Tying things up in Québec City

It has been a flurry of activity as I try to see as much as possible in the 4 days allotted for Québec City. I walked around my old stomping grounds at Université Laval, including a tour inside the residence that I lived in for a summer (by "old", I mean 20+ years ago!!). It's too bad that the language programs here are so long in length for students (5-6 weeks) and that their tuition is so high, it is a great place in a wonderful location. However, I did go by the theatre on campus and this would certainly be a good field trip for our students as the bus service is very good to and from. After talking with and visiting three different schools, I am feeling good about the one at Mérici College and will write up the details when I get back. I have also procured some good recruitment and advertising materials to market the program over the coming year. Let's hope we can make it happen for 2011!

A good inclusion on the excursion list would be the Wendake Huron Village (Wyandotte Nation) just north of Québec City. This is the only remaining Huron village in Canada and they have it set up very nicely for visits. They also include translations of signs (including the Stop sign) in their native Wendat.

While driving by the Parliament building today, I was reminded how beautiful the Canadian buildings are. Modelled after the British Houses of Parliament, it has been a while since I have really seen them - or in the case of Edmonton's Legislature Building - paid close attention to them. After seeing the Capitol in Washington, DC last year, I can appreciate both styles very much for what they represent. I am very much looking forward to visiting Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

I will miss Québec City. The people I spoke with were great and very receptive. It was wonderful to be immersed in French again and I enjoyed the countryside, the river, the history and the architecture. I hope to be back again next year and to share this with students. My last stop out of town was the great French bookstore (more along the lines of the Virgin Megastore or the FNAC in France) called Archambault. I had to be yanked out kicking and screaming after one hour of shopping. Apparently, my family didn't find it amusing that I had only covered one section in this time. I found it hard to leave the bookstores in France too.

A Montréal!

All this and a drive-in movie too!!

Imagine my surprise to find that greatest of all 20th century cultural icons - the drive-in movie theatre - about 10 kms from our hotel. Of course, we had to go. There was a great Québécois movie playing: Filière 13 (a cop drama) which really got me revved up about Québec film and how good it is. It had been a while since I'd seen one and this milieu made it all the more sublime. The second film was a dubbed version of Angelina Jolie's latest tournure: Salt. We were the only customers sitting in lawn chairs outside and it goes without saying that I was the sole person taking photos!

Je me souviens...

First on the agenda this morning was a visit to the Collège de Mérici which is a private college that houses a summer program for language immersion. I met with the director and had a tour of the college. This program sounds excellent in many ways, and it includes a very interesting package of excursions which you can choose wholly or in part. After 2 hours of discussion and information sharing, I grabbed some documentation and felt good about the possibilities when I left. After lunch it was time to explore more of what the city has to offer. Walking along the Grande Allée which is Québec's version of Les Champs Elysées, I was amazed to see that the city had not changed substantially in the almost 20 years that I haven't been here. It made me reminisce about my days as a student here at Université Laval, and certainly about the historical significance of the streets, the monuments, the ramparts and the location. For as young a country as Canada is, there is rich history in this region. Being from the West, I often forget about all that happened here.

It was nice to see Battlefield Park, the site of the famous (albeit 10 minute long!) Battle of the Plains of Abraham - especially after seeing the museum rendition on Sunday. It is a vast expanse of green - walking trails, benches, gardens and sports fields - littered with cannons and statues of important people (including Charles de Gaulle after his visit here in the 1960s). The view is spectacular over the cliffs.

I have to say that the more I see the Château Frontenac, the more I am in awe of it. This is fast becoming the Arc de Triomphe of Québec for me and I can't seem to take enough photos of it from different parts of the city. Today we toured inside of it. Magnificent and opulent of course, but very rich in historical significance from royal visits to important summit meetings. It also marked the beginning of the era of luxury hotels in Canada. Our guide was a young man clicking his heals and dressed in a pillbox hat and burgundy uniform - it was great.

La Citadelle - here was where our study of wars and military comes full circle from the beaches of Normandy about a month ago. This fort is still an active military base and can only be visited by guided tour - well worth the $10 as there are two museums, one of the official residences of the Governor General, official royal guards and some great information to be taken in. There is also a moving memorial to the WWI battle at Vimy Ridge which was considered as Canada's "war of independance" as the country came into its own after winning this battle.

La fresque de Québec - a mural painted on the side of a building in the old city which according to locals captures the esprit of the Québec way of life. This is definitely worth a visit as you can place yourself strategically in its center and make it appear as though you are part of the mural. It is a trompe l'oeil (optical illusion) like the Cincinnatus mural in downtown Cincy.

