Spring Break...

...if one can really call it that with still so much snow around and temperatures below zero. Rather than heading off to an exotic and warm location for the one week break, I went on a few little road trips around Quebec with some of the other Aussies and American friends. First stop, Montreal. Its about two and half hours drive from Quebec City so it was interesting to see the landscape outside of town. It was a freezing day but we managed to walk around outside for a bit along Rue St Catherine and Vieux Port. We had a look at some impressive churches and hunted down the Australian cafe, Tourtière Australienne, which was unfortunately closed at the time. All the more reason to go back again!

 

Next trip we headed in the opposite direction to the north of Quebec, to Chicoutimi and Saguenay. We drove around town for a bit and we went to Le Norvégien for some ski du fond (cross-country skiing). It was so beautiful to outside in the snow-covered forest. The weather was really nice too, about 5 degrees Celsius, enough for one to almost abandon scarf and coat! We stayed the night in a beautiful little bed and breakfast, L'Auberge de Deux Tours, which I recommend to anyone wanting to stay in Jonquière. 

Beautiful sunset in Jonquiere. Managed to capture it whilst leaning out of the car!

Large church just outside the B&B

The next morning we decided to go even further north to visit Lac St Jean. Along the way we visited la fromagerie, Blackburn, for some Quebecois cheese and grabbed some other groceries (including maple butter!) for what we anticipated to be a spectacular lunch. However upon arriving at the lake, we discovered a punctured tyre so we headed to the little town of Saint-Henri-de-Taillon for a patch up. Finally, we got to the lake and spent some time on 'the beach'. The lake was frozen over, just a white expanse as far as the eye could see. We were walking on top of the picnic tables there was that much snow. I couldn't help but giggle at the lifesaver's chair stuck in the middle of it!

You can just see the picnic table tops!

We encountered another small catastrophe that afternoon: someone had left the bread and cinnamon scrolls on top of the car on the way back from the car repairers so lunch was delay once more! Fortunately, we came across the lonely loaf on the drive back. Although a little icy it was still good enough to eat. However the cinnamon scrolls weren't so fortunate. 

case of the missing cinnamon scrolls - solved!

icy roads...

Hôtel de Glace

The impressive Hôtel de Glace is open between January and March and is located just out of town. Its absolutely beautiful! Each room (yes, you can actually stay overnight!) has its own theme and design. It also has a bar, a chapel and outdoor spas. I went on the opening night with the Language School so there was live music and a firework display. I got my first taste of Caribou at the ice bar, a Quebecois drink which I believe is made up of red wine, whiskey and of course a dash of maple syrup. The best thing about it? It was served in a carved block of ice!

Long time, no see

Well it's been two months and six days since I first arrived in Quebec, and I realised that a new blog post is well overdue! I've done and seen a lot over the last month so I'll give a brief resume of what I've been up to.

Carnaval de Québec January 27th - February 12th

Now the world's biggest winter carnival, it began in 1894 as a grand celebration to keep the people's spirits high during the difficulties of winter. It consists of several weeks of activities that embrace the Quebecois winter and its traditions.
I spent a day exploring Plaines d'Abraham where most of the action occurs. Similar to the Easter Show in Sydney, there are various stalls set up where one can view/taste the wares from Quebec. There was an ice sculpturing competition, an ice castle, several slides to toboggan down, dog sled rides, a skating rink and stacks of other things to do. I came back later at night for the grand opening and I was treated to a spectacular firework display.

Ice sculpting competition

Palais de Bonhomme

There are other activities that happen around the city on different days. I got to see the dog sled races and the most impressive extreme canoe racing. The canoe race takes place on the Saint Laurent river which while not completely freezing over, is filled with large chunks of ice. So not only do the competitors have to deal with the ridiculously freezing temperatures on the water, whenever they come across a mini iceberg, they need to disembark the canoe and pull it across till they reach the water again (using specially equipped shoes with rather large spikes on them). Extreme sport indeed!

I should also mention that the ticket for the Carnaval is a little figurine of Le Bonhomme, the Carnaval's mascot which you tie onto your coat. He's a cute snowman character and features all through out the Carnaval.

Le Bonhomme

Week 3 : Settling in

Well the last couple of weeks seem to have passed pretty quickly. I've settled into my apartment in Saint-Louis with my Quebecoise flatmate and cat (Bob). It's a quiet suburban area about a 15 min bus ride from university and 30 min bus ride from Vieux-Quebec. There is a little l'épicerie (grocery store) at the end of my street which is very handy. If I go for a longer walk there is a huge shopping complex made up of three 'malls' (still getting used to all this North American vocabulary) where you can find just about everything. Although I'm still in the search of a fabric store...
There is a ridiculous amount of snow around. And it grows with each new downfall every couple of days. Early morning sounds usually consist of snow plows moving through the streets, shovels scraping on the pavement and ice being chipped off cars.

walking home

Generally the snow is magical. It's so light, like flour. When it snows while its sunny it kinda looks like glitter. However I experienced my first snow storm the other day. And 'magical' wasn't the first word that came mind when I stepped out the front door into snow that came up to my thigh. But I managed to wade through and make it to the bus shelter none the worse for wear (thankfully the bus shelters here are actually shelters and not just a bit of tin roofing).

the pile grows larger each day...

I'm taking four classes with the language school at Laval uni and they seem manageable. The variety of nationalities in the classes is amazing: there are people from Canada, US, Peru, Brazil, Colombia, Spain, Poland, Germany, Luxembourg, UK, Iran, Pakistan, Japan and China. The language school also has a great 'l'animation' group (still struggling to find an English equivalent for this word, its along the lines of 'host' or 'mediator'). They basically organise excursions and activities for the foreign students, some of which I will post about soon!

Longest day of my life

The journey began in Sydney 4th January 2012. I wasn't actually expecting to leave then, due to a somewhat delayed visa however things worked out (all very last minute) and next thing I knew I was on a plane. First stop was Auckland, then on we went to Vancouver. This was my first flight to the northern hemisphere and as you can imagine it wasn't short.  We had quite a wait till our next flight to Montreal but soon enough we were up in the air again. We got our first taste of Québec winter while dashing out on to the tarmac to board the tiniest little plane to Québec City. Upon (finally) arriving in Québec City I was greeted by a lot of snow and a cool -9 degrees C.

 

 It was an odd experience, crossing so many timelines. One realises just how large our world is. The sunrise was beautiful though, several thousands meters in the air. And to experience two sunrises in one day, even more special!

Bonjour!

Well I've finally got the blog up and running! This is where I'll be sharing titbits about my time on In-Country Study in Canada. As you may already know, I'm studying at L'Université Laval in Québec City as part of my International Studies degree. My time spent here will basically be a year of cultural immersion: learning the language (French) and learning what it means to be 'Québecois'.

I struggled coming up with name for this blog but with a little help from the family, I decided to go with 'Canadian Tales' or as I've translated it 'Les contes canadiens'. While the French word 'conte' translates more as 'fairytale', I thought it fitting for my adventures into the unfamiliar and unknown (although as much as I would love it to be so, I doubt Canada is a likely place for dragons and princes).

So welcome aboard and I hope you enjoy!