Le Weekend a Quebec (dimanche - partie deux)

Salut encore! (hello again!)

Sunday was an early day too, as we woke up at about 7:45 am to get ready for Valcartier, a waterpark similar to Cultus Lake. When you have 50+ girls sharing a two sink, three washroom stall bathroom, it gets catty. Congratulations to the girls that got up at 5 to do everything they needed to do before the rush ensued.

Breakfast was picked out by each of our coordinators (I believe there were five YMCA groups in total: Surrey, Langley and three from Ontario). Janie got us croissants, chocolate croissants and berries <3

We rode the bus to Valcartier for under 5 minutes. The weather was amazing and the cement was hot, but it was an awesome day. There was a huge wave pool (where you could literally drown), many slides that are similar to the ones that we have back home as well as slides that had stories and themes attached to them, similar to how when you wait in line for a ride in Disney World, they pump all this imagery and information into your mind about what is going to happen.

I will admit it here and now that I did chicken out on one slide, Everest. It was pretty vertical the first part of the way down. I walked all the way up with my friends, got my mat on the top and looked over the edge and turned around and walked all the way down, alone. It didn't help that there were young kids running up the stairs in the opposite direction. Oh well, at least everything else was really fun and not as scary. I loved the tube rides, and the ones where there were rapids pushing you along as you reclined in your tube.

Pictures - there are only a couple, because I didn't want to kill my camera halfway through the trip:

 

 

We were in Valcartier from 10-3, and we left Quebec at 4 for an arrival back in Terrebonne at about 7. I then went to Spencer's house to chill for a bit: failing at Rock Band because I never play.

 

So that was the weekend! Vlogs and videos to come in the next post which will be up shortly.

 

My song for you tonight - while us Trenchers were waiting in hopes to catch a glimpse of Marianas Trench, we were all singing a cappella to random MT songs, such as this: "Celebrity Status" by Marianas Trench

 



 

a prochain,

 

Rachel

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Le Weekend a Quebec (samedi - partie une)

Bonjour everyone! Ca va? I hope everyone had a wonderful weekend, I know that I certainly did!

Just a couple housekeeping things before I start:

1. I just wanted to say that there will be three posts to this weekend's story to avoid really long posts that are eternal: Saturday, Sunday, and vlogs

2. In case you think I'm being a Captain Obvious, we went to Quebec City which is sometimes referred to as just "Quebec", similar to the way there is New York City within the state of New York.

3. While some photos will have faces in them, for the sake of repeats, most of these pictures will be scenic. All my photos from this weekend (all 100+ as well as the ones from the beginning of the trip!) can be found on my Facebook.

Now we can begin!

Our day began bright and early as we bussed out from Terrebonne to Quebec City. The bus ride was 3 hours and wasn't too bad. I was sitting next to Spencer and he is a fun bus buddy.

Our arrival in Quebec City was perfect timing for lunch. We walked as a group to the Quebec Parliament buildings. They are very majestic with statues of important Quebecois historical figures all over the building. While I didn't get to see the inside, the outside was just as amazing. I found out throughout the day that there were many statues and busts of important figureheads all over the city.

Not all but the main part of the building.. all the darker figures are the statues

In front of the massive fountain! (L-R me, Helen, Fiona, Valerie)

Surrey repping!  (L-R Spencer, Helen, Fiona, Patrick, Valerie, me, Tianna)

Terrebonne Est family!

While some of our friends with the YMCA were doing a tour (the tickets sold out!), our group went off to explore Quebec City and the souvenirs it had to offer. Eventually we met up with some of our Langley friends... check out how European it looks!

Staring contest with Winston Churchill

walking down the street

L-R: Prabhjit, Steven, Nathan, me, Helen, Fiona, Spencer, Patrick

$10 clearly not wasted

 



<3

My adventure buddies for the remainder of the day (Helen, Fiona, Nathan, Patrick and Spencer) walked down past the Fairmont Quebec, onto the boardwalk until we stumbled onto the Citadelle de Quebec, a historical site we had no idea was there. Climbing up the hill and the stairs were a nightmare especially in the extreme heat (made me think of Mr. Cabralda and all his "hikes") but when we got to the top, the view was amazing and breathtaking.

 

photo creds to Spencer :)

The Fairmont

the view part one

enjoying the view

on the boardwalk

?

the view part two

adventure buddies!

 

Walking about in the Citadelle was an interesting experience. It is a military installation right next to the Plains of Abraham that we unfortunately did not go to see. But we did get some cool pictures!

on the wall of the Citadelle

with one of the guards that you would see in Britain!

