Montréal

I feel like I haven’t written up a blog for ages! I strangely missed sharing my stories with you guys. I’ve been crazy busy, and still am (currently typing this up on the train- whilst half asleep). 

I had quite a few exams and coursework due in last week, and as usual, left everything till last minute causing me to fall deep into my usual stress mode (which for me, is a phase of denial and ignorance). In terms of how they went, let’s just not go there…

I would have typed up a blog as soon as my exams finished, but on Saturday morning I left Quebec City to do a bit of travelling- how exciting!

So, my friend and I thought, why not make the most of our reading week, and we decided on a short trip to the city of Montreal and then straight off to another big Canadian city- Toronto! We left on the morning of Saturday to do as much as we could fit in, and I must say, we've done quite well so far.

The given view of downtown from the summit of Mount Royal

Montreal. A gorgeous city, with the right amount of everything. It isn't excessive in what it has, giving it a humble atmosphere, also making and it so special. The city is so diverse and probably offers just about anything to anyone. I feel like anyone could find their place in Montreal and fit in straight away. Some parts of the city were really quite eccentric, with unique street art at every turn. In general, it was really quite different to how I imagined it to be, much smaller than what I had in mind. Perhaps I had bigger expectations of the city (in terms of mass, and city life) as everybody would describe Montreal as ‘another world’, and so of course I had mentally prepared myself for this. I wouldn't say I was disappointed in the slightest, but instead, pleasantly surprised and glad to finally travel here. It was quite interesting to see the similarities between my small town of Quebec and Montreal. However, I did feel as though the mentality there was completely different to that of Quebec City, Montreal is without a doubt a much more multicultural and seemingly more open-minded city. 

The subway was amazingly easy to understand, a weekend is enough time, and I wouldn’t call it a crazily expensive city. I also met up with my friend from King’s, which was lovely! Safe to say, he now thinks of himself as a true Montréalais. 

These are a few places I managed to visit,

Mount Royal Park

St-Josephs Oratory

The Botanical Garden and Insectarium

Olympic stadium

Rue St-Catherine

Eaton Centre

Vieux Montreal

In all honesty, by wandering through the streets, we ended up in some really nice places (sometimes dodgy), but I had, and still have no clue where we were.

View from the Oratory

Whether I could see myself living in Montreal, I’m unsure. I guess it just wasn't love at first sight.

Notre-Dame Basilica in Vieux Montreal

It’s now past 8PM, and I am currently on the train towards Toronto, we are spending 5 days there, but minus one as we are planning to spend a day in Niagara Falls. I already have my rough idea of the city, and am bursting with excitement to do some exploring.

I can’t wait to update you guys!

The Botanical garden

Entrance to the Chinese gardens

The Mediterranean gardens 

Greater Snow Geese watching at the Cap Tourmente

Yesterday I went Greater Snow Geese watching at the Cap Tourmente here in Quebec. Unusual activity? I thought so too, but here in Quebec, I really want to push myself out of my comfort zone and try everything that is open to me- I guess it’s these things that will establish me as a person but also help me grow. Right, enough of the profound talk! 

Guess what, I really enjoyed it.

The Cap Tourmente National Wildlife area is recognised for its exceptional sight of migrating geese

during the seasons of spring and autumn. It is a vast area, covering 24km^s of raw land and offers various hiking trails for all abilities- all guaranteed with picturesque views obviously.

My friends and I had chosen two trails, La Falaise (4.2km) and Le Perriere, (4km) all in all, relatively short hikes. However, despite them being short, La Falaise was in fact quite challenging as it was incredibly up hill. Imagine yourself on a treadmill at low speed but maximum recline. Except without the smooth surface. Oh, and feeling terribly hot and sweaty, but it being too cold to take your big coat off. The previous hikes I had been on were much longer in distance, but didn’t require as much effort in one go. However, I will stay true to myself and say La Forêt Montmorency still holds the title of, most challenging hike- so far. 

We arrived to the viewpoint for the first hike and it was absolutely stunning. A magnificent landscape with the river St Lawrence looking at its finest.

It still takes me a while to realise where I am, and how lucky I am to be appreciating the earth’s natural state. Sometimes, I will be sitting in the middle of nowhere, having my lunch, facing what is no longer valued nor protected in todays world. We (myself included) have become so immune to the natural resources that have been given to us as a gift, and instead chase the artificiality of this world. I often find myself at peace whilst on these trips and perhaps it is the loss of inner peace that could be one explanation out of the hundreds, as to why so much is happening in this world. 
Who knows?

 When I return to London, I know I will most likely return to the repetitive sheepish city life, (that I have become so used to and appreciate) but I will never forget that I have been exposed to how this world had started, and to always appreciate what we have. I am definitely not someone who is against modernity and progress. I cannot deny my love for the materialistic things in life, but sometimes it is good to take a step back and think with a clear mind.

This wasn’t supposed to be a blog in which I took a reflective turn, so I apologise for the slightly, misleading title but I promise it came out naturally!

