Blogs from Quebec, Canada, North America

Had a 2 hour morning bus tour of Quebec City and then had the whole day and evening to ourselves...bliss. Spent about 4 hours walking around the Old city and just soaking it in. Lunch in a pub and had a cider (although had trouble ordering it as waiter thought I was asking for a Soda...lol). Bought myself a cape thingy, a scarf and a necklace. Aching feet and calf muscles now though...as all up and down hills has taken its toll. Out for dinner with a bunch of women on the tour - nice evening. Anyway, tomorrow afternoon leaving very early for Boston - will spend most of the day on the bus I think. Oh well ...its called travelling isn't it. Cheers.... read more

French Canada! Did a morning tour of Montreal before heading off to Quebec City. Love Montreal - which got its name from Mount Royal. Anyway, Montreal (they drop the 't') is an island with hills (although the guide was calling them Mountains but possibly a bit optimistic ...but didn't have to walk them so may have been a bit judgemental). Anyway, saw the 1970's Olympic stadium from a distance and drove past Millionaire's Row (my name) where Tommy Hilfinger lives. Also visited the Montreal Notre Dame Cathedral - not allowed to take photos inside given service was about to begin- but I have never seen anything so elaborate. I am not surprised it took 40 years to complete...magnificent. Another stop at the Montreal World Trade Centre - but one of our passengers fell down some marble ... read more

I just came back a few days ago from an amazing trip in my own country! 3 of my colleagues and I skied from the crater in Pingualuit Park, Nunavik, back to the village of Kangiqsujuaq. Just finding dates when everybody was available prooved to be a challenge and then we had trouble booking our flight to the village as there was a paraski competition the same week and many people were flying to Kangiqsujuaq. Isabelle and I had to fly 2 days before Julie and Mélanie, which in the end was a good thing as it gave me more time to explore this amazing village of less than 500 inhabitants. Kangiqsujuaq means "large bay" (which we were to confirm eventually!) and the house were we stayed was right on the shore with a fantastic view ... read more

Après avoir rangé nos sacs à dos pendant un an et quelques mois, il est enfin temps de repartir, yeaaaaah! Cette fois-ci c’est l’Europe de l’Est qui nous attend, départ en Roumanie, ensuite la Serbie, la Bosnie, la Croatie, le Monténégro, la Slovénie, l’Italie et la Belgique (notre vol de retour est de Bruxelles). Ce voyage sera un peu différent des autres, dû au petit « paquet » de plus que nous devront traîner partout avec nous, un petit poids d’extra qui bouge, qui « jase », qui sourit, qui pleure, qui crie, et qui augmentera considérablement la taille de nos bagages. C’est donc à trois que nous partons cette année, la petite Nellie se joignant à nous. Elle sera âgée de 5 mois au départ, donc de 7 mois et demi au retour. Je peux ... read more

Na een busreis vanaf Montréal kwamen we in het donker in Québec City aan. Het bus- en treinstation zat in een mooi gebouw, maar buiten raakten we al gauw verdwaald. Routebeschrijvingen via Google Maps geven namelijk nooit aan welke uitgang je moet nemen als je vanaf een gebouw zoekt en dan moet je al snel gissen welke richting je op moet. Na een paar minuten dwalen en de weg vragen vonden we gelukkig de juiste bushalte. Deze stadsbus gaf ons al meteen een leuke rondleiding langs delen van de stad die we in de komende dagen een stuk beter zouden leren kennen. De volgende avonden sliepen we bij een vriendelijke CouchSurfer genaamd Jamie. Hij kwam zelf uit Ottawa, maar sprak al erg goed Québecois. Zijn huisgenote Jana (uit Duitsland) was ook erg vriendelijk en behulpzaam. Een ... read more

En route to Montreal: Rebekah and Dan are relaxing in the Euro-styled lounge here at the Toronto airport: we have about 30 minutes til our connecting flight to Montreal. We've availed ourselves of the free almonds, diet Coke, and coffee. I'm enjoying the Mac lounge where I can use one of a dozen free computers. During the first flight from Chicago, I had unusual success with Scrabble on my Kindle. Dan got his celebrity news update by reading "US Weekly" magazine from cover to cover, and Rebekah spent some time with Kurt Vonnegut in Slaughterhouse Five. Kind of a gender-role-reading-reversal, I think! When we arrive we'll find the HI hostel and then go exploring. Rebekah has a list of pubs that offer special "craft" beers, Dan wants to see an art museum, and I want to ... read more

I wanted to share some of the autumn / winter pictures I have been taken the last few months, so therefore another blog from Montréal, Quebec. Against my expectations I have now been here 8 months. With now less than a month left before I travel to Boston and then fly via Iceland to the UK and onwards home, it is more than time to visit a few places in the vicinity of Monteal. Unfortunately winter has not quite yet left us, so not sure if I will get a chance to. Montreal is a city of festivals. No matter the season or weather, there's always something going on including url=http://www.montrealgazette.com/life/Student+protest+Series+April+Fools+marches+planned/6387031/story.html student demontrations I was able to watch from my workplace at Peel the other week. In the heart of winter was the so called Igloofest ... read more