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Published: July 14th 2011
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Quebec City emblem
This ship is on the flag of Quebec City I ended my last blog with the comment, “This is Canada…” Really, though, that’s not quite accurate. This is Québec, more than it is Canada. You don’t see the Canadian flag nearly as much as you’d expect. All the government buildings downtown fly the Québec province flag, or the flag for the City of Québec (which is a very cool flag with a ship on it – same emblem as in the photo), and the Canadian flag is notably absent. The Canadian national flag is seen on what I guess I’d call federal buildings, but not on provincial or city government ones. Kind of like seeing your state’s flag flying without the Stars and Stripes over the state capitol building, or on school flagpoles.
There is definitely a disconnect between Québec and the rest of Canada, based on language, religion, and culture, as well as perceived and real injustices dating back four centuries. That is not to say that the people we have encountered are anti-English. On the contrary, everyone is incredibly warm and friendly, and I am very surprised at how much English is spoken by employees of various establishments. This place is truly bilingual, although we are told
Porte St. Jean
The porte (gate) is just to the left of the photo. that outside the city, very few people speak English.
Lazy days and late nights… that’s pretty much what vacation is all about, right? And that’s definitely what we’ve got going on. We explored our neighborhood and found some really cute shops, discovered it really is possible to overdose on poutine, and returned home to relax a bit before heading into the city late yesterday afternoon.
I’m not quite sure how we navigated city driving before GPS, but now that we have Jill, the annoying but generally accurate voice from our GPS, there is much less cussing and gnashing of teeth on mine and Dan’s part. Poor Jill, she has a hard enough time speaking English… and now she has to pronounce all these French street names. Sometimes we don’t know what she is talking about, even with the street names spelled out on the GPS, but she can usually get us where we want to go, and I like that because it absolves me of some navigational responsibility, which is hardly my strong suit.
We headed back to Vieux Québec yesterday, which is less than ten minutes by car. Our goal was to catch the free Cirque
Signs
I cannot explain this photo. du Soleil show. Yep, free. Free, as in no charge. Free, as in no tickets required. Free, as in you will have to stand on your tired little doggies during the show, but it will be so awesome that you might forget you even have little doggies to stand upon. This is one of the reasons why I like staying at a home owned by a local who can give me some info that doesn’t make the guidebooks. Agnès, our host, told us about these shows, saying that they go several times each summer (They have a daughter a little younger than Arden.). Most guidebooks do mention the show, but they don’t tell you that you can get in for free.
So almost every night during the summer, Cirque du Soleil performs free shows in Québec City. The performances are on a pretty cool set that is actually underneath the freeway interchange just downhill from downtown Québec – called Ilôt Fleurie for some inexplicable reason; Ilôt Fleurie translates as something like “flowery little island.” It’s very urban, as you’d imagine, with the cars whizzing by above our heads, and lots of concrete, asphalt, and gravel – I suppose the
Festival d'Été
Free concert at the Summer Festival name is ironic. There are maybe one hundred or so tickets sold for seats each night, the rest of the area is standing room only and free. The show lasts about 45 minutes, and we recognized at least one street performer that we’d seen a couple days ago doing a trampoline act on the Terrasse Dufferin. My hunch is that some of the performers in these free summer shows are recent circus school (there’s one here as well as in Montréal) graduates on sort of on a long audition to see who might make it into the traveling shows and the big Vegas spectacles.
Regardless of whether or not these are the best of Cirque du Soleil’s performers, it was a great show. Our daughters were wowed by Monsieur René a few days ago – and no offense to Monsieur René, he was a well-practiced entertainer, but he wasn’t what the French would call un spectacle. Cirque du Soleil is most definitely the epitome of un spectacle. First we got to see amazing costumes and make-up and a troupe of talented dancers – many of whom came out and mingled with the crowd before the show. Then, a tightrope
Tattoo Rock
No idea what this is, it’s near the Ilôt Fleurie. walker appeared, making his way on the high wire until he was up, up, up, above the stage – and then he did a handstand on his bar, balanced across the wire! Jugglers with flaming sticks or ropes with spinning spools / yo-yos joined the show, as well as a troupe of trampolinists with a very choreographed routine. And hula girl: she hula-hooped with one, two, three, as many as six hoops; she used a combination of leg, hips, hands, chest, and neck to spin these hoops. She was, by far, the girls’ favorite.
And I have to say, how I love seeing my girls’ faces light up when they are amazed by what they’re observing. And how I love to see Arden clap when she has witnessed something incredible. She puts such energy, enthusiasm, and force into that applause. I only wonder if those performers have any idea of the joy they bring, especially to children.
This morning Dan and Arden ventured out for some urban geocaching while Maddie and I lazed about at home. Then we all went to a lush green park, Parc Bois de Coulonge for a picnic lunch and more geocaching. For those
Cirque du Soleil
Waiting in line for Cirque du Soleil of you who are uninitiated, geocaching is an international phenomenon where GPS units are used to hide and find “caches.” A cache is a small container (ranging in size from a shoe box to a tiny vial) which are hidden in (usually) public areas. The goal is to find one, write your name on the log, and enter your find at geocaching.com – the caches are rated for their levels of difficulty in terms of how easy they are to find and how much trouble the terrain might be (i.e., a literal stroll in the park or someplace that might require special equipment to get to, like a boat or climbing ropes).
The four of us set off down a path in search of another cache. Dan and Arden were ahead of Madeleine and me, and just as I noticed that they were off the path, obviously in looking for the cache, I saw an older couple on the path watching them. As we approached, they asked if I spoke French, and at first I was afraid that they were wondering what in the world Dan and Arden were doing. My fears were soon assuaged when he pulled out
Cirque du Soleil
Cirque du Soleil performer mingling with the crowd his own GPS unit and explained that they were hoping to find this same cache as well. We talked for a while and they recommended some local caches to us. I’m always surprised how nerve-wracking it can be to translate between people. I don’t think I could cut it working for the UN. Anyway, we did find that cache and one other in the park.
The park itself was so beautiful, and it is surprising to be in such an urban setting and not to see homeless people. I suppose that the cold weather forces them to warmer places (we’ve heard there are only two seasons in Québec: winter and July). The manor at the park was the former residence of the Lieutenant Governor of Québec until the 1950’s. There are dense stands of maple and an area with various fruit trees and flower beds. All of this overlooks the St. Lawrence from high above a cliff. And the green, green grass! How the girls love to run through that grass, so rare at home.
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