Day 1
By Gabby Y. ’20
Apparently, Montreal is a lot more humid than Calgary. It felt like an entire heat wave hit me at once, followed by a huge bucket of water evaporating off my skin, leaving me moist and sticky. We boarded a bus, with barely any AC, and it took us around Montreal and Old Montreal, where we walked around and saw a couple of very famous monuments, including Notre Dame. When my feet finally started to kill me, I swear I could hear my mother’s voice in my head: “Bring proper walking shoes!” After an incredibly exciting first day, I’m so pumped for what tomorrow will bring, but I’m surely not as excited Mme. Gagnon, who is literally jumping right now up and down, as I type! Goodnight!
Day 2
By Tristan ’20 and Connor ’20
Today, we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art where we learned about various artists and their styles. After lunch, we took the bus to La Ronde where we went on various rides and ate sugar-loaded snacks! We went to dinner where pirates invaded our meal, Tristan, Claire and Thys were the captains of the ships. In the end, it was Claire and her crew who won the best pirates competition! After that, instead of taking the bus to our hotel, we walked back. We had a lot of fun today and really need to have a snooze.
Day 3
By Venice ’20, Ariel ’20, Sarah ’20, Gabrielle E. ’20
We started off the day by waking up quite early after a long night of talking. After breakfast we went to the National Film Board where we got the chance to create our own stop motion short film, as well as learning about stop motion history and fun facts. This fun activity was followed by a four hours visit to the Cosmodome. We had loads of fun going on simulators to get the impression that you were walking on the moon, experiencing the feeling of losing control in zero gravity, followed by many others. We also learned cool and detailed facts about space. After, we all went to have dinner at one of Quebec’s famous restaurants, St-Hubert. We had a very long, talkative, and interesting evening where we got to know each other and our teachers much better.
Day 4
By Stephanie ’20, Faith ’20, Alicia ’20, and Kaylia ’20
Today we traveled from Montreal to Quebec and then to Trois Rivières. Did you know that it is incorrectly named? There are only two rivers in Trois Rivières, not three. We participated in a super fun yet creepy tour of the prison and then explored the art museum. In the museum, we learned about old toys and things used in the past such as an old toaster, a tool used for hitting and cleaning carpets and another tool for making hats.
Day 5
By Kaitlyn ’20, Nia, ’20 Amélie ’20
This morning we enjoyed some lovely pastries while celebrating Sam’s birthday. This was followed by a visit to Artillery Park where we learned about the old citadel. We learned about three different kinds of cannons made by the English and the French, which was totally awesome. We then walked to, what we call, the Zebra Café where we tried a unique appetizer called “foie gras”. Many of us were disgusted when we found out what it was. After lunch we saw some beautiful art pressed into copper, which was made by a local family. The father of this family created 50 images of Jesus’ life story; this took him 15 years to make. We had the pleasure of making our own masterpiece. Our next stop was the largest Cathedral in Canada, Sainte Anne de Beaupré. Saint Anne’s story was told through many detailed paintings along
the walls of the cathedral. To cool down we visited Montmorency Falls, which are higher than Niagara Falls. We were all very excited to go to the legendary Cabane à Sucre or, as you Anglophones would say, the Sugar Shack.
Day 6
Aujourd’hui était une autre journée très excitante. Nous sommes allés à la Grosse Île, une île de quarantaine utilisée par la plupart des Irlandais immigrés. Dans le passé, pendant 105 ans, l’île arrêtait les bateaux remplis de malades qui entraient au Canada et pouvant causer une épidémie. Après s’avoir diviser en deux groupes, nous avons visité un bâtiment de désinfection avec les salles d’attente et les douches, qui semblaient un peu à une chambre que des gens utiliseraient pour torturer quelqu’un. Après le dîner, nous avons visité un cimetière Irlandais où environ 5000 personnes sont enterrées. Notre guide nous avons montré un grand mémorial avec les noms de toutes les gens qui sont décédés sur l’île. Il y avait des noms de famille de quelques gens du groupe comme Maguire ou Dundas. En plus de cela, nous avions visité une croix celtique qui mesure 14 mètres de haut. Pour finir notre tournée sur Grosse Île, les deux groupes se sont réunis ensemble pour un petit voyage en autobus/train autour des trois secteurs de l’île.
Day 7
By Gabby Y. ’20
And so our trip comes to an end. After many exhausting but very interesting and exhilarating days, we board our plane back to Calgary. This morning, we woke up at 7 a.m. Apparently, the hotel needed to confirm this four times, with a very unpleasant ringing, as we still tried desperately to sleep in. After breakfast, we loaded our suitcases, boarded the bus, and left Hotel Le Concorde. We made our way to the Huron (Wendat) village, to tour a mostly outdoor museum. By this time, it was pouring rain, and many cries of “ My coat is soaking wet!” and “I just stepped in a puddle!” were heard. Lunch at the village was a traditional rice and sun flower seed soup, followed by a fish dish with a steamed vegetable salad, ending with a vanilla cake topped with maple sauce. We soon departed and made our way to the Citadel, the governor general’s home where we played a version of the board game Clue, learning a bit about the governor’s influence in our great country. We spent forty-five minutes at a market, browsing through various Quebec specialty products. Then, we ate our final meal at another buffet, where a few students with very resistant taste buds sampled frog leg. Lastly, we drove to the airport and boarded our flight.
Contact Mme. Gagnon at kgagnon@cfis.com for more information