Final Tidbits

We are home. 

What I learned today - do not trust GPS!  Look at what it’s planning and have someone in your vehicle know the general idea of where you are going.  The first part of this lesson came as we ended up going through Montreal even after Clare told it to use the alternate route.  Not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.  The second part of this lesson WOULD have been a huge deal if my two drivers hadn’t known Ontario well enough to say “uh no, we aren’t doing that!”  I just made Clare write out the entire story and then realized it was too wordy and told her to delete it.  She doesn’t like me much right now, but it’s my blog, so I get to do it my way!

Short version, huge accident on major highway (401) we needed to get home.  First phone suggested an alternate route that would have added four hours to the drive (through Algonquin park for this who know the area).  Second phone (something about Apple versus Android that I don’t understand and I’m not allowed to tell you which phone is which) had a much better plan and we were home only an hour later than expected.  Yay for my people knowing enough to not follow their GPS when it’s lost it’s mind!

Now that we’re home I can share a few fun pics from our trip that didn’t really fit anywhere else.  The first also involves GPS.  Yes we drove a four leaf clover!

The next is the result if my “attitude” about falling in the floor of the car.  I guess you don’t tattle on those who decide where you sit!  Ok, it’s also partly because my head loop thingy broke so I can’t clip on a backpack until Clare fixes it, but still - they called this my car seat!

This one we all would like an answer to.  I called it “dead man parking” but we honestly don’t know what  it’s meant to be for.  It was only on one parking spot (that we noticed).

And finally a map of where we went, for those who might not have known (yellow section is where Tadoussac is).

Fun thoughts of the trip:

Favourite moment - riding the waves, getting soaked, and seeing the whale tale flip

Biggest surprise - Robin realizing she remembered more French than she thought, and having so much fun trying it everywhere we went!

License Plate Game - we had not intended to play it, figuring only driving through two provinces wouldn’t get us many, but after seeing Alaska we had to play!  Our goal was to find half of the US states (25) and half of Canadian Provinces/Territories (7 since 6.5 isn’t possible lol).  We came ONE short of US goal but we got 8 Canadian including Nunavut and BC.  Oh and bonus round - two European Union plates!!

Until next time my friends (which will apparently be this time next year but with four extra passengers)!

Whatever!

Waves and Waterfalls

Yesterday…  it was a lot of road time, but the bit in the middle was great fun!  

The drive through the mountains with the St. Lawrence River showing up now and then beside us reminded me of both Newfoundland and driving around Lake Superior.  Clare and Robin are right - this is a pretty amazing country and we should definitely explore it more.  We reached the point on our journey where we could not see the other side of the river, not because of weather, but because it was too far away!  None of us have any memories of seeing a river so wide that you could not see the other side!  Lakes, yes, rivers no!  

Boring, sorta fun fact alert (because Clare thinks she can throw stuff into my blog whenever she wants, just because she’s typing for me!):  the tide affects the St Lawrence River all the way to Trois Rivières (half-way between Montréal and Québec City), and the waters around Tadoussac are where fresh water from the Great Lakes and salt water from the Atlantic Ocean meet.  Don’t you feel smarter now?

We finally reached a lookout point called Pointe Noire, just before the ferry to Tadoussac, and took a few minutes to check it out.  It really did feel like looking out over the ocean.  From there we could easily see the fjord up the Saguenay River and the two ferry’s crossing back and forth to Tadoussac.  It’s not exactly the Chi-Cheemaun, but it was free!  It takes longer to load the ferry than it does to actually cross the river! We had enough time to get out of the car, go up to the top floor to take a pictures, and get back to the car to drive off.

We had planned to drive further east to a Canada Parks marine interpretive centre, but we were much later than we’d hoped, so we skipped that and went straight to a ticket booth for the zodiac whale watching tours.  Robin had chosen this over a big boat tour as it seemed more fun and more likely to see whales (smaller so it can get closer, and lower on the water).  I’m in!  

