The term “bon voyage” is truly an understatement to describe the St. Dom’s French IV Class’s trip to Québec City. The 13 students, 6 parents, and 1 teacher, Mr. Noël Thibodeau, departed on the morning of Friday March 7th, 2008 with dictionaries in hand and iPods in ear for the 5 plus hour drive up.

The students had prepared for this trip for weeks, being subdivided into committees of: culture, history, restaurants, and churches. They were responsible for preparing the trip itinerary and leading the group through each event. The class was very fortunate to have the help of Ms. Cynthia Butts, mother of one of the students in the class, with the technical aspects of the planning (hotel, group rates, etc.).

The learning did not wait for Québec. Mr. Thibodeau pointed out some differences in houses and industries and explained some of the origins on the ride up. The first group activity upon arrival was a guided tour of the Parliament (en français, of course!). The students were told some history about Québec and the importance of the motto “Je me souviens,” meaning “I remember” (my origins, my culture, my history, etc).

That afternoon, the group headed to Les Galleries de la Capitale for some serious shopping. The mall was enormous, complete with rollercoaster, Ferris wheel, and ice rink! For dinner, some students went to a local steakhouse for some delicious Québec food, and others went to Le Continental, an upscale restaurant serving 5 courses. Most of the students ventured out of their comfort zone and tried escargot, lamb, veal, etc., and many were pleasantly surprised!

The next day started with another guided tour of the Citadelle, a famous military fort in Québec. The tour was mostly outdoors, and the weather was absolutely freezing! C’est la vie! After the Citadelle, the group went to an art museum displaying the works of Québec artists, both past and present. This was followed by an animated tour of the grand Château Frontenac by two wonderful and playful tour guides, Henri and Béatrice. The tour was conducted in a story format which many students felt was easier to understand.

The evening was supposed to finish with a trip to a sugar shack (une cabane à sucre). Unfortunately, the weather was terrible and did not permit that. Instead, the group went to a restaurants near the hotel. With gusts reaching 40 mph, the falling snow hurt like needles walking back to the hotel. That night, students retreated to the warm hotel rooms to watch movies and recover from the inclement weather.

The Sunday morning trip to Ste. Anne de Beaupré was also unfortunately cancelled due to the weather; many roads were closed leaving Québec. Instead, the group went to a nearby beautiful basilica for mass. Upon returning to the hotel, the decision to stay another night or leave that day was still undecided due to the weather and road conditions. After waiting a couple of hours, the conditions were stable enough for the group to head back home, much to many students’ disappointment.

Both inside and outside of all of the scheduled activities, students were able to practice speaking with the natives. Each student signed an agreement to do his or her best in speaking French in public places and with the natives. Be it asking for a toothbrush at the front desk of the hotel or ordering a second helping of dessert crêpes, the natives were very pleased with the effort and understanding of the mess-ups. Despite some of the unexpected events, the trip was simply wonderful and enriching. Many agreed that the weather, despite its insanity, added to the Québécois experience.