More to come as I visit Université Laval, the Parliament and the Huron Village amongst other things tomorrow.

Scouting out possible excursions

Today we covered a lot of ground looking at some possible day trips and extra excursions that would be important to include in a visit to Québec.

On my list to check out:

1. Language school #1 - in the heart of Old Québec. Has interesting programs and it in a great location. Excursions are not organized by the school so this would have to be done separately. I have appointments to visite two more schools tomorrow.

2. Sainte Anne de Beaupré - this is a spectacular catholic basilica about 30 kms north of Québec City. It is a major site of pilgrimage and inside the church you can see crutches lining the walls testifying to the miraculous healings over the year. There was mass going on at the time of our visit, which was interesting, but I wasn't able to take many photos.

3. La chute de Montmorency - this picturesque waterfall is a favourite for tourists in all seasons. In the winter it freezes over and you can cross-country ski at its base. You can ascend by gondola or else walk up an insane amount of stairs. The price was steep for the gondola ($9 per person - and this was in addition to the $10 fee per car to park and look at the falls) and I passed on the stairs.

4. Ile d'Orléans - this island is accessible by one bridge and has one highway which circles it. It is a beautiful rural and lush island with expensive houses, cottages and restaurants. This was considered the "birthplace" of New France because Jacques Cartier first landed there and the first settlements brough the French seigneurial system to the island first. Historically the island is important because prior to the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, British General Wolfe set up camp here to plan his tactics. Québécois author Félix Leclerc is buried on Ile d'Orléans where he died in 1988.

5. Les forts de Lévis - Lévis is across the narrow part of the St. Lawrence from Québec City. It was built by the British in about 1860 to defend against possible land attacks by the Americans. Alas, guns were never fired since the Americans did not attack after the fort was built - as we know, they had other things going on at that time.

6. Shopping!!- a must on my list for this trip was the infamous Canadian icon Dollarama - Québec style. This is a typical dollar store (maybe a bit bigger than average), but it has stuff in French!! I loaded up on books, pencils, CDs, games etc. for the elementary kids in the service learning program and some other useful materials for the big kids at RWC. I also picked up some souvenir items to help promote the study abroad program. I'm glad I have a car this time!

7. In the evening we went down to the Vieux Port to watch a spectacular outdoor light show projected onto grain silos. It visually tells the story of Québec's history. Apparently, it is the largest outdoor screen show in the world (even made it into Guiness!) and was created for Québec's 400 anniversary in 2008. My camera's battery had died by this time (too many photos during the day), but here is a YouTube video made of the show - outstanding! If the link doesn't work, search: Moulin à Image

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vVK5qXfYMwA&NR=1

All in all, this was a very productive day and some of us were already asleep by the time we made it back to our lodgings.

A demain...

A lovely day in Vieux Québec and an unexpected hockey superstar in our midst!

We got off to a good start this morning in the sunshine and took the shuttle bus into old Québec where it is impossible to find parking. I had forgotten how hilly and steep the inclines were between the lower "basse" and upper "haute" villes. But, feeling like a pro after navigating the hills of Montmartre in Paris, I knew I could make the climb on foot even though Allan and Sophie wanted to take the funiculaire. The stairs were tough, but I felt I earned my venti latte at the Château Frontenac Starbucks at the top.

The château itself is magnificent and we plan to take a tour of it tomorrow - it was way too crowded on a Sunday to go in today. The Château Frontenac was named for the Count of Frontenac who was governor of New France (1672-82). Before the hotel was built, the site was the residence of the British colonial governors of Quebec/Lower Canada. The hotel is now part of the posh Fairmont Hotel chain in Canada. Walking around the Terrasse Dufferin provided great views of the St. Lawrence, la Basse-ville and la Citadelle behind.

It was very reminiscent of France wandering the cobblestone streets. Full of restaurants, shops and tourists, I almost felt like I was back in Paris -except there was no smoking!! - a big bonus. In fact, I had to remind myself that I am in Canada since Quebec City is not your typical Canadian city as well as the almost total lack of Canadian flags flying - mostly only the fleur de lys is flying. Like a good ethnographer, I took lots of photos, made some notes and picked up a bag full of flyers, maps and other useful documents and got some recommendations at the main Bureau de Tourisme on the Place d'Armes.

We visited the Musée du Fort - a lovely little museum which recounts the fall of Québec into British hands during the battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759. There was a 30 minute diarama show ($5 for students) which was well worth the price. This would be an excellent activity for our students and I spoke to the curator, took down some information and left her my card. We will visit battlefield park on the Plains of Abraham tomorrow.