Ok, must back-track just a little here.  Tadoussac is considerably cooler than Beaupré and Québec City (like at least 15° cooler than we were used to).  Clare was loving it.  The woman who sold us the tickets said the températures out on the water can be about 15° cooler than that (ie around 5°C / 40°F).  She said we would definitely want a hooded sweater and long pants to enjoy it - this turned out to be excellent advice!  However, when asked about footwear, she said we needed shoes and socks, but they wouldn’t likely get too wet - more on THAT later!  Naturally, Clare and Robin had both left sweaters at the hotel.  Clare had socks, Robin did not (oh and Clare had no long pants but said she’d be fine, she’s always too hot anyways).  They spent the hour they had going to three different souvenir shops to find a hooded sweater each, and socks for Robin.  Now while I normally make fun of the human need to buy trinkets on trips, this one made sense to me - they both found things they actually liked and might have bought anyways, but they also soaked those items (literally and figuratively) with the memories of the boat trip!  Cool.

Have I bored you yet?  Ok, ok I’ll get on with it.  We finally headed to the dressing area where we were given these beautiful orange outfits to wear, and then high-tail it across the marina in them to the actual boat.  Both Clare and Robin were sweating and said they better be right about it being cooler on the water!

Our Guide was fantastic - great sense of humour, reminding us that we WILL get wet, VERY WET.  She repeated this numerous times.  After the normal rules etc, we were off.  The boat sped off into the wind, hitting the white-capped waves head-on, bouncing us along and spraying water everywhere.  To say we were wet is an understatement and in less than five minutes Clare’s shoes were not just wet, but FULL of water.  They HAD thought to bring a plastic bag for me but forgot to put me in it.  I was still in the side pouch of the backpack you saw me in in yesterdays sneak peek photo.  Needless to say, I was as wet as their shoes!  

When we reached our first stopping point to look for whales our Guide asked if we were all fully aware that it was salt water here.  Yup, we all know now if we didn’t before.  She was full of excellent information about whales, the types that are in these waters, where they eat, give birth etc.  She shared all of this as we sat rocking on the waves, waiting and watching for the spout of water that indicates a whale is about to surface.  We DID see whales.  We saw a few seals, a minky whale, a humpbacked whale (named Guadeloupe whom we saw multiple times).  There was lots of waiting time between all these sightings, but still.  She said the whales all have different markings and so are identifiable, which is how she can tell us his name.  Just then he appeared again, not 50 feet from the boat (on our side too), first head, then his back, and then she said “wait for it…” it seemed like forever and then his massive tail flipped out, exactly like all the stereotypical pictures you see.  It was amazing!

Shortly after that sighting we headed back, this time with the wind, so not nearly as bouncy or as wet.  Not that it mattered at that point!  Robin and Clare were both thankful for their new sweaters and socks.  It had definitely been 15° cooler out there!  It had been outright cold, but it had been oh so much fun.  So worth it!

Once we dropped off the orange suits, which had mostly done their job, we headed to the car where I giggled as I watched them both wring out socks and t-shirts alike (water had gone down the neck area for both of them).  They may not have brought sweaters but they had both brought an extra t-shirt, so we’re both happy to get warm and dry.

After a quick snack, our time in Tadoussac was sadly over.  I think we all agree that we could have spent a few days there at least!  The drive home was rough, as I said last night, we don’t need to rehash that one.  Moving on

Today…   We slept in!  Even I agree that that was kinda nice.  The plan for the day was simple, hit a couple spots that we hadn’t made it to yet, and then head back to pack.

First stop, a small bakery/café here in Beaupré that we’d read about on day one.  We had a nice lunch there and moved on.  

Second stop was sort of three spots in one.  We had passed this basilica (Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré) every day except yesterday, and every day we had to laugh at the building out in front.  Yes, we know it is in French, and that souvenirs is plural etc, but that first day we passed it going 90km all we saw was “souvenir toilets” and have joked every day since, that we had to go get us some souvenir toilets (and take this photo of course).  Since we were there, we did go inside this beautiful building and admire the architecture.  People were taking photos inside but that felt wrong, and reminded me of the cathedral in Cusco where security chased you down if they sensed a camera on.  When we’d finished there, we headed to the third stop at this location; the tunnel under the highway that lead to the park by the river.  Seemed like a good idea, except we were being swarmed by little black bugs, so we ditched that idea and headed back to the car.

