Quebec 2006

M. Saunoi, Mme Johnson and M. Swanson are happy to announce plans for another trip to the city of Québec. The trip will be open to students taking 7th or 8th grade French classes at MPA during the 2007-2008 school year. We will have an information session on February 20, 2007 at MPA in room 159 at 6:00 pm. The trip will take place over MEA weekend - October 18-21, 2007. Interested students and parents should attend this meeting.

Here are some possible items on the itinerary:

Day 1

Airport
Arrive in Quebec,
Picture at the Chateau
Walking Tour of fortified city
Dinner at Creperie
Musee du Fort

Day 2

Breakfast at the Parlementaire
Visit National Assembly
Musee de la civilisation
Free time for lunch, and explore Old Quebec
Learn the Secrets old Chateau Frontenac
Walking Tour of Place Royale
Free time to explore
Dinner at a fondue restaurant or traditional French restaurant
Artillery park: tea party at British officers' mess

Day 3

Depart for breakfast at Traditional Huron-Wendat Village
Free time for lunch at the Galleries de la Capitale shopping center
Visit Montmorency Falls Park with cablecar ride

Soldat de la Tour activity OR Quebec Observatory OR
Artillery Park costume activity OR Tour of Island of Orleans
Dinner at sugar shack

Day 4:
Return home safely!

I will again be offering a CD of pictures from the trip. If you have pictures that you would like to have included on the CD, please send them to me at school by the end of the day Thursday.

Merci,

Monsieur Swanson

Due to server problems, we have not had access to the blog since Thursday. I'll put up more postings once we have returned to Minnesota. See you at the airport.

Monsieur Swanson

it rained. Okay, so we didn't get that much rain but we sure got wet tonight.

We started with a tour of Vieux Québec. Monsieur Saunoi had a flashback to his school days while we were visiting the school of architecture at Université Laval. The building had been the colonial seminary and the courtyard was just like many school courtyards in France. There is an incredible variety of architectural styles in Québec from French Colonial to modern skyscrapers and everything in between.

Dinner was good and the conversation was interesting. The students are doing a very good job of using French. Burger King was probably a good choice from a linguistic standpoint. Being familiar with everything on the menu made it easier for everyone to try using their French.

Following dinner we had our soldat de la tour activity where the students learned a lot about Québec during the early 19th century. Apparently the British soldiers were known for their cleanliness since they washed their hands and face most mornings. Ask your child what the soldiers used to hold the water. Or maybe you don't want to know.

The walk home was great! Québec at night is beautiful. So many things are well lit. The streets are narrow. The buildings are made mostly of stone. People are still walking in the streets until late. It is so much like a European city. However, it was raining quite hard and the walk was about thirty minutes. Everyone is to hang up their jacket, prop their shoes by the radiator and try to get everything dried out for the wake-up call at 6:45. Breakfast at the Québec Parlament tomorrow at 8:00.

More photos in a few minutes.

Monsieur Swanson

Well, the weather in Québec was bad this morning. So after circling the city for a good half hour we returned to the US landing in Portland, Maine. We refueled, stretched our legs (as much as possible in a small plane), talked about lobster rolls, and headed back to Québec. After a quick meal chez Burger King, we are about to take a tour of old Québec. Our group picture has been postponed until tomorrow, so no group picture yet. I'll post one as soon as possible. Look for snap shots late tonight.

Salut,

Monsieur Swanson

This year's trip is packed full of fun and informative activites. Click on this link
Download file to download a pdf of the itinerary.

Highlights:

Day One
4:45 am checkin at MSP airport
3:00 pm Group picture in front of the Château Frontenac
8:00 pm Le Soldat de la Tour activity

Day Two
2:30 pm Guided tour of the Château Frontenac
8:00 pm Tea in the British Officers' Mess at the Artillery Park

Day Three
8:30 am Traditional breakfast at the Huron-Wendat Village
6:00 pm Dinner at an authentic sugar shack

Day Four
9:15 am Tour sweepstakes
4:06 pm arrive MSP from Detroit