Wendake - Le Village Huron

We spent most of today visiting the Huron Village of Wendake which is about a 20 minute drive north of Québec City. We took a guided tour through the historic village and learned about how the Huron Indians lived, ate and slept in the early days. During the drive, we could see the modern reservation and although there were some similarities with the Indian reservations in Alberta which I am used to seeing, the Wendake reservation is certainly a more wealthy people thanks to their artisanal products as well as their custom-made canoe business.

In this historical village, we saw some traditional clothing and dance as well as demonstrations of cooking, worship and sleeping arrangements. We enjoyed a wonderful authentic lunch in the village and we sampled: elk, deer, salmon, bannock and roasted sunflower seed soup. It was all delicious, including the thick white cake with maple sauce and mint-infused tea for desert.

Before lunch, we spent time shopping in the artisan boutique where there were great souvenirs to be found - all handmade by the Huron Indians in Wendake. Jewellry, leather, totems, statues, carvings, pottery and natural herbs and healers were among the highlights.

Malgré le temps pleuvieux, on s'est bien amusé à Wendake et on a beaucoup appris sur cette culture qui mélange les premiers citoyens du pays avec l'héritage francophone de la région. L'importance de la nature, des animaux et des croyances naturelles nous rappellent l'histoire du pays et de la province.

http://www.huron-wendat.qc.ca/

Cinéma Le CLAP

Tonight, a few of us decided to go to the cinema on the Université Laval campus - Le CLAP which has a variety of international films shown in their original language as well as American films dubbed into French. A comfortable bus ride from the college residence, the cinema offers a $5 ticket to students with a valid ID after 9:00. This is a good deal, so we decided to take advantage of this. We saw Les Emotifs Anonymes - a France/Belgium co-production in French with no subtitles. The film just premiered this weekend and had received good critiques in the Québec newspaper. The film was good, a cute sort of romantic comedy where boy gets girl at the end, but yet somehow differently than in the standard American rom-com formula.

This was the first time students had seen a French film without subtitles and they told me that although it was difficult to understand, there were enough familiar words and the context and scenes made it possible to follow the plot. Aside from the realization that butter costs a whopping $1.75 extra on top of your popcorn, we all managed to get tickets, snacks and seats with no problems!

A very enjoyable way to spend a Saturday evening and I am happy to have discovered this cinema and its treasure of foreign films.

On y va pour la deuxième semaine!

Ile d'Orléans - terre de patrimoine et de Félix Leclerc

An optional tour this weekend was a trip to the Montmorency waterfalls and to the Ile d'Orléans. Brittany took the tour with other students and a guide from the school and loved it - having sampled many of the local products and been soaked by the falls!

I decided to go to the island as well in the car as I wanted to visit the author Félix Leclerc museum that I did not have time to see last year.

Accessed by a large bridge from the mainland, the island has become a real haven for locally grown and harvested products and is a weekend getaway for many city dwellers and tourists alike. Its rural views and lush climate play host to orchards, vineyards, trout fishing and artisanal products ranging from baked goods to apple cider to maple syrup products. At this time of year, the berries are sublime.

Notwithstanding the bountiful and bucolic setting, for me, the highlight of this year's visit to the island was the museum. Félix Leclerc is a huge folk hero to the French Canadians. He began his artistic career as a singer, writing and performing in small clubs in Paris in the early 1950s à la Jacques Brel and Georges Brassens, before making a name for himself in his native Québec: in fact becoming a pioneer of the "new" French Canadian folksong along with La Bolduc. He was a poet at heart and wrote very sentimental verses of th century youth and hard work. He also wrote fables in a kind of hommage to the great fabulist LaFontaine. He wrote short stories, maxims and novels - all paying tribute to love for country, for nature and the land, for family and for life. In the 1970s and 80s he was a great post-Quite Revolution separatist, rallying his people towards a yes vote for a sovereign Québec. From what I have read, the failed separatist referendum in 1985 almost destroyed him, and he more or less retreated from public life until his death in 1988, surfacing only for the occasional interview, private concert and to receive the National Order of Québec from then Premier René Lévesque.

Here is a sample from his early and later musical peformances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSa9Ri2oCaw&feature=related and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtVSORM_tOU&feature=related

I was capitivated by his simple, heartfelt lyrics and rich, golden voice. It was nice to be transported back in time for a couple of hours.

I left with a couple of his books: poetry and fiction. I think these would make for good reading by students, either in a language class or for pre-trip preparation for study abroad. Much of the more contemporary French Canadian literary canon owes a debt to Félix Leclerc.