Our next stop of the day was Montmorency Falls.  We’d passed it many times, but felt it deserved a proper look.  Note, putting “Montmorency Falls” into the GPS versus “Montmorency Falls Park” get you to two very different locations.  We drove on a bridge over the falls and were informed “you have arrived at your destination”.  Technically true, but not very helpful.  We made it to the park ok though, took pictures from various viewpoints and called it a day.

Double rainbow (pic doesn’t do it justice)

Finally, we wrapped things up with some delicious ice cream at another local place.  Pistachio for Robin, Cantaloupe sorbet for Clare, two flavours I didn’t even know COULD be ice cream!

Ok so maybe I’m a bit tired, and I’m not helping Clare as much as I usually do, thus my missing wit that I know you all enjoy.  Sad that Clare can’t just fill in for me sometimes.  You’d think she’d just know what I want her to write by now.

Whatever sized waterfall!

Tomorrow we head home - another long car day.  Hopefully there will be enough brain space when we get home to share any last stories I acquire.  Until then…

Whatever!

A Whale of a Time!

Short entry tonight just to let you know all is well.  We had a very long day, but it was great.  We drove up to Tadoussac, which was supposed to be a 2.5 hour drive that became more of a 3.5 hour drive with traffic and construction.  We only had a little time to explore the town before jumping on a zodiac boat to search for whales.  We got very wet!  We had dinner.  We drove back, which took even longer as we went through a pretty wild storm with hail and all for at least half of the drive back.  Full credit to my amazing chauffeur Robin for getting us back safely.  

It was nearly midnight when we got in.  I have way more to tell you about today, but it will have to wait.  I will leave you with this enticing photo.

Whatever

A Four Course Day

First goal of the day - get cash to tip tour guides.  Who carries cash any more?  Apparently tourists should, but my companions seem to have forgotten that, and were scrambling with coins after our bus tour the other day.  Coins gone, they needed cash!  I’m glad I don’t have to worry about such things.  I seem to go free wherever I go.  

First tour - Château Frontenac.  Fun fact, it has never been a castle ((château)) and had nothing to do with being built by Frontenac.  Loved the guides description of this: “Frontenac was the governor of the colony 200 years before the hotel was built, but it ‘sounded frenchy’ and Château because, well, French.”  The next hour and a half was a lot of listening, looking and walking (mostly inside the hotel).  Clare says she loved all the history.  Me, not so much.  There were some gorgeous rooms though, so there was that.  

Second tour - Under the castle.  Oh wait, we didn’t get to do that one because the time listed on the website and the time at the start point did not match.  When Robin planned it last night it fit perfectly between the castle tour and tea (tight fit, but it fit).  Now we had a little over an hour and nowhere to go.  Ok well there were plenty of places we could have gone, but instead my travel buddies chose to sit on Dufferin Terrace (the boardwalk in front of the castle) and chat.  Yawn… 

Third, and best part of the day - Tea Time!  Ok, Clare was right, this was nothing like my tea parties in Utah, and I’m not sure which I like better.  Who knew you could have a four-course tea!  I can’t really describe the experience and do it justice, so I won’t try.  Instead I’ll comment on what I noticed - there were almost no men there!  There were a few couples, but the majority were small groups of women or what I’d guess was mothers and daughters.  My favourite part was watching the younger girls, all sitting tall and clearly playing princess in the castle, and enjoying every minute.

Fourth and final goal - Boutique Noel - a year-round Christmas store.  I have no clue why this was a must-see, but it was.  Not much to say - it is exactly what it sounds like.  I wonder if the staff there get sick of Christmas music?  

And that was that.  We wandered more,  checked out more shops, found the weird knight statue that I just had to have a picture of, then sat in a park near the castle and talked for I don’t know how long about who knows what.  Eventually they got bored or hungry or had to go to the bathroom or some other human cue I don’t understand, and we headed back to our home away from home.

Tomorrow we are going the totally opposite direction for the day.  I’ve heard whispers of whales and maybe boat tours or beaches.  Until tomorrow.

Whatever!

Funicular (going up the cliff behind the building)
Yes, we climbed up that hill the first day
No, we did not climb that hill today.

Bannock to Brioche

Do I have a story for you?  Yesterday’s cliffhanger went off the rails in a big way after I posted!  About an hour into the power outage the fire alarm went off.  Nope, not kidding!  Robin and Clare stared at each other for a few seconds (in the light of a flashlight), burst out laughing and decide to redress (out of PJs) before checking things out lol.  Clearly they were not overreacting!  I will give them full credit though, when they did go out, the took ME with them. Yay!  Turns out, our neighbours decided to light a fire (in their room fireplace) and who knows what went wrong but their room filled with smoke.  I’ll spare you the details, but it was nearly an hour before the alarm was turned off and we finally went to bed (oh yeah, the lights were on by that point, in case you’d forgotten the first part of the story).  Fun night my friends!

Morning came too early for my companions, but they still managed to get out the door on time to barely make their breakfast reservation in Wendake (indigenous community just north of Quebec City, pronounced when-DAH-kay). The restaurant isn’t cheap but serves traditional indigenous foods in a modern format.  We were all eager to try this, and breakfast was the cheapest option, so worth the early morning.  The menu items were listed as “hunting”, “fishing” and “gathering” on bannock bread with eggs etc.  Both my companions said it was worth it - I wouldn’t know.

We then explored the Huron-Wendat museum with lots of reading and listening but not a lot of doing, so I maybe kinda fell asleep.  Clare insists it was interesting.  I did like the longhouse though, and tried my hand at grinding something (corn, wheat, bits of sawdust they put in there to make it look good, I don’t know).   

One thing I noticed, but can’t decide if it’s a positive or negative comment, is that the museum did not bring you out into a gift shop like almost every other tour I’ve ever been on.  This seemed like a breath of fresh air, except that we actually wanted to look in it, and we couldn’t find it!  Seriously, even when they said “end of the parking lot” we couldn’t find it. We wandered around for a while, eventually found the back of it and had to go around again to get inside!  Ironically, there was nothing inside we wanted (good stuff, not tourist trinkets at all, just nothing we wanted).  

Wendake is a small community, so we wandered around, checked out the falls and fountain that represents the Huron creation story and a number of stores that sold indigenous items (including a pair of moccasins for Robin). I wanted moccasins too, but they didn’t have my size (even tried the key ring pair, but no luck). 

Quebec City is over there

Ready to move on, it had been a tie between Montmorency Falls and Île de Orléans ((Orléans Island)).  A quick Google search decided for us as parts of Montmorency Falls park were closed today because the heavy rainfall had the water flowing way too fast for certain places to be safe.  Île de Orléans it was!

I took a pic of this spot from that mountain!

First stop was yet another Information centre, right as we got off the bridge to the island, but this was totally worth it as she not only gave us a tourist map, but asked what we wanted to see, and marked off all the best places for our interests. Cool.  The island takes between 1.5 to 2 hours to drive around, but I think we took 3 or 4 with all our stops.  Totally worth it!  We went to one end and took pictures looking across the river at Quebec City, and the opposite end of the island looking at Mont-Sainte-Anne (Beaupre, aka home).  In between we checked out an amazing Chocolatier, a Fromagerie and a Bakery (I’m sure there’s a fancy French word for it but Clare says she’s tired, and somehow those two things are related).

By far, best stop of the whole day was the Fromagerie ((Cheeserie??)).  It’s a goat dairy, but boy did they have a system… teach us about goat cheese and ice cream while letting us taste ALL the samples (various ages of cheese and then ice cream), and explain why most people don’t like store bought goat cheese products.  Then send us out back to see the baby goats.  I do not think I saw one family leave without buying something (mostly soft-serve goat ice cream, but many with a bag full of cheeses too).  Who knew?

Finally we headed back off the island towards home, but not without passing Montmorency Falls in all its high-water level splendour (note GPS informed us flooding was further up that river and might effect our drive - it didn’t).

I’ve added a few extra pics to the end because I really wanted to share them but Clare said they didn’t fit.  Don’t forget to check them out too.

So far the power is still on, and nobody has set off a fire alarm.  Here’s hoping we get to sleep earlier, as tomorrow we storm the castle!

Whatever!

 Awww you’re cute 

I made a new friend!

Umm guys??  A little help here?
Not funny!
Stop taking pictures and pick me up!
I am so putting this in my blog so everyone can see how you treat me!

A little drop of rain

Robin’s wake-up weather check was not promising: “heavy rainfall, chance of flooding”.  Yup, we headed into Quebec City, and the warning did not exaggerate.  It rained all day.  It never let up.  We had fun anyways (well I mostly hung out in the back corner of a dry backpack, but I checked things out when I could.  

We parked in the lower part of Old Quebec which may have seemed like a good idea on a flat map, but resulted in SO many stairs and hilled roads to get up to our first goal - the information centre (this will make more sense when you see pictures, if you haven’t been here).  Inside the info centre Robin and Clare went mad collecting booklets and brochures (multiple copies of all of them)!  Then they talked to the various companies that were there promoting to us tourists, but I kept hearing them say “next year we are…” and “when we bring a small youth group…”. Wait just a minute folks!  Is this trip just a giant front for a reconnaissance mission for a future Girl Guide trip?  Apparently it is, although they both assure me the two trips will be very different.  Yu-huh… next year I’ll have four awesome Rangers to keep me entertained AND I’ll be able to play really bad tour Guide :D

We hadn’t planned on doing a bus tour, but with all the rain, we decided it was worth a go.  Once booked, we had about an hour to kill so we searched out a bakery or cafe where we could get croissants.  We found a great little place where they were very patient while we attempted to order in French, and not only did we get croissants to-go (for later) but we sat down and tried maple pie (first for all of us).  

Boring info alert:  71% of the Worlds maple syrup comes from Canada, and 91% of THAT is from Quebec.  I guess that’s why I keep seeing maple stuff everywhere.

I think it’s melting

Finally we got on the bus.  We had been told when we bought the tickets that we were lucky as that tour would have a live tour guide (versus a recording).  What she failed to mention was why.  Turns out there is a massive 10 day music festival (evenings) at the Plains of Abraham, which results in random road closures near the park and sometimes they get closed in the afternoon, long before the music starts, AND those plains are one of the main features of the tour.  Yeah, so bus driver and live tour guide get to make it up as they go along.  This resulted in a fantastic tour of much of their usual stuff, but also a fun detour out to the marina where we got out to take pictures looking back at the city (quickly of course, as it was still raining).  Then came my favourite part (because you know I’m never one for the normal), the tour guide got all excited because we got the green light to cross the moveable bridge back to the mainland.  He’s been doing this 11 years and he’s never been over this bridge (the kind that lifts up and down to let boats through the boat lock below).  His excitement had us all cheering.  It’s the little things in life, what can I say.

With the tour over, we headed back into the incessant rain and found our way to the boardwalk in front of “the castle” as I kept calling it, “Château Frontenac” for those who prefer the more formal names of things.  We took a few obligatory photos, which I am not in as I chose to stay dry (ok maybe because Clare just wanted to get the pics and move on in the rain, either way, I’m not in them).  

We then headed up through an archway go inside the castle, only to find it was hollow.  Here I was thinking it was this massive building, only to find the entire middle of it is outside (and open to the beautiful, ever-falling rain).   For the curious among my readers, this massive castle is a hotel now.  We looked at staying there one night - I don’t think we could afford the pillow.  However, we ARE going to splurge and attend “High Tea” there on Wednesday (the whole reason we stepped foot inside was to see if there was any chance we could book High Tea - mission accomplished)

I must reflect for a moment, so forgive me as I recall my first tea party, oh about 13 years ago… wait, Clare, that can’t be right!  There’s no way that was 13 years ago!  *sigh* I’m getting old for a little bear.  Anyways, my dear friends in Utah taught me the ways of the tea party, sitting on blankets on the floor of their basement, drinking kool-aid out of a tea pot, little sandwiches off matching plates, and candies out of the sugar bowl.  Clare informs me this will be nothing like that, this will be a “real tea party”.  That one seemed pretty real to me!  I guess we’ll all have to wait until Wednesday to find out now won’t we.

Fancy tea booked, we proceeded to wander the foyer of this grand hotel for a washroom, for the simple reason that I wanted to do something mundane in The Castle, and using the toilets fit the bill.  We did find it, and we did use it.  I feel more alive than ever now!

Castle goals achieved, we headed down all the crazy stairs to the lower city (btw we ARE aware of the funicular and Clare has now mental-GPSed it into her head so we can find it from the bottom when we return).  The lower city is beautiful, cobble stone roads, old stone buildings all close together, once again reminding Clare of the Europe she has yet to take me to.  While the buildings are old-worldly quaint, the majority of what we saw in them was not.  There were some boutiques and cafes etc that fit, but so many of them were full of your standard cheap tourist gadgets, gizmos and sweaters.  Of course, today they were making a killing on rain ponchos and umbrellas.  

This is where we ran into our only language struggle of the day, that didn’t end up being about language at all.  Clare’s raincoat just wasn’t doing its job, and she’d seen a rain poncho she liked (better quality than the clear plastic-bag versions most were selling).  It was blue with a big fleur-de-lis on it and we saw one on display, outside one of these tourist shops.  Inside we couldn’t find it, so Robin pulled off her best French and asked.  The cashier smiled and handed her a package that definitely matched.  We paid and left, only to discover it was a large Quebec province flag.  Robin felt bad that she’d messed up her French and went back in.  The cashier spoke barely any English and kept insisting that the package was right.  Finally Robin pulled out the flag and the woman’s eyes went huge and she laughed.  She then looked everywhere for the poncho but couldn’t find one to sell us.  As we walked away (with the flag - story collecting here!) I couldn’t help but wonder just how many flags she had sold to desperately wet tourists today.

We continued to wander around these little shops until we were too wet and cold to want to go on.  Well that and many stores were closing.  We called it a day, dropped very wet everything into the trunk (not me, I wasn’t wet, although Clare was so maybe she should have been dropped in the trunk).  Still, no one was complaining, just very eager to get back to Beaupre and get dry.

I was about to end there, but the power just went out, and that’s just way more of a cliffhanger to leave you with.  How long will it be out?  What will my humans do without it?  Clearly it’s not affecting them at all right now as Clare’s using her phone to hotspot me enough Internet to finish this, but phone and iPad batteries only last so long…

Whatever!

Parlons-nous Français?

Nope, no we don’t.  Well maybe a little!  We got by!  ((Do we speak French))

So, it was a short tourist day, but I’ve got some good stories out if it, so I’m a happy little bear ((ourson))!  It all started with the shower, or lack-there-of.  Robin tried, called Clare in to investigate, and neither could figure out how to change it from the tap to the shower-head, and it’s not like either of them haven’t had their fill of weird showers in weird countries!  Oh, and there was no plug to have a bath either.  Sponge bath it was.  Don’t fear for me though, I do not have to deal with them being stinky all week - they have since learned the trick of the hidden button.  All will be clean again!

The day started  slow as my companions fully unpacked and checked out all the brochures we picked up yesterday (they were a little tired last night) and then tried out the restaurant on site for lunch.  Our server spoke broken English and we attempted even worse French, had some good laughs and got some great poutine (a Quebec must-have - some may remember it was on the must-have itinerary in Montreal too).   For those who don’t know, it’s fries and gravy with cheese curds.  Today there were multiple options - Clare chose “poutine de chef” which had steak on it!  Yum

We finally headed off property, but only a few minutes up the road to Mont-Sainte-Anne (The mountain and ski resort we can see from our room).  There we took a gondola (when we finally found it) to the top, climbed up a viewing tower, and were blessed with a 360° view of mountains!  Just mountains as far as you can see (and a bit further when you used binoculars).  Breathtakingly beautiful!  I’ll be adding a few different viewpoints at the end of the blog as Clare gets whiny when I ask her to format too many pictures into the text. *sigh*

While atop the tower, Robin suddenly starts laughing, moves closer to us and whispers “men should learn to look up, not just around, before peeing into a bush.”  She had watched him wander away from the building, glancing side to side, and then… well… do his business, completely oblivious to the tower right above him!  We moved to the other side of the tower for a different view.

As we were coming down off the tower a woman approached us speaking French.  Clare and I stared blankly while Robin got quite excited and answered “Oui!” ((Yes))   Clare blurts out “You understood that?”  The woman bursts out laughing and says “She’s bilingual now” to which Robin quickly says “Not even close!  I only got ‘prendre une photo’ at the end, no idea what you said before that.”  The woman laughed as she handed her phone to Robin to take a photo of their mountain biking group.  As Robin held the phone up she called out “say… cheese?? … fromage?? Some had already started to say cheese, so I guess that was correct, but they all laughed at fromage.  Robin got some great photos either way.  …So, cool summer fun around here is hanging your bike on a gondola to ride to the top, then bike down.  I probably don’t need to tell you that Robin and Clare were not into that, so I had to ride the gondola back down.  I get it, but man what a ride that would have been!

We next attempted to get to a visitors centre that Clare said was just in Beaupré.  It wasn’t!  (turns out the map wasn’t to scale and it’s back near Quebec City).  Instead, we found a grocery store, which was also on the to-do list of the day.  Umm… my experience with other languages is limited to the tourist sections of Peru, and Montréal where we had a Québécois Girl Guide leader as our Guide.  Clare’s experience includes Paris, but again she was on a tour bus and was only there a day.  A grocery store was next-level experience for all of us!  This is not a tourist spot, and while all the food is recognizable and labelled in both English and French (as it is in Ontario), the aisle headers are not.  We found everything though and the headed to the self-checkout because we wouldn’t have to talk.  Umm did nobody think this through?  The self-serve terminal was completely in French which was easy enough while scanning things - not so much for produce and items that won’t read the bar code.  Twice we had to ask for help from the wonderful girl who spoke less English than we did French!  We did it though.

Not much else to do in Beaupré on a Sunday after 5, so we headed back to the resort to make a plan for the week.  This also meant I had lots of time to push Clare to write for me, and no excuse for her to skimp on the story-telling. 

Whatever!

PS. To my Québécois friends: Clare kindly figured out how to add accents to letters for me, and is trying hard to spell things correctly, but I’m sure we’ll screw up more than once - let’s blame Google-Translate for those.  Your province is beautiful!

We made it!

Ignore the mess :)

As suspected, I don’t have much to tell you all.  It was a long and mostly boring, day.  But hey, not only did I not get forgotten, they even remembered to put my in my proper seat in the car (if you are new here, this is between the two front seats as opposed to thrown in the back seat attached to a random backpack - also, welcome).

The goal had been to be on the road by 7am, so I supposed 8:10 isn’t too bad!  And not for lack of trying, as Robin was up at 5:30 and Clare at 6!  Traffic was relatively decent the whole drive. The most exciting part of the day was when we crossed into Quebec and stopped at the Welcome Centre and got some photos and a bunch of maps and stuff from a very helpful guide.  

Now while I have been to Montreal before (remember that one?  With all the Girl Guides?  Yeah that was fun!), I haven’t been any further into Quebec, and Clare and Robin say neither of them have been since they were kids.  Which also means, neither of them have driven in Quebec!  For the next three or four hours I listened to them attempt to translate signs (not because we needed the signs, simply to see if they could).  Both are working with their high school French knowledge - I’d say Robin is doing better than Clare, but let’s not talk about how long ago Clare was in high school!

Fun fact: traffic lights are sideways in Quebec!  While both my travel companions claim they were aware of this, apparently knowing it and driving with them are two different things entirely (Clare kept saying she had to remind herself they were traffic lights!).  Weird.

So that’s about it.  I told you it was fun.  We got to our home away from home for the next week just before 7 and by the time we (ok they) unpacked,  we were just ready to eat and go to bed (naturally I insisted they write for me first).  

Hopefully there will be more to share with you tomorrow

Oh I almost forgot to share the amazing view from our balcony - check out that water slide and the volcano that spews water every now and then!  Oh, and there are some mountains back there somewhere ;)

Whatever!