Restaurants were plentiful and the beautiful evening sky and warm temperatures made for an excellent end to the day as we had dinner at Le Cochon Dingue (the Crazy Pig) a restaurant that Allan and I had visited about 18 years ago when we were here for a conference. It was kind of a nice trip down memory lane and the prix fixe menu was very tasty.

We had a very interesting surprise when we returned to the hotel. We are staying in a hotel which is part of the Super 8 chain but it is a step or two up from the standard motel and includes a golf resort. The name on the hotel is Stastny and Allan recognized this as being the name of three famous brothers who played NHL hockey in the 1980s for the Québec Nordiques. We figured that maybe the family owned the hotel. Tonight, however, we found out that Marian Stastny, the eldest of the brothers and best hockey player amongst them, did in fact own the hotel and lives here too. He was here this evening at the desk and we had a chance to speak with him. I'm not really a hockey fan, but I think Allan will have to ask him for an autograph - how could he pass up the opportunity!

"You can't handle the truth!" - how prophetic this is

For those who have seen the now classic film "A Few Good Men", the title of this entry will ring a bell as one of Jack Nicholson's famous lines in the movie, often quoted. What does this have to do with our trip to Quebec? Well...before we left Cincinnati, Allan got his hair cut. Inspired by the heat and humidity, he had a lot taken off and came home looking a little like Jack in his salt and pepper buzz cut. He was a little self-conscious, but happy to be cool. We were all beginning to get used to it until we arrived in Rochester, NY, when two separate people mistook Allan for a retired US military man!!! Now, I had to snicker in private because although this was funny to me, the sentiment was not shared. I suggested to Allan that he wear his ball cap if he was concerned, but of course at the border, that had to come off for fear of suspicious disguises. Needless to say, he felt a little out of sorts for a while...

At the border, we found ourself in an interesting situation - in between two nationalities - Canadian passports with Ohio license plates. No problem though, we explained the situation, showed the proper documents and we went on our merry way, leaving the French-speaking customs officer a little puzzled as to what western Canadians were doing in an Ohio car driven by an "ex-army colonel" speaking French. Wow, how's that for identity crisis?! If that wasn't enough confusion, as we we driving down the Trans Canada highway about an hour into the Canadian frontier, I spotted a car with an Alberta license plate. I got very excited and waved at the driver as we passed. I'm sure he thought me very strange as we no longer have an Alberta plate, of course. Now, I'm looking desperately for some "kin" from Ohio to wave at and redeem myself.

After a rather humiliating day of travel (it's also our 17th wedding anniversary today and only one of us remembered), we arrived at our motel in Quebec city tonight in the dark and will begin checking things out in the morning. We'll see how much "truth" we will have to handle then.

Retour au Québec - East becomes North

It's two days away from our trip up north to Québec. It feels odd to refer to Québec as "up north" since I have spent almost my whole life living further north. Québec, like Ontario, has always been "down east". I've got to get used to my new "placement"!

Regarding new placements, I'm officially moved into the new office!! I now have a private home - a giant step up from the cubes. Of course the unpacking...that's a different story.

I'm looking forward to Québec for many reasons. Of course the promise of a study abroad program is a big deal, but I'm also curious about the French. After returning from France, it will be a very interesting experiment to see how I (and Allan and Sophie too) feel about Québécois French. I am also very anxious to get a new look at their signs. In my Francophone Culture course this Spring, I gave some examples of the infamous Bill 101 - the controversial sign law passed in the 1970s requiring every public business to have a French sign (even English businesses). I will have my camera poised and ready for these examples of cultural conflict.

Other things I am on the lookout for:

1. English "contamination" or lack thereof;

2. Use of "tu" vs. "vous" in public settings

3. The prices of things. Coming from Western Canada, we usually notice a big difference between the East and West when it comes to gas, and restaurants in particular

4. Authentic materials - the bags are unpacked from France and ready to fill!!

5. The Canadian dollar - it will be good to see our brightly coloured friends again, although I do not miss the loonie and the toonie and their bulk in my wallet!

6. Canadian highway system - woefully inferior to the USA. We will have to gear up for this as we have pleasantly habituated ourselves to the American system.

7. The metric system - this won't be a problem. Not only do they use it in France, but I think it will be forever ingrained in my head since learning it as a "youngster". For Sophie, I think she will measure in inches as her default.

8. PHOTOS - need I say more?

A bientôt au Québec!