Un agréable après-midi dans le Vieux Québec

The rain and cooler weather has set in for a couple of days and this brings with it some challenges- walking around for example! However the grayness outside certainly was not replicated in our moods as we had a very full and enjoyable afternoon and evening in Old Québec. After the language classes, we went directly to le Musée du Fort which tells the story of the various battles for Québec City over the years (not just with the English, either, but also the Americans tried to take their share of the St. Lawrence seaway in their day too!). The museum presents this panorama of history with a narrated film and a model renactment of the major battle scenes so as to situate the sites geographically for the audience. Having these visuals helped with the comprehension quite a bit as everyone said it was much easier to follow than the guided tour of the Citadelle which was led by a guide who spoke very quickly and there wasn't enough time to read all of the signs.

We then took a tour of the famous Château Frontenac. Although never a royal "château" as such, this hotel marked the beginning of luxury hotels in Canada and has seen many dignitaries pass through its doors - including dignitaries in training, Prince William and Kate who will be visiting Québec next week and occupying at least several of the oppulent suites found in the Frontenac. I never tire of the view of this hotel and have taken many pictures of its various facades. I plan on taking some night shots next week when the weather promises to clear up.

We had dinner in a very nice restaurant along one of the many steep slopes that separate the Upper and Lower Towns. It was nice to sit and relax, enjoy each others' company and to indulge in some good food and wine.

Malgré le temps de pluie et de frais, nous avons passé un après-midi bien agréable. Le Musée du Fort nous a donné l'occasion de revivre les batailles pour la ville de Québec pendant les époques. Ensuite, une visite guidée au Château Frontenac nous a fait pensé à l'histoire de cette magnifique édifice et à tous les gens importants qui y ont séjourné - y compris le Prince William et sa femme Kate qui vont descendre à Québec la semaine prochaine!

La soirée a pris sa fin avec un superbe dîner ensemble dans la Basse-Ville. La première semaine déjà terminée, on a quelques heures de liberté ce week-end, et puis on repart!

La Fête de Saint-Jean Baptiste

The national holiday of Québec is something entirely different from the Canadian national holiday. In fact, Québec is the only province in Canada which celebrates separately (pun intended!). In other provinces, July 1-Canada Day is the big "fête" but here in June the party is on. June 24 is officially Saint-Jean Baptiste Day, but in Québec City, it is celebrated in the evening of June 23. In Montréal, they celebrate on June 24 - This allows you to celebrate in both cities if you want to!!

It is traditional to have an outdoor concert in Battlefield Park - the site of the defeat of the French by the English in 1759. This seems a very symbolic location. Brittany, Lee and Madelyn braved the rain to attend the concert in person with a small guided group from the school. I watched the concert from the comfort of my room and took some photos of the rather magnificent TV screen I have. They turned out pretty well and I was very impressed with the music - it was the best of Québec's contemporary musicians and the concert lasted until midnight.

Vive le Québec!

Un peu d'histoire...

After language classes we took a field trip to la Musée de la Civilisation. This museum was established in 1988 in la Basse-ville and is an example of contemporary architecture mixed in with preserved buildings from previous centuries. This museum houses permanent collections on the history of Québec, First Nation peoples and geography. Students learned more about the history of Québec and its place within Canada. Important events such as the Quiet Revolution and the separatist movement were hightlighted as was the stature of hockey in the French Canadian culture. Before coming to Québec, we had seen the short Canadian film (based on Roch Carrier's autobiographical short story) produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Here is a link to the film which can be watched in English and French:

http://www.nfb.ca/film/sweater

Rome is the featured special exhibition on right now, and we were captivated by a panorama of Rome's architecture, sculpture, art, tapisteries and jewels from antiquity, renaissance, baroque and modern time periods. It was a beautiful exhibition; unfortunately no photos are allowed.

After the museum we were in for an interesting bus ride back to the residence in an écolobus. This is a very small bus which runs on electricity. Once it is full to capacity (about 10 people), it runs very slowly up and down the steep inclines of the Upper and Lower cities.

Les étudiants s'habituent très bien à parler et à comprendre le français. On est vraiment immersé dans tous les coins. Après cinq heures de cours, il est très utile d'aller dans "le champs" pour expériencer la langue en pleine vie!

La Citadelle

Today we went with the school group to visit La Citadelle, home of the 22nd Canadian Regiment which was constructed by the British beginning in 1820 on the cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence river. This is a working Canadian Military base and at the same time a museum of Québec's military history with buildings built by French and English troops. On display are medals, uniforms, photos and artefacts from wars which Canada has been a part of. In addition, displays and weapons commemorating Canada's participation in WWI, WWII and the Korean War are visible inside the buildings and outside. A beautiful view of the river, the city and the Château Frontenac surround the fort.

On a pris du café après la visite dans un café "canadien" sur le boulevard de la Grande Allée. C'était un très bon environnement de contempler le paysage et d'apprécier la langue et la culture ensemble.

A la prochaine!