 

Our eventful walk turned into a nice chill out session back at the parliament which then lead to a frenzy: someone neglected to tell us that both Down With Webster AND Marianas Trench were in town that night! We had to go to dinner at La Maison du Spaghetti (which was really good) and then Spencer and I did get a sneak peek...

 

Helen's caricature!

waiting for Marianas Trench </3

lasagna... :D

DOWN WITH WEBSTER IN THE FLESH !!!!!

 

That night we walked about 20 minutes to see Cirque du Soleil by the water... while the walk was tiring (especially since I was walking for 5 hours before!), the evening scenery was spectacular!

captured the moon right above the Fairmont

my girlies :) (L-R Fiona, Helen, Valerie et moi)

Cirque du Soleil!

le gang! (L-R Helen, Fiona, Steven, Patrick, Silken, Damon, me, Nathan, Tianna, Prabhjit)

 

The show was amazing, with all its drama, dancing and danger. The acrobatics and dancing made me jealous because I can do neither, but it was really fun to watch. I congratulate all the members of the show on their amazing work and effort!

 

We rode our bus for one hour to our place to sleep: a haunted gym. Just kidding, but the fact that there was a cemetery right by there didn't help it either. We were sleeping in a school that had a tiny gym, causing everyone to compacted and squished up against one another.. we got there just after midnight, so no pictures there.

 

 

See you in the next post, I will leave the song for then.

 

A prochain,

 

Rachel



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Volunteering with the YMCA

Salut! Today was a Hollywood themed day at our Camp du Jour where everyone was dressed to the nines in fancy clothes. We had face painting and manicures (even for the boys!) as well as activities that were "celebrity/paparazzi" themed. C'etait tres amusant! :)

Les garcons et les filles... tout le monde est tres belle/beau!

 

Les animateurs et animatrices! (L-R [back] Girafe, Praline, Cachou, Moi [Dragon] Nemo, Malajube, Sun; [front] Milou, Bidule)

Got inked, no big deal (credits to Cachou for the sick Dragon!)

 

Our benovolat (volunteer work) with the YMCA gang was pretty fun: we were going around to different stores, passing out flyers about the public market in Terrebonne and Masscoushe (that we will get to go to!). Our reward? Quebecois poutine! (from a McDonald's...) Here is a vlog to sum up our work:

 

 

And the poutine? Patrick and I made a deal - he would pay, but I would have to order in French. Sounded good to me! :)

 

the anticipation...the gravy-cheesy goodness...

voila! poutine! (first time this trip!)

Thanks Patrick! (photo creds to Janie !)

 

C'est fin maintenant... I have a short day tomorrow at work (off at 1:30PM? AWESOME!) and then its our wonderful and exciting trip into old Quebec with the entire YMCA, meaning EVERYONE from all over Canada. Can't wait!

 

 

And my song... currently playing on my playlist as I post this and also my workout jam as I begun doing zumba in the mornings to get me moving. Not lying, about the song or the fact that I'm actually working out. "Music Sounds Better With You" by Big Time Rush ft. Mann

 



 

 

 



 bonne nuit,

Rachel

 

 

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Always Room for Ice Cream!

So today was a good day in the end! Unfortunately due to uncooperative weather, our YMCA volunteer activity was postponed until tomorrow... however, the sun did eventually come out and my host family took advantage of it.

Today's outing with the Camp du Jour was to Acrosport Barani in Laval, a gymnastics center. Although as a camp leader I could only do few activities, it was a fun place with a lot of different things to do, like getting pictures with Tarzan!

As for the title, in lieu of not having to rush dinner, we were able to go to La Cremiere du Pont, the ice cream shop that I walk past twice a day almost every day as I go to and from work. This was my first time inside and it was paradise. There is a bakery as well, and check out all the cool cupcakes they sell!

Bienvenue!

the outside of the shop

cupcakes <3

<3

the cool interior!

 

We had some really yummy ice cream... brownie flavor is something you can never go wrong with! There is also a gate that leads to this extra seating area over looking the river. Actually, La Cremiere du Pont translates to "The Creamery by the Bridge", which is true because it is right at the corner of a bridge.

 

Ice cream with Remy

overlooking the river

so peaceful! so serene!

With Karen, my host mom :)

 

Tomorrow will be the make up for today's missed activity..until then, here is the song "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole and Natalie Cole. If you are wondering what the relevance is, maybe it's because this trip currently is and will always be "unforgettable"? That could work, but the real reason is that it's been stuck in my head the past two days playing on repeat. Oh well, it's a nice song, so I don't mind.

 



 

A Demain et bonne nuit!

 

Rachel



 

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