We did SO much today. And I don't know about your kids, but the chaperones are donezo (in a good way of course).
The day start with a 7AM wake up (15 minutes later than yesterday, yay for sleeping in) with breakfast at 8AM sharp at La Vielle Maison du Spaghetti. That's right...a spaghetti house but luckily, they served us a traditional breakfast of eggs, sausage, ham, pain perdu (translates to lost bread or "french toast"), pancakes and potatoes. We filled up on food since we were knew we were going to be outside for a majority of the day so we wanted to make sure our bellies were full. Onto the bus and off to the tubing resort known as Valcartier.
40 minutes later and we arrived at the resort...early! We beat all the other buses and were able to get our passes attached to our jackets and were one of the first people to make it onto the mountain. The night before, Chuck and Madame made it a point to mention that it was going to bed cold and it definitely was. Personally, I had on 3 pairs of socks (with 4 feet warmers in total), snow boots, long underwear, wind breaker pants, snow pants, a thermal long sleeve, a t-shirt, a hoodie, and a jacket with two layers, along with a ski hat, plus my hoodie, plus the hood on the jacket AND a face mask. Your kids were well bundled and many of them looked like Ralphie from a Christmas Story...luckily, no one wanted a BB gun because of course, they'd shoot their eye out.
We had the next 4.5 hours to do as we pleased and there were so many different trails to choose from. The most scary is known as the Everest and greets you right as you walk out onto the mountain. A inner tube conveyor belt helped us up the mountain but timing was critical. You have to time exactly as the tube whips around the corner, line up for the sit down and most times land it on the first try. However, if you were like me, there were a couple of instances where I might missed the tube and fell over. Overall, tubing was so much fun. Definitely a great bonding experience for the kids and chaperones as all of us were screaming at the top of our lungs. Many of the students (and chaperones) needed a warmup round before heading to Everest and before you knew it, there was a line of Valley kids waiting to be dropped down the steepest attraction at the park. The first person puts down their tube and shimmies up the gate. Everyone else sits down behind them, holds onto the feet of the person behind them and wait for the door to swing open. The waiting was probably the most terrifying...no, it was definitely the first drop where you feel like you're going to fly out of your tube. The drop is exhilarating and your terrified screams soon give way to hysterical laughing and then when you finally stop, you want to hug your fellow tubers and rejoice in the fact that we shared a moment of terror and elation in a 30 second time span. Overall - an excellent time at the tubing park.
At 2:15, we met with Chuck and made our way to the ice hotel where we met up with Dan who guided us through the frigid structure. Dan gave us the history behind the hotel, how it is constructed, how much it is to stay for an evening and took us on a tour of the chapel and the hotel's largest suite. It is incredible what people can think of and engineering such a marvel. After the tour, some kids (and chaperones) enjoyed an icy beverage from a glass made of ice (I'll post a picture on the instagram). Finally it was time to leave the mountain and head back into the city.
We were dropped off on the lower old city right next to the water where Chuck took us on a walking tour of the lower city. We saw incredible murals, quaint store fronts and learned of the King Louis the XIV's initiative to help the population grow in Québec. We were back on the bus in no time and off to dinner. Tonight's choices included salmon, chicken kabob and beef. Usually dinner signals the end of the night but not for us! We got right back on the bus and headed to the parade.
Chuck and his insider information got us right to the start of the parade with prime real estate parking (which made for a quick exit, stage right). This year's theme was wilderness animals and they were breathtaking! Make sure to look at the instagram for some of the floats we saw throughout the evening. Despite being tired, the kids looked like they enjoyed the parade as the danced to the music and bringing back the trust fall (that was so like 8 years ago). Chuck told us that right when we saw the Bonhomme (the official mascot of the winter carnaval), we should book it back to the bus as the traffic would terrible. And we did exactly what we were told. We bolted to the bus after the Bonhomme passed us and Chuck congratulated us on the quickest exit from the winter caranval he has ever done.
This is our last evening in Québec and the kids are enjoying their evenings in the hotel relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Your students have been extremely well behaved this trip and you should be proud that they're representing Valley, tri-towns and the United States well. Tomorrow we have some souvenir shopping to do and then it's back to the states we go! We're working on being able to watch the Super Bowl on the bus ride home tomorrow...i'll let you know how that turns out. BONSOIR! KLAM out.
Pictures and videos from today's activities!
The day start with a 7AM wake up (15 minutes later than yesterday, yay for sleeping in) with breakfast at 8AM sharp at La Vielle Maison du Spaghetti. That's right...a spaghetti house but luckily, they served us a traditional breakfast of eggs, sausage, ham, pain perdu (translates to lost bread or "french toast"), pancakes and potatoes. We filled up on food since we were knew we were going to be outside for a majority of the day so we wanted to make sure our bellies were full. Onto the bus and off to the tubing resort known as Valcartier.
40 minutes later and we arrived at the resort...early! We beat all the other buses and were able to get our passes attached to our jackets and were one of the first people to make it onto the mountain. The night before, Chuck and Madame made it a point to mention that it was going to bed cold and it definitely was. Personally, I had on 3 pairs of socks (with 4 feet warmers in total), snow boots, long underwear, wind breaker pants, snow pants, a thermal long sleeve, a t-shirt, a hoodie, and a jacket with two layers, along with a ski hat, plus my hoodie, plus the hood on the jacket AND a face mask. Your kids were well bundled and many of them looked like Ralphie from a Christmas Story...luckily, no one wanted a BB gun because of course, they'd shoot their eye out.
We had the next 4.5 hours to do as we pleased and there were so many different trails to choose from. The most scary is known as the Everest and greets you right as you walk out onto the mountain. A inner tube conveyor belt helped us up the mountain but timing was critical. You have to time exactly as the tube whips around the corner, line up for the sit down and most times land it on the first try. However, if you were like me, there were a couple of instances where I might missed the tube and fell over. Overall, tubing was so much fun. Definitely a great bonding experience for the kids and chaperones as all of us were screaming at the top of our lungs. Many of the students (and chaperones) needed a warmup round before heading to Everest and before you knew it, there was a line of Valley kids waiting to be dropped down the steepest attraction at the park. The first person puts down their tube and shimmies up the gate. Everyone else sits down behind them, holds onto the feet of the person behind them and wait for the door to swing open. The waiting was probably the most terrifying...no, it was definitely the first drop where you feel like you're going to fly out of your tube. The drop is exhilarating and your terrified screams soon give way to hysterical laughing and then when you finally stop, you want to hug your fellow tubers and rejoice in the fact that we shared a moment of terror and elation in a 30 second time span. Overall - an excellent time at the tubