Whirlwind Tour of Canada, Part VI

And on we went to Quebec City, where we would be staying with Madeleine and Bruno. Madeleine had come to visit us in Korea, so Ty was quite happy to be seeing her again. Bruno made us sushi and we chilled out for an evening of good conversation and wine.

The next day, we started off for La Pocatiere. Ty was starting to feel a bit worse, which made me quite sad as I'd been talking about my years in La Poc, and really wanted to show him around that whole area - you know, the woodworking shops, the restaurants, the villages like Kamouraska - as well as hanging out with all the people who had been so important to me while I lived there.

We arrived in St-Jean-Port-Joli in time for lunch by the shores of the St Lawrence and a quick tour of the sculpture garden, then headed on to La Poc.

It's always funny for me to arrive there - somehow it does feel like "coming home". My friends from that time had planned a barbecue for our arrival, which was amazing. It was great to meet up with them (and their kids - some of them are up to 3 now!), and sit in a backyard and enjoy the small town life again.

Ty, not feeling well, ended up sleeping the afternoon away, while I reminisced with old friends about what was happening now in our lives. It was just as well -- I kept speaking French and forgetting that he didn't understand!

The next day, we had a big breakfast (or, well, I had a big breakfast, while Ty slept until 2pm -- poor guy!). The great thing about Quebec and its food is that, half the time, the cheese that you're eating is from a small fromagerie down the road, or the bread is from an ancestral mill. It's just amazing.

Once Ty had woken up, a group of us took him for a walk along the St Lawrence, and then out for poutine. Ty had held off on eating poutine until getting to La Poc, and he treated himself to a duck and wine poutine (not the traditional gravy and cheesecurds). Once again, we found ourselves in a huge group of old friends and kids. We rounded out the evening at Miguelle's house, where a few of Les Gamines du College posed for a photo.

We returned to Quebec the next day, and Ty and I wandered around the old part of town. Of course, he still wasn't feeling 100%, and we only had the afternoon, but I was still able to show him some of my favourite parts of the old city - including a stop for ice cream coated in maple sugar and a ride up the mountain on the funiculaire.

Quebec City is celebrating its 400th birthday (!!) and the foundation of the Chateau Frontenac has been excavated to show remnants of original buildings that had been under the Terrasse Dufferin. Also, the Fetes de la Nouvelle France were starting up, so we were treated to people walking around in original dress as well.

 

 

That evening, Bruno, Madeleine, Ty and I went to a special free street performance by the Cirque du Soleil. Starting at different parts of the city, three groups of acrobats converged under an old highway overpass. It was absolutely amazing! We rounded out the evening by heading to a special film presentation that Bruno's company had worked on that was projected, outside, onto big grain elevators. We missed the performance, but made it there in time to watch the credits and see Bruno's name. A final pub visit in an old house in St Jean Baptiste rounded out the evening.

The film was projected onto the silos at the bottom of this pic

The next day, we returned to Montreal. We stopped to see Katrina, who has been working with birds of prey (Kestrals and Shrike - aka Butcher Birds because they hang their prey up on thorns and barbed wire). The captive-bred birds are all housed in large rooms, and we got to stand and watch them fly around us - really cool. The wild birds that are being studied or rehabilitated could also be quietly observed.

We headed on to meet up with The Girls again (minus Ellie). This time, Ty was treated to authentic Montreal smoked meat. Unfortunately, we were only there for one night, and had to head off again early in the morning to make it to Toronto.

When I was getting ready to move to Korea, I got to meet Brent and Stephanie, who ended up living in Mokpo, but visiting me in Suncheon a few times. When my Mom came to Korea, we got to stay with Brent and Steph, and once they'd returned to Canada, even met up with my Mom once! I was super-psyched to meet up with them, but now, I was the one who was starting to feel under the weather.

   We arrived back in Toronto and found their place, then headed out together to Korea Town in Toronto. All of a sudden, we felt like we were back there -- all the signs, advertisements, etc are written in Hangeul (which we were surprised to discover we still understood). We got to a great Korean restaurant and, suddenly, knew everything on the menu and were looking forward to tasting it again! Sitting there, eating bibimbap and kimchi with Brent and Stephanie in a small both in a restaurant with a soju ad up on the wall just made me feel like I had gone back in time.

The next day, Ty and I were both feeling too ill to enjoy ourselves on the Harbourfront, so we had to cut our visit short and return home, where my Mom was ready to coddle us with tea.

The road trip from St. Catharines to La Pocatiere was supposed to be the highlight of our visit, and in some ways, I guess it was. For me, it was like traveling through time, as I followed the same path that I'd taken over the past 10 years. From Ontario to Montreal, to La Pocatiere, then back to Montreal and then, with Brent and Stephanie, a mini-return to Korea.

We were almost at the end of our visit to Canada, but the fun was not over yet.... and neither is the seemingly endless "Canada blog".