She's come from yoga, now en route to skating. Her treasured parka, from the Northwest Territories, is appliqued in traditional motifs. Our conversation began in French, switched to English and ended with bonne journée, typical here.

 

Bob "Elvis" Gratton is a comic character in several films and a TV series; "Think big, 'sti!" is his catch-phrase, like Austin Powers' "Yeah, baby!"  'Sti" (variants include esti, asti, osti) is explained here along with other classic Quebec swear words you wouldn't use around your mother.

Note the accessories: Cool shades, luminous white hair, plush, Indian-patterned scarf (we supersize here)–and baguette.

The shops present spring long before the snow melts. At hip jewelry boutique Charlotte Hosten, I asked to shoot a neckpiece of feathers, flowers and beads:

In the park across the street from my place, a jaunty man teaches a girl to juggle while skaters glide around them. Let's watch, then come in for a cup of Euphoria!

Next stop, spring! Six weeks until it shows up on people's backs, though I did see a young man on the street with knee-length stovepipe shorts over leather leggings, everything black. Yes, I did!