Quebec 2009

That was a sentence that I thoroughly enjoyed hearing.

Here are some more pictures from the trip. The first was taken on our last evening. Returning from the falls, we drove around to the southern side of the city and along the St. Laurence. Quebec was at one time one of the five busiest ports in the world. The city was one of the largest producers of ships in the world. As the need for wooden ships died, so did much of the activity in the port. 2008 was the 400th anniversary  of the founding of the city. As a present to itself, the City updated a section of the shore where some of the old docks had been. Here, the girls have climbed a tower constructed on the site of one of the old docks. From this vantage point, we could see the bridges crossing the St. Laurence and serving the city of Quebec. We saw several large ships. Perhaps they were coming from Duluth? We could also see the tide rising and the water rushing against the natural flowing of the river. After exploring this tower and the new dock, we walked along the new walkway enjoying the view of the cliffs on one side, the river on the other.

Significantly taller than Niagara, the Montmorency Falls are incredible to behold.

Ask to see the copper creations. We learned about "poussage" - a way of sculpting with copper. It was very interesting. Everyone got a chance to try the method. You cans see some of the creations of the "other" artists in the background of the picture.

Albert Gilles, a French artist who moved to the Quebec area, created the copper doors and decorations at the Saint Anne de Beaupré Basilica. His family has continued his work and now runs a museum and workshop where we stopped today.

Les galléries de la capitale is not as big as Mall of America, but it is still impressive. There is a lot of shopping to do, and there are plenty of restaurants. In addition to the roller coaster and other rides, there is also a skating rink. I seems that many people here skate and watch hockey. Unfortunately, the Canadiens de Montréal have lost five games in a row.

In addition to Roots, there are other well known stores in the region. Simons is one. It is a local department store. Another local establishment is the fast food restaurant Chez Ashton. Some believe that this is the place where Poutine originated. Poutine is a French fries with cheese curds, all of which is then covered in gravy. It has about a millionn callories and at least a days worth of fat, but it is pretty good. I beleive that all of the girls on the trip gave it a try. Ask them what they thought.

La Nation Huronne-Wendat - has only 3 000 members. When the British and French arrived in the Great Lakes area, they numbered 25 000. Following the arrival of small pox and war with the Iroquois, there were only 300 members. At that point, the nation moved the area around the city of Quebec.

Did you know that a long house could be as long as 70 meters? That's almost as long as a football field.

Breakfast consisted of juice, hot chocolate, omelette, bison, potatoes, and banique. Banique is a bread with blueberries that is sweetened with maple sugar. It is something between a muffin and a scone.

announced Gaston, our guide through the magnificent Chateau Frontenac. Not only was the hotel never a chateau, but it was made from stones that had been used as ballast for British ships arriving at the port and which were simply dumped in exchange for wood and other products that would be shipped to Great Britain. The hotel was something special made from what amounted to a lot of garbage.

Gaston was very impressed by how much the girls understood. Gaston, like almost all of our guides, spoke to us almost exclusively in French. One of the truly special aspects of visiting Quebec is the number of people who make it a point to encourage us to continue learning and using French. The Quebecers are very proud of their history and heritage, and thus we see all around us "Je me souviens."

One of the activities today involved learning how typical French and British soldiers would have dressed while stationed in Quebec. We learned that the undergarments for each were a single piece. We also learned that the uniforms were designed to intimidate. The French uniform included many gold buttons on two layers. They were meant to infer that the French were rich. The thought was that if they could afford all of the buttons, then they could certainly afford lots of guns and ammunition. The ironic part about this was that the cartridge box of the British soldier held more cartridges than that of the French soldier. The British uniform, the one shown being that of an artilleryman, was designed to accentuate height and physical strength. The French uniform included both a sword, which was not generally used, and a bayonet, which was commonly used. The British uniform included a bayonet, but no sword.

Our first night, after a nice walk around the fortifications, we went to Martello Tower #2 for the Soldat de la Tour activity. We learned about life in one of the towers. British solders had to suffer through a stay of one month in the tower. They relied on food from Brittain, since they didn't fully trust the French who lived around them. LIfe was difficult. Here are some more pictures. I don't think that any members of our group would have made a good British soldier of the 18th or 19th century.

We had breakfast at the parliamentary restaurant this morning. It was very Québecois, featuring several regional favorites: corn flakes, fruit, French toast and maple syrup. Following breakfast we had a tour of the building which also provided us with a great history lesson.

Here we are on our way down to the river. As you can see, the weather was wonderful this morning. After breakfast, we had our group picture taken, toured much of lower town and visited the Musee de la Civilisation. Lunch was at a pizzeria. Later, we had a tour of the Chateau Frontenac (in the background of the picture). Our guide, Gaston, was understandably impressed by how well everyone in the group understood the tour which was given in French. The girls were great!