Quebec City, Days 1 and 2
Yesterday morning we awoke at the crack of dawn (fine… more like 7:00), showered, ate a quick breakfast, and boarded the bus for the 2.5 hour drive north east towards the capitol of Quebec, which is confusingly also named Quebec. (Think of the way that we live in New York, but also in New York. It’s like that). After a quick stop for lunch at a truck stop that had some surprisingly mediocre coffee, we continued north east through flooded fields of corn, a reminder of the recent rains that have pummeled the region and left spring nearly a month late in coming. We pulled into Quebec and headed straight for the Chateau Frontenac, which was built from 1893 to 1924 in five distinct phases, each highlighted by the slightly differently colored bricks. (As an aside, these bricks were obtained virtually for free by the Canadian Pacific Railway, as they were brought to Canada for little purpose beyond adding weight to ships bringing good from places like Scotland and England. Effectively, they were largely seen as a waste product of the burgeoning shipping industry which could be repurposed with little trouble.
From here, students had the opportunity to do a little lunch hunting on Rue Sainte-Jean, home to what is inarguably the greatest poutine in the world (anybody who says otherwise is itching for a fight) at Asher, where many of our kiddos popped in to try this Canadian treat. Some even bucked all tradition and went for the poutine with chocolate and marshmallows. Surprisingly, it was not awful. After a short walk through the Old Latin Quarter, past the former campus of Lavalle University, we moved down towards the Place Royale, which has been referred to as the Cradle of Canada, the home of Notre Dame (again…), and, somewhat interestingly, a bust of Louis 14. As it happens, Louis 14 played a pivotal, if controversial, role in the development of French Canada by offering to pay the dowry of some 300 young women, known today as les Filles du Roi, if they would relocate from France to Quebec and find a husband. Of course, the assumption was that these women would spend much of the rest of their lives bearing children, and it was not abnormal for a family to have upwards of 15 children, in part as a result of pressure from the Catholic Church to increase the family size and as a result the size of population of French speaking Canadians. Our guide took time to explain that it was this sacrifice, in part, that was honored by Canada the celebration of Women’s Day, a holiday celebrated internationally to honor the sacrifices women have made, advocate for gender equality, and celebrate the successes of women in the arts, science, and other professions.
Of note is the fact that the Place Royale has not always held the honored place that it does today in Canadian life. During the 1960s and 70s it fell into disrepair, and there was talk of demolition. Instead, it was restored, and during excavation evidence of Native settlements as old as 5000 years was discovered, further highlighting the role that Native Canadians played in helping to shape what is today Quebec City.
Then, after checking into our hotel, we boarded the bus and drove approximately 45 minutes outside of the city to a Cabane a Sucre, namely Érablière du Lac-Beauport. Here, we learned about the ways that maple water, extracted from one specific variety of maple tree is harvested (with a taille, chalumeau, and tubular today instead of the traditional bucket in a tree), cooked, and refined from maple water into taffy, syrup, and butter (which isn’t actually butter but is absolutely amazing). One of the major take-aways here, again, was the role that Native Canadians played in the discovery of the maple water. According to legend, a hunter shot an arrow and struck a tree while searching for food. Later, he returned to the same place to find a squirrel licking the water coming from the notch the arrow made. He collected some of the maple water, brought it back to his camp, and included it in his dinner. The rest, well, is delicious history.
We also listened to some traditional Quebecois fiddle music, ate meat pies with maple syrup, danced, and made frozen taffy desserts by pouring hot taffy onto a popsicle stick and rubbing it in some snow. We congregated around a beautiful fire, enjoyed our desserts, and headed home, exhausted, but full and happy.
Day Two began bright and early, as we headed towards Académie Sainte-Marie, a public secondary school in the Beauport neighborhood of Quebec. We were greeted by a group of students involved in an intensive study of English, and immediately ushered into teams of both Americans and Canadians. Over a series of games involving idioms in both languages, songs, and a scavenger hunt, we got to know a little bit of the way that our Quebecois friends experience school and language acquisition. We played soccer during a break, exchanged Instagram handles (our students were writing each other this evening once we returned to the hotel!), and conversed in both French and English for the entire morning.
The visit was, honestly, a massive success. Afterwards, BHS students kept mentioning how much they enjoyed it, and we’re already scheming with Ms. Desbiens from ASM for next year. One of the pieces that stood out was just how much the ASM students practice English. They have 9 periods of English instruction per week, in addition to their other course load. However, it’s a testament to the work being done at ASM, because the entire production was planned and executed by the students in lieu of their final project. If that isn’t real world knowledge application, I don’t know what is.
After a short lunch in the Petit Champlain neighborhood in the old town, we went on a short walking tour of the fortifications that surround the city, and took in this view:
Honestly, it was stunning. Here, we could see the narrowest point of the Saint Lawrence river, which, in Algonquin, was called “kébec” (yes, I had to Google the spelling), and translates roughly to “where the river narrows.” For a river that is over 70 miles wide in parts, it is astonishing to see it seem so small.
Then, after a short dinner, we closed out the night with a gorgeous sunset ride on a river ferry to the Île d’Orléans to take in the view.
It was a stunning end to a busy day, filled with new friends, history, a few chances to grab a gift for family members, and, importantly, a look into what makes this city so wonderful.
Bonne Nuit.
Boerum Hill Exchange 