I married a Montreal tattoo artist in 1986 and soon had Quebec tattooed on my soul. Wedding rings may not last, but experiences do. I stayed in Quebec and became a travel columnist for The Montreal Gazette, exploring this vast Canadian province from the U.S. border to the Arctic. Whereas I only wrote in English, all the travel brochures and press trips and interviews were in French, and so I had to learn to translate them myself. While binging on French radio and TV, I travelled with Francophone journalists, learning to paddle a 12-seat Rabaska canoe, mountain bike through a Laurentian forest, and go dog-sledding en Français. Sheer proof that you can bluff your way into a new life - in any language!