Monday, April 20, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Final Post from Quebec City
Well here I am sitting in the airport writing this last blog entry from Quebec City. What can I say about Quebec City that I haven't already raved about in earlier posts. First of all I'll apologize for the lack of posts. It was my intention to talk about the things Sharon and I had experienced that day but once we put in a full day around Old Quebec, we were pretty beat. I 'll post some more photos right now and talk about some of the highights of our trip.
Of course, beyond the fact that being in Quebec City is like being in Europe. The food is fantastique! There are many restaurants to try out here and they are all within walking distance of one another. For pizza, go to La Pizz in Place Royale, for breakfast try the hip cafe/club Cosmos. For a great dining experience try Grafitti, it is easily recommened by tourists and Quebecers alike.
The shopping in and around Old Quebec is fun and atmospheric. For all of the history on the Plains of Abraham and the origin of Canada as a nation, you must go to the Discovery Centre near the Citadelle in Old Quebec. There is a great presentation and museum depicting what happened in this historic city.
You must take a carriage ride around Old Quebec and the driver we had Robert was great and very informative.
Its getting near time to board the plane back to Alberta and I'll probably post some more pics of our vacation.
The next saga will proabably be about our ongoing house renovations.
Till then...
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Quebec Pics
We have been all over quebec City and it was great! There is such an incredible amount of history here. We took a bus tour around Old Quebec and learned about its history as a fortification for the French. Quebec means where the river narrows and the city is located on the narrowest point of the St. Lawrence River. This meant that the French could control the main waterways into Canada. Their cannon could easily sink ships attempting to cross into Quebec.
This didn't mean the French would hold onto the area indefinitely. The English came and decided that they wanted the territory as well. The English camped outside of Quebec city near the Ile d'Orleans. An island outside of Quebec City, which was given to seigneurs (landlords) for farming. The British over the intervening months prior to the battle on the Plains of Abraham starved out the French before the furious 20 minute battle. The leaders Montcalm and Wolfe both died on the battlefield.
Coincidentally, the battlefield is a 2 minute walk from our B&B. During the years it was used for military exercises, became a golf course,and finally a memorial park.
We visited Beaupre (nice field in English). Along the way we stopped at Montmercy Falls, which is taller than Niagra Falls. I got as close as I could but Sharon became the main photographer for that portion of the trip. The falls are quite incredible and there is a huge snow mound which you can actually walk onto.
In Beaupre itself we went to Chez Marie. Its a bakery housed in a 300 year old home which you can get some delicious maple butter. Also most people who live in the area farm and tap the maple trees for sap.
From Beaupre we visited Albert Gilles Musee de Cuivre (Copper Museum). In this place, we saw some amazing artwork being created by the Gilles family. The Gilles family is responsible for a lot of the copper, gold,and silver work done at the Basilica de Ste. Anne.
This church looks like it could have come right from France complete with courtyard. It is a beautiful building and well worth a visit if you appreciate this kind of history.
We went to Ile de Orleans and went on a short tour therre to see the old farms which have been running since the founding of Quebec. Now it is more for larger estates but the island is still mainly used for farming..
Sharon and I were able to meet up with an old family friend. She took us out to dinner at a little restaurant called Rouge et Blanc which allows you to bring your own wine for dinner. It was a fantastic meal and we muddled our way through the conversation between French and English. Andree was great and I tried to use as much French as I could to make myself understood to her partner Denys. They were nice enough to give us a tour of Old Quebec at night and gave us some maple butter and coronets.
By the way if you are nice enough, I'll share some with you.
Till next time...
Monday, April 13, 2009
Friday, April 10, 2009
Blogging InDepth from Journey's in 2.0 Teaching.
Jared Nichol is a fellow teacher from the Cold Lake area and he hosts a blog called Journey's in 2.0 Teaching. If you want to see a great post about blogging in the classroom from creation to evaluation you should check his post here. It basically shows how Jared has been using blogs in his classroom with writing and the rubrics he has been using to help evaluate the learning taking place in his classroom. I think it is a fantastic post and if you are new to blogging and want to learn more about it you should send him a quick email.
As for me I am into exploring all the ways 2.0 can help me. By the way did he tell you he's a Mac Addict?
Cheers Jared!
Check out his blog!
Good Friday Fish Fry!
Today we enjoyed a fantastic fish fry with friends. There was a lot of prep involved with the meal cutting up potatoes for home made chips and getting the fish together for the meal. Of course there is always the mad dash to clean up the house to get it ready for your guests. Whenever we get together for a meal it is always a feast with our friends. There are some really talented cooks among our group of friends. On the menu today was a lovely cranberry salad with asian dressing, a baked brie and spinach dip with pumpernickel for appies. Of course, there was the fish and chips that Sharon and I contributed and I hope it was up to snuff. For dessert we had creme brulee with chipoltle, ice wine, and coffee. Also a caramel pecan sundae ice cream cake was served.
We were stuffed. It was nice time for conversation and good times with our friends. I hope that everyone else is enjoying their Good Friday with friends and family and can be as blessed as we are.
Until next time.
Lee
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