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.

A busy beginning to the term.

I feel like I haven’t posted a blog up for quite some time (the workload is quickly piling up), and I’ve been up too quite a bit too. So I’m thinking of condensing it all into this blog. 

The weather here has been absolutely gorgeous, I mean yeah, upon my arrival I did have my stereotypical view of Canada, it being the land of snow as we are all aware- however I did expect some warm summer weather of course, needless to say, I am genuinely stunned by this perpetual beautiful weather which will hopefully prolong itself even further. The sun makes everybody happy!

On the 5^th of September, the first American football match took place at the Stade Telus, which belongs to the university. Now, I of course envisaged the whole thing before hand, the ambiance, the smell of hot dogs, the enthusiastic and in sync cheerleaders, the somewhat crazy supporters, and I’ll have you know I was spot-on. I felt like I was in an American movie! Except with a lot more beer, beer everywhere. Canadians and their deep attachment to it I guess. The game itself was quite confusing, in fact, very confusing. If I told you I understood what was happening, I’d be lying. All I know is the game goes on for a very long time (over three hours), and they pause continuously. It was a fantastic evening though.

        

 

          

Believe it or not, I went apple picking! (The following Friday) I definitely unanticipated how much fun this would be, and thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. It was so different to what I am usually exposed too, and something I never thought I’d try. Yet there I was, picking those delicious apples. This took place at l’île d’Orléans, a beautiful vast area of land, about 5km east of downtown Quebec City. The owner had told us that their sole production was wine, (which explained the scattered vineyards) and that they also used apples. However, they were left with a bunch of left over apples and so decided to give the open public a chance to go apple picking. Indeed, a thoughtful idea. I arrived home with about three kilos of apples, so in the days to follow, my flatmate had made apple and oat muffins, and I made apple and cinnamon cake. Delicious, if I say so myself.

           

 

          

An exhausting day as we can see

Finally, to finish off, the university has a Ligue Universitaire d’Impro (improvisational league), which takes place each year. There are four teams, and each Friday evening two teams battle it out, both struck with unexpected scenarios. This was simply fantastic! I couldn’t believe how talented these players were. The entire set up was quite hilarious too- they even got us involved. (By throwing flip-flops at the referees if we were discontent with a decision of course!) The room was really packed, roughly 450 spectators turned up- the first match of the year is always important obviously.

I tried keeping the blog assez brief, as I don't want this to become a boring read. A bientôt. :)

Trekking and wildlife concert at the Forêt Montmorency

What a unique and memorable experience this was, something I thought I'd never have the opportunity to do. Honestly. 

The Bureau de la vie étudiante organises multiple activities for exchange students, a great way to grasp the idea of life as a Québécois whilst sharing these new experiences with the many other alienated students. 

On Friday, a trip to the Forêt Montmorency was organised; this entire territory was given to Université Laval and in exchange the forestry faculty were to continue with its profound research as well as the teaching of natural sciences. Boring stuff over! So, we all met up outside a pavillon at 11am ready to embark on a yellow school bus, (so cool) there were quite a few of us, around 45, and an impressive mixture of students from various countries. It took roughly one hour to get to the forest, so not the closest or the furthest! Once we arrived, we set foot in the campus. A campus literally in the middle of nowhere, we were then sent downstairs to a room whereby an expert was present to hand out maps and vigorously explained the instructions to avoid getting lost. I didn't understand anything he had said; so let's just say I was slightly worried. We were then finally freed.

This wasn't my first time trekking, so I thought I was mentally prepared for this. Well, let me tell you, it was perhaps one of the hardest things I've done in my entire life. The funny thing is, everyone seemed fine. In fact, more than fine, whilst I was slowly dying. However, it was definitely worth it when you arrived to the chute de la riviere noir, I sat right next to the waterfall. Amazing! The pictures aren't even capable of illustrating the beauty of it all; so let your imagination run wild. We also passed the lac Piché, the scenery was beyond what words can describe.  

Once we had finished the 5-hour trek, we returned to the campus to await the next part of the trip. Four musicians first introduced themselves to us indoors, and explained what was to happen. We were then handed blankets, and dropped off by a large lake in the complete dark and in complete silence and led ourselves to benches. Once seated, we were to enjoy the next hour or so listening to the musicians play their instruments on their canoes in the lake. Accompanied only by the light deriving from the moon and stars along with the echoing silence, it was simply beautiful to feel reconnected with ones inner peace. The evening ended at around 11pm, safe to say, we were all terribly exhausted. I know I definitely was.

I really hope the pictures give you all just a slight idea of the scenery I came across.