In the pictures below, you can see some of the colours of the leaves changing, giving us a naturally colourful setting. Thankfully, we were also especially lucky with the weather, the sun was out despite it being so cold. Just the day before, we were treated to a grey sky and pouring rain. Today too, it a beautiful day with a gloomy grey sky and more rain(!)

After having finished the hike, we were lucky enough to observe flocks of snow geese flying in sync. Guides were available to answer questions and also give us a small presentation. We then returned to the warmth, ready to go home. 

If you look closely you will see the flying geese!

Probably one of the best things about Quebec...

Right, I’m not going to start off by telling you about one of my favourite things here… That would just be spoiling the entire blog. But I do apologise beforehand for the excitement that is to come.

But I will start off by telling you about the lovely day I had spent with two of my good friends here. We decided to do some exploring mid September, and take the traversier (otherwise known as the ferry) to the other side of Vieux Quebec, a small city called Lévis. My friends and I had never been up there before and I had been told about this wonderful place that we could find… And so of course, without hesitation it was my mission to find this wonderful place.

It was both incredibly easy and cheap to travel up to Lévis from Vieux Quebec, it is only a ten-minute journey as both cities are located so close to one another. It was only $3.50 too! Once we had disembarked, we met up with my buddy who lives in Lévis (as many other students do) and she offered to show us around. They are currently undergoing a lot of construction and apparently, it is much easier to move around by foot here. But I was really concerned with this, as the entire city seems to be on an upward hill, the more you progress, the higher up you are. Thankfully, my buddy’s mother brought us up by car, saving us from breaking a sweat. We begun from the top, and descended whilst passing through the towns charming architecture, and gorgeous houses that overlook the river St Lawrence and Vieux Quebec. Lucky people.

College de Levis (this is a secondary school!)

So after having walked a little, we finally stopped at CHOCOLAT FAVORIS. I had not only heard about this place about three hundred times, but I had seen pictures of it everywhere on my Instagram. Who ever knows me, knows chocolate is my best friend and so this was the place for me. The concept is rather simple really, you choose your ice cream flavour, the size you want, and what chocolate flavoured dip you want. They then dip the ice cream upside down; in the dip you had chosen, allowing the warm chocolate to freeze up. (Oh, you can also choose toppings, but I decided to keep it simple).

Oh my God. I did not expect it to be as good as it was. I am not exaggerating.

Beyond words I tell you.

If you ever visit Quebec, you absolutely have to try it, the one in Lévis is exceptional as it was the first establishment and to this day, remains a charmingly cute Canadian maison.

Chocolat Favoris

We then returned to Vieux Quebec by ferry, and it was now rather dark- this gave us a beautiful view of Vieux, with the cities lights glowing. It was especially animated that evening, as it was the nuit des galleries- an event promoting the cities creativity and art.

We finally ended the evening with a yummy poutine.

Poutine!

Parc Jacques-Cartier

So I have wanted to go the Parc National de la Jacques Cartier for a really, really long time. On the 25^th I finally got to go!

As per usual, a quick bit of background information for you guys- hello Wikipedia. This is an incredibly vast provincial park just 31 miles North of Quebec City, so not too far of a journey. Naturally, the park is an exceptionally popular location amongst tourists due to its breath-taking scenery, not to mention the various hiking routes offered. There’s pretty much a hike for everyone, an easy, medium and difficult; it’s just down to what you prefer. My buddies and I chose the difficult one named Les Loup… (The wolves) A rather encouraging name for a hike (!)

We left the university campus at 9:15AM and arrived around 10:00AM; the weather didn’t seem to be on our side, so I was slightly worried it would rain, thankfully it didn’t. We got on the bus, which dropped us off in the surroundings of the relevant area, and we were ready to face Les Loups. Believe it or not, the hike was surprisingly easy! I mean, maybe I’ve just been scarred with the trek I had to go through at the Fôret Montmorency, I definitely felt, and still feel invincible after that torturous experience (as well as rewarding of course). Anyway, without a doubt this was a much easier workout. I especially loved it since I was able to meet so many wonderful people from around the globe. It was so easy to talk to one another; everywhere I turned somebody new was ready to share their story with me, no matter how short or how long. Being here does not only give me the opportunity to learn about the culture of Quebec, but I continuously learn about various other cultures, I am forever grateful for this enriching opportunity.

Follow the leader...

It probably took us about 2 hours to get to the peak- a view beyond words, honestly. The best part was digging into our lunch on the edge of the summit, literally. At this point the clear blue sky had replaced the clouded grey sky that I am awfully familiar with (Oh, thank you London) and suddenly the sun was beaming away.

Simplement magestueux.

Lunching the Canadian way!

Unfortunately, like all good things, it was time to leave. We made it back in a relatively quick amount of time, just a little over one hour. Whilst on the bus making our way back to the main area, we stumbled across a moose casually taking a stroll, not in the slightest concerned by our presence. My first ever encounter with a moose!

Once we arrived at the main part of the park, we were all exhausted and decided to chill beneath the sun, by this time it was almost time to go back home. Let’s just say I got a good night’s sleep later that evening.

I cannot wait to go back, but this time when the snow begins to fall. I’ve been told these locations change in their entirety during the winter season. Hopefully, the extreme cold will not scare me away.