Carnaval d'Hiver

Last weekend I travelled to Quebec City for the world-renowned Carnaval d’Hiver, or in English Winter Carnival.  The trip was organized by the uOttawa French Immersion Club.  I was thrilled when I got an email about the trip because last Fall I had been thinking of planning my own to trip to Winter Carnival as part of my whole “taking advantage of my last few months in Ottawa” philosophy.  The group trip was way cheaper and probably more fun than my trip would’ve been.

I tried to get some of my friends to come along but nobody jumped at the opportunity.  Oh well their loss!  It was such a fun trip.  I met some lovely people – Erika T., Megh and Melody I mean you!  That is the one nice thing about going on an organized trip alone, you are forced to meet new people and make new friends.

When I first got on the bus I was just looking for a place to sit and then Megh happened to catch my eye.  She looked familiar but I couldn’t place her.  I have a tendency to recognize a face and then have no clue how I know the person.  It turns out that she is a friend of my housemate Melissa and I had met her a couple times at Rotaract meetings.  We very quickly got over the awkwardness of me not knowing who she was and spent nearly the entire 6 hour bus ride chatting and getting to know each other.  We have surprisingly a lot in common.  We have both done Rotary Youth Exchanges, me to France, her to Mexico.  She has done a short exchange to France and I travelled to Mexico back in 2004 on a Missions trip.  I’m from Tsawwassen and she has actually been there to visit her Aunt and Uncle that live there.  She is from Kingston and I’ve been there.   The list goes on and on…

The bus ride to Quebec City was slightly treacherous due to all the snow.  That Friday something like 20cm of snow fell.  By the time we got to the city there was a blanket fresh, clean blanket of snow covering everything.  It was really pretty.  I guess because I was “on vacation” the snow was enchanting and exciting.  I didn’t dread it like usual here in Ottawa.

Megh and I were assigned to different rooms at the hostel but we made plans to go for dinner together.  Erika and Melody, who roomed with Megh, joined us.  At dinner we discovered that all four of us have lived in France at some point and we all have birthdays in February.  It was a very amusing coincidence.  Our shared experiences made for easy and enjoyable conversation.

After we finished eating we headed to the opening ceremonies of the Carnaval but got sidetracked by the striking Chateau Frontenac and the view of the St. Lawrence River.  The wind and snow created this crazy feeling of being in some arctic town.  Then while still searching for the carnival grounds we ran into some people who told us that the opening ceremonies (fireworks) were cancelled on a count of the wind.  At that point we decided to go back to the hostel so Megh and Erika could put on their snow pants before we continued wandering around the city.  When we passed a creperie we couldn’t pass up the allure of delicious crepes before continuing on our random adventures.  Later Erika and I ended up running in knee-deep snow in a small out of the way park and then at a different park we made snow angels in deep powdery snow.  As you will see the in the photos below it was as fun as it sounds.

The next day we explored all that Carnaval had to offer.  Arriving right as it opened we managed to avoid long lineups and got our fill of the carnival in about 3 hours just as it was starting to get busy.  We rode the ferris wheel, went snow tubing, enjoyed a lovely horse-drawn sleigh ride, ate beaver tails, watched Erika play life-size foosball, and of course took advantage of a photo op with Bonhomme Carnaval.   I could recount everything that happened at the carnival but then this post would be reach the point of being ridiculously long instead of just really long.  Hopefully the pictures I’ve included will adequately tell the story for me.

We spent the afternoon checking out the shops and each of us ended up buying something.  I bought two tops from a store called Simons for $5 each.  I love bargains.  I wore one of them to dinner since I had forgotten to bring anything nice to wear.  Erika, having been to Quebec City a few times, recommended a nice restaurant in Old Quebec – Côtes à Côtes.  Erika and Megh got steak (filet mignon) while I had a delicious salmon filet with a copious amount of vegetables and some couscous.  It is probably the best salmon dish I have ever had.  If I ever go back to Quebec City I will definitely go back to that restaurant.

After dinner we wander around looking for a bar to hang out at but came up short so we ended up going back to the hostel bar.  Megh and Erika bought drinks and apparently the bartender had no idea what he was doing.  The drinks were alcohol with a splash of juice instead of juice with a splash of alcohol.  We found a backgammon board without its pieces so Erika and I ended up playing backgammon with chess pieces.  I think we both won a game or maybe she won both games.  I can’t quite remember.  Then we played chess, which neither of us really knew how to play.  We just kept eliminating each other’s pieces with no real plan.  When I lost I had one pawn left to protect my King and Erika only had a handful of pieces left.

When the bar closed we went up to our rooms and chatted until the wee hours of the morning.  The next day we boarded the bus and headed back to Ottawa, thus concluding the trip.  It was a wonderful weekend and that I won’t be forgetting anytime soon!

Apparently my mom and her cousin think this looks like a couple shot.. No mom I'm not dating Bonhomme.