Voilà! Mes cours de français ont pris fin la semaine dernière. Je suis enfin prête pour écrire sur mon blogue quelques articles en français. L’êtes-vous aussi ?

Le lancement de la version française de ce blogue, Sur les traces de Vivian, verra le jour très bientôt. Il sera alimenté d’article toujours aussi animés et passionnés sur le voyage au Canada, les parcours en train, la découverte de nouvelles destinations, etc.

Parcourir en photos des villes canadiennes, voyage en train, activités et festivals haut en couleur, je vous propose d’explorer avec moi le Canada, de la plus agréable façon qui soit : en train.

Prochain arrêt : à la découverte de Montréal pour une fin de semaine!

Anyone else still nursing a Christmas-cookie induced hangover? Whoooogg. I shouldn’t have eaten that last gingerbread man. So tasty, so delicious… Something about the tight fit of my pants reminds me that it’s time once again to make my New Year’s resolutions.

Oh, stop groaning! I’m here to help!

First of all, if you can’t think of any good resolutions, here’s a list of top ten suggestions. Feel free to print it out and pin it to your fridge for all family members to see.

Spend more time with family and friends Learn a new skill or hobby Volunteer Start exercising Lose some weight Quit smoking Cut down on the drinking Enough with the stressing Pay more bills on time Get organized

Brought to you by: http://flickr.com/photos/28481088@N00/

What? You’ve already made your resolutions and need help sticking to them? Let the professionals at Reader’s Digest help!

You may have noticed that my usual portrait has been replaced with a more upated image.

The drawing was nice and all with its soft lines and flattering colours – I do look ravishing in olive green.

But since I am made of pixels, I thought it only fitting that my image should also be composed of pixels. And I like the polka dots.

So let me know what you think - you know how us girls get

(PSST! See the whole photo on my Facebook fan page…)

Due to technical difficulties, my Facebook profile was lost

But that won’t keep a virtual girl like me down

Visit my new Facebook page and become a fan! It’s a great way to keep up to date with new offers and contests from VIA – and to share your thoughts with other fans of train travel.

I just love bringing people together

Les médias, les blogues et les forums de discussions regorgent d’articles qui pestent contre l’augmentation du prix de l’essence. Afin de pallier cette situation, certains laissent l’auto à la maison, d’autres font l’achat d’un scooter ou enfourchent leur vélo.

Pour ma part, dans un pays où l’hiver est si long, je ne vois aucune raison de m’enfermer dans une voiture climatisée dès que le mercure monte au-delà de 20 °C. Pour mes promenades au centre-ville, j’enfile mes patins à roues alignées ou mes chaussures de marche.

Et vous, quelle est votre alternative à l’auto en cette période de hausse du prix de l’essence?

Pour des trajets plus longs, avez-vous pensé au train? VIA vient de lancer la campagne « Exaspéré par la hausse du prix de l’essence? ». En cette période de vacances, jetez un oeil aux offres de VIA.

My friend Margarita (or “Chief” as we call her at work) is so avid of a cyclist that she can’t imagine anyone not feeling the same. This sometimes causes problems, like it did last summer when it was her turn to organize our traditional July 1st getaway. Did she plan a weekend at a spa? Did she find us a cottage, with a nice dock , and maybe a hammock? No. She made arrangements for us to be shuttled with our bikes and sidepacks to the northernmost point of the P’Tit Train du Nord.

Are you familiar with the P’Tit Train du Nord? It is a very long bike path that runs along abandoned track in the Laurentian region of Quebec. (A word about the bike paths in Quebec. They are so long as to have become an international sensation. The National Geographic Society recently named the province’s Route Verte system of bike paths the best in the world. By “best,” I can only assume that they mean “longest and most grueling.”)

Anyway, I survived, and now, it’s time for me to exact revenge. Margarita doesn’t know it yet, but this July, we’re going on a 5-day juice fasting retreat at a holistic spa in Ontario’s Opeongo Hills. Bwa ha ha!

For those of you who absolutely must know more about cycling in la belle province, this is supposed to be a good site to check out: Boreal Photo.

I have a confession to make. I always mess up the lyrics to my favourite songs. My most favourite song to mess up is The Engine Driver by Oregon alt-rockers The Decemberists (see live performance footage below). Not that I mess up the whole thing, mind you. Just one line. I always make

There are powerlines in our bloodlines

into

There are train lines in our bloodlines.

My silly mistake seems almost excusable when I meet people for whom this new lyric is entirely true. This is the case with my Facebook friend, Peach Flambee, who has graciously given me permission to share her story here.

Her maternal grandfather worked the rails in the north of England, back in the days of steam. He ended up as a switchman, at a time when the switches were still thrown by hand, but that was not how he started his career. His first posting had cost him an arm, when a train rolled over it. You’d think that this would’ve been a liability — a switchman’s job was not exactly easy — but he prided himself on his ingenuity and strength. As Peach Flambee explains, “Grandfather would wrap his [one!] arm around the handle of the switch and leeeeeaaaan back, using his foot as a fulcrum.” His children “practically grew up on top of the rails.” When he died, a son stepped up to fill his shoes. Peach Flambee suspects she may have distant relatives still working that same stretch of track today. (She herself works as an engineer, but of “the gearhead kind.”)

Anyone else have good stories to tell about the train lines in their bloodlines? Because I would love to hear them!

I’m trying to improve my written French.

I do very well verbally – I took French classes all through school, still, have spoken it with my grandparents since I was little, and am now working in a bilingual environment. Sometimes I forget certain words, but travellers are pretty patient if I accidentally throw in an English word now and again to fill in the gap. (I never remember the French word for scrambled eggs – it only comes to me after three ‘ummm’s).

I’m depending on workbooks and my Franco friends on the trains to refresh my grammar skills. I even write short dictées, which my mother corrects. So maybe soon, I’ll be able to post in French, ooh la la!

Just don’t expect any posts about scrambled eggs.

PS. To improve my vocabulary, I am also listening to a great podcast I found on iTunes – “Learn French with daily podcasts”. More advanced French speakers might think it’s a little baby-ish, but it’s perfect for the intermediate French speaker comme moi.

You need time to do the Facebook profile thing, don’t you? I swear it took three hours just to find friends, send them requests, join some groups, figure out the whole privacy settings thing… I haven’t even started downloading applications or poking people yet.

If you suspect that this is a not-veiled attempt to solicit more Facebook friends, then you’re right… Please be my FB friend?

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And I’ve decided to make a Virtual Vivian mixed tape for your pleasure… Yes, every week I will introduce you to a new artist by recommending a must-hear song. If at the end of it all, record companies are banging down my door to make a compilation, then so be it. Fame will not change me.

This week: Laura Veirs “Pink Light”. Something light for V-Day… Does she sound a little like Liz Phair, or is that just me?