Au revoir!

Last day here, we had one more meal in the old town. As we left the restaurant, there were street performers on stilts (hilarious) for the last day of the festival.

Montreal

Short trip to Montreal last Saturday. It was a nice visit but began to rain in the afternoon (again). Montreal has a big-city attitude. Nice, but Quebec City is still my favorite.

Encore le festival et la vieille ville

Class continues to be very demanding and the weather alternates between beautiful and rainy/chilly but we still manage to go downtown for the festival concerts and dinner. I've been to a handful of concerts, having fun exploring different music genres. I have to say that everyone I have heard here has been very good and I would go to see again, ex. Derek Trucks band, Zachary Richard, Francis Cabrel, Kila, Manu Chao, Gogol Bordello, Jean-Paul DesLauriers and Dawn Tyler Watson, Hammerfall, (missed Los Lobos and Nickelback because I didn't want to stand in the rain). This is what I have heard and learned:

Contemporary Quebecois=Cajun + Techno

Celtic Fusion=Irish + Reggae

Native American (Inuit?)=Eskimo + Country

Gypsy-Punk=Hard Rock + Polka

Derek Trucks=one of top 3 blues guitarists ever

Plan to go to Montreal tomorrow, so I'll have more pics by Monday! A tantôt! Research reports will get done eventually....

Views of Quebec City from the Observatory

Yesterday we went to the Côte de Beaupré and the Île d'Orléans. Côte de Beaupré is just east of Quebec City and the Île d'Orléans is an island near the south bank of the St. Lawrency river. Both areas are rural and really beautiful--New Englandish. We stopped at the St. Anne de Beaupré Basilica, which I had seen once or twice before. Walking around outside the church, I noticed a path going up the hill, or the cape really that runs along the river. On the path were life-size bronze statues of the Stations of the Cross, which started at the bottom and went uphill. Very cool.

Then we went to the island and had lunch at an Auberge with a great view. Good meal too. Pumpkin soup!

Our last stop were the Chutes de Montmorency, or Montmorency falls. I had also been there before, but again, it all looks different without 10 feet of snow!