Help I am being mauled!

Fête nationale du Québec

What a celebration for this city!

Ok here is a brief description of what it is:
The Fête nationale du Québec ("Quebec National Holiday") is an official holiday of Quebec, Canada. The festivities occur on June 23 and 24th. Originally, it was a holiday honouring the patron saint of Quebec, St. John the Baptist, by Quebecers, and in ordinary conversation the day is still often called la Saint-Jean.

My experience, was interesting. It reminded me of our 4th of July celebration. 250,000 people gathered in a park near the old city for a crazy party. The park, called The plains of Abraham, and was the site of the deciding battle between the French and English here in Quebec. Strange that they celebrate their independence and the English victory, and yet still battle to maintain their French culture, and want to br their own country. Ironic isnt it. Anyway the field was full of people and there was a concert with many Quebecoise artists performing. The night was ended with a fireworks show. Most of the people were drinking large quantities of beer and waiving the Quebec flag. Some built bon fires, and danced it seemed everyone was there to have a good time. I met tons of nice people and got to practice my Frnech a bit. An experience I will not soon forget....

Jacques Cartier National Park

Striking Features

City at night...

Adventures with Lou

Well Lou is here and we had a fun time yesterday. He was in his glory when we found a store that had hundreds of different beers from all over Canada and the world. We tried a few really excellent Quebec beers. The weather was really nice for half the day as we toured the city, later we did get caught in a down pour though. We had dinner at my place and we both got to practice our French with Henriette. Lou did pretty well....Well after class today we are off to explore one of the national parks here. It is named after Jaques Cartier (as is everything here). Lou wanted to see some of the beautiful Quebec wilderness. Enjoy the pictures belowI hope to have more tomorrow.
-Matt

I found a girl for Lou...

I found Jesus in Quebec

Lou discovers Quebec!

You want your beaver stuffed?

Walking....

Well, I need to take some more pictures...hopefully I will get some good shots with Lou, and post them tomorrow. This is all for now.

Bon jour!

Whay a day...

Quebec Art

Truly tourist friendly...

More to Explore

My home away from home

This is Emily, she is my teacher, and is pretty funny. Class goes by really fast and there is only one other student with me at the beginner level, so we get lots of attention. I love it.
















This is where I live, Avenue de Bougainville, on the second floor. I am staying in a small 2 bedroom flat with Henriette, who is a 65 year-old Quebecoise. I would say Canadien, but they like to distinguish here, they want to be their own country.
















This is Henriette preparing the fish for dinner. She is a fantastic cook, and I am eating really healthy. I also walk to class every day and it takes about 45 minutes. So...maybe I will loose some weight while I am here as well...

More of Quebec City

This city reminds me of many European cities. It is so close to home, and yet everyone speaks French. It feels like being in Paris or something....