First visit to Quebec City :)

Two weekends ago, we all crammed into our not-so-beloved car Dyxie (so called due to the license plate ending in DYX, probably should have been a sign) and made the journey up to Quebec City for the weekend. The journey there takes about an hour, a little longer when your car is somewhat engine-ally challenged. However, we made it, which is of course the main thing! We were helped along the way by our own amazing sense of direction and preparedness in finding out where we had to go.. (LOL)

Apologies to Jen for stealing this pic! As I drove, I didn't take any in-car... note only Katy's smiling face, Eilidh looks like she's about to kick the car in Glasgow-style

Most of us had managed to find somewhere to stay in the city for free, what with having previously met some other assistants based there, who were very acommodating in letting people stay who they had met previously only once or twice. However the stays were exchanged with a promise that, if they ever felt like it, they would always be welcome with us in Saint-Georges. (More on this later, as this coming weekend some of them have decided to take advantage of such an offer!)

After arriving on the Friday night, we decided to grab a bite to eat at our hosts' and head into town to see what the nightlife was like. Having successfully met up with most of the other assistants, (excepting a certain group of massive lamers) we started off in this really cosy bar playing incredible 50s/60s music, and ended the night dancing in some bar that we couldn't quite figure out was gay or not.. in any case, it was fun, and great to get to know some other assistants better. On a related note, there are actually a few parallel programmes to ours here - one with Germans, one with Mexicans and one with English-speaking Canadians. This means I've met people from all over, which has always been something that's interested me, I love hearing about life in other places :) also it means you can go and stay in said other places further down the line, and get shown around by a the best tour guide : a local! Safe to say, whenever I've met a German I've literally grabbed them to get in as much Deutsch practice as possible, I don't quite have the feeling I've lost everything just yet, but it's something I'm constantly in fear of...

Saturday, we awoke bright and early (we actually did as well, go team) and took advantage of the amazingly placed Free Bus Day (where all the public transport was, you guessed it, free) in order to explore the city a little bit. It was perfect wandering about weather, sunny and clear but not too hot, and me and one of the other assistants from St-G had a lovely relaxed time pottering about the Old Town (especially by the castle/boardwalk and in the Quartier Petit-Champlain) with our lovely Canadian hosts. Here are various pics of nice things :

 Chateau Frontenac

Chateau Boardwalk.. the view down was amazing, wish I had a good pic!

View down over the Rue du Petit-Champlain (really cute lttle shops and boutiques)

In the afternoon, we met up with various other assistants who were dotted around the centre as well, grouped mainly by where they had been staying the night before. They had basically been doing exactly the same thing as us the whole morning, however we'd all been far too disorganised to meet up earlier. In any case, it was lovely to see everyone, especially loser no-shows from the night before ;)! We quickly all arranged to go for dinner at a highly recommended burger bar. (Verdict: tasty, but would have been better without loads of stinky French mustard :( ...sad face)

As we had gone a bit mad the night before and certain people (me) are old, we decided to have a quiet one on the Saturday in order to prepare us for Maximum Sightseeing Sunday. That is apart from the loser group who scored a few points back by staying out late and meeting some strange note-writing friends! Our plan the next day pretty much went, well.. to plan, having decided to meet at 10am and take the bus out to the Chutes Montmorency, about 45 minutes out of the city. Unfortunately, it wasn't Free Bus Day anymore, but any journey anywhere in Quebec City only costs $3, and I must say to get out to see this beautiful park and falls, I would have paid a whole lot more :)

Taller than Niagara Falls.. just thinner ;)

<3

From the other side.. so loud!

And that about concludes our (first) Quebec trip! After much traipsing around, it was time for the St-Georges girls to make their pilgrimage back to St-Georges. I had done my driving service on the journey up, and so was glad one of the other girls was driving, mainly due to being absolutely knackered after a full weekend. I am 73 after all! Obviously, this translated into promptly passing out very attractively in the back seat ;) mmmmmmmmmhotn'snorey

Until next time........................................... (can't believe I'm writing in this semi-regularly)

xo