Lac Megantic

We were going to go to Lac Megantic yesterday originally, but with the rain we decided it would be miserable and that we'd go today. Well, it was still raining today, but we decided to grab the bull by the horns and go anyway.

The drive down was lovely with all the leaves changing colour, despite the torrential rain, periods of thick mist and the dead moose we saw on the back of a truck (which had been right up our arse for several miles before it decided to overtake us).

We then decided to take a drive down to the US border, just to see and found a shop of I guess curiosities, including several fox pelts (hung up on hooks by the eye-holes) and a full bear rug, complete with face, claws and a very large lump where it's tummy would have been while it was still alive.

On the way back we stopped at an Observatoire for what would have been on any other day a spectacular view of the lake.

walk by the river

It was my day off, so I decided that since it was a nice day I'd go for a walk. All the leaves are starting to change :)

misty morning

La Chute de Montmorency

Yet more hills in Quebec. We visited this waterfall, about a 45 minute bus journey outside of Quebec city. It's 150% the height of Niagara Falls, though obviously not as wide. There were many many steps to get to the bottom of it. In fact, we counted, there were 486.

Day 2 in Quebec City

We took a walk around Quebec city, which must be one of the most stunning places I've every been. Very hilly also however, Quebec loves a hill. We visited the famous Chateau Frontenac, as well as dotting around various other places, including a food market (whose name I have forgotten), where we came across some very tame birds (which then proceeded to shit on Anna's jacket), and the harbour.

the view from our hostel, on rue du pont/ rue saint-joseph

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stressss

After a particularly long trip up to Quebec (we may have got a little bit lost), we arrived finally, tired and fairly pissed off. The traffic in Quebec city is incredible, as is the maze of one-way streets.

A sunlit Saint-Georges

I went for a cliched walk at sunset with my camera... the light is just so much nicer in Canada.

First Road Trip to Quebec City

yet another Canadian sunset

We took our first long drive in Dyxie up to Quebec city so that we could rejoin the civilised world and get ourselves some mobile telephones. We ended up all getting pretty good deals with Koodo in the Laurier mall, which was pretty much the first one we saw after we crossed the bridge into Quebec City.

We then headed through to the Boucherie St Roch to meet up with Annie and Daisy (from the British Coucnil) and some Canadian assistnants. We didn't get to see much of the city, but we have plans to return  and be proper tourists!

Parc des Sept Chutes

 

 It was day 4 at school today, which means I get a day off! So I decided to make the most of the lovely weather and got for a cycle to the Parc des Sept Chutes (which means the park of the seven waterfalls).

What I was unaware of however, was just how steep the paths in the park would be. At one point I was cycling up a 15% incline, but I was very proud of myself for not stopping :) 

The park was very pretty, and the animals were really tame: a squirrel came up really  close to me. Speaking of tame animals, I also saw a woman taking her dog out for a walk, except that the dog was in one of those baby carriers that parents wear on their front. Bizarre (on a similar vien, I also saw a cat tied up on a lead in front of one of our neighbours houses the other day).

The Sept Chutes

Check out our new ride!

Meet Dyxie, our "new" car, so called because, rather unfortunately, the last three letters on the registration plate are DYX... She's missing a handle as you can probably see, but apparently she's in good condition despite that!

Exploring Saint-Georges

As we had  Monday afternoon free, we thought we'd take a bit of a wander around our hew home! Sadly the sky was a little grey but I'm sure there will be lots of blue skies over the next year!

Welcome to the palace!

So welcome to our home for the next year! Isn't it cute? It's halfway up one of the steepest hills I have ever seen, but I keep telling myself this will be good exercise! I also can't help thinking that this house doesn't seem quite sturdy enough to endure the harsh Canadian winter, but our landlord, Pascal, assures me that we will be toasty warm all winter.

Meeting the mentors

Finally arrived at our destination, Saint-Georges! We went out for a meal with our landlord and all our mentor teachers. The food was lovely, but the portions were enormous! The meal I ordered eventually fed me for two more meals thanks to my doggy bag.

First taste of poutine

Poutine seems to be to Québec what haggis is to Scotland, so we thought it was important to try it for a full cultural experience, so we went to a greasy spoon in the studenty part of Montréal, known as le Plateau. Basically, it’s chips, cheese and gravy, though you can also add chicken, or curry or pretty much anything that takes your fancy it would seem. What did we think? Well, it doesn’t taste like you would expect chips, cheese and gravy to taste like, it kind of has a cinnamon-y kick to it. It’s also VERY stodgy and filling!

Mont Royal

After a long day of general information (and two previous failed attempts at doing it) we decided to climb (or more accurately, get the bus) up to Mont Royal. This is a hill that overlooks Montréal, with a park designed by the same man who designed Central Park in New York. We walked around the top, taking in the view and talking to a few people along the way.  We went past the Croix de Montréal and found a viewpoint where we saw the most amazing pink sunset. We also had our first encounter with some Canadian wildlife!

Basilique Notre Dame

After a slightly spaced-out day on Tuesday we finally got down to some sightseeing on Wednesday and made a stop in the beautiful Basilique Notre Dame, where Celine Dion herself was married.