Jacqueline C.
The girls on the Canada trip stop to tour St. Anne's Church.
Day 1: Friday, May 25th
We boarded the bus with drowsy excitement. We waved goodbye
to our anxious parents and settled in for an eight hour journey that would
become an eight hour nap for most of the passengers, which was only briefly
interrupted by a lunch break under the then gray skies of Lake George. After a
gestapo-esque border control officer checked our passports we had officially
crossed over into Canada and Montreal was in our sights.
Having lost most of
the day in transit, the evening was spent on a brief tour through Montreal and
dinner at Casa Grecque what I imagine to be the Applebee’s of Canada. We met
our tour guide, Luis, a native born Mexican turned master of French and
Quebec’s history. Some of us concluded the evening with a stroll through the
neighbourhood surrounding the hotel while others went to prepare for the next
day’s three hour bus ride to Quebec City.
Day 2: Saturday, May 26th
Our morning in Montreal was spent celebrating and learning
about Saint Marguerite Bourgeoys. We visited the famous fountain
featuring Marguerite reaching out to children, which was reenacted many times
over by the students and Sister A. herself. We then found ourselves in the pews
of Marguerite’s chapel where wooden boat replicas dangled from the high
ceilings. Our tour guides, Christoph and Axel, dressed in colonial
costumes, gave us a tour around the museum and chapel dedicated to Saint
Marguerite. Ruins of the original church destroyed by a fire hundreds of years
ago lay in the catacombs, while up above a room of doll replicas displayed
scenes in Marguerite’s life. After, we toured
the quaint but innovative farmhouse where generations of CND nuns
followed in Marguerite’s footsteps of education and productivity. A brief stop
for poutine at a corner store in Montreal, and we were off to Quebec.
Three hours later, followed by the incessant rain, we
checked into Hotel Universal and quickly changed for dinner at Maison du
Spaghetti, which, to no surprise, served spaghetti. The cold rain and winds did
not deter our mini voyage on the St.Lawrence River on a small cruise ship
filled with dancing preteens and a Quebecois DJ yelling for everyone to “JUMP!”
and “PARTY!”, as there is nothing more fun than jumping excitedly on a moving
boat on stormy seas. The upperclassmen played games and practiced their French
with the boat’s staff, while most students danced along to the music.
Day 3: Sunday, May 27th
Sunday morning, the rain persisted, but the sun peeked shyly from behind puffy gray clouds and hinted at pleasant weather to come. We drove through the sleepy towns of Quebec and stopped at one of their many gushing waterfalls. Our main event of this morning, however, was a mass at the magnificent Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré. As the priest's French homily went on, the gilded ceilings and statues captured our attention. As usual, a plethora of photos was taken and we boarded our reliable Wade Tours bus, with our driver Frank always waiting patiently for stray students to find their way back. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant not far from Madame P.'s former home and had a traditional French meal. In mid-afternoon we went for a stroll in Vieux-Port, as Luis told us of the many changes that happened there over the centuries. Our night ended at Chez Dany, where line dancing and pancakes combined for a bizarre evening of fun.
Day 4: Monday,
May 28th
The
sun was finally shining and we had four hours left in Montreal... most of which
were spent inside. However, we did visit the beautiful campus of our sister
school, Villa Maria. We were impressed by the state of the art science and
media labs, abundant student artwork, and talk of comprehensive educational
programs. But we were most impressed with the kindness and welcoming nature of
the students at the school. Sister P. was
proud to notice that we left on our student-led tours in “silence” and returned
buzzing as if we had “known each other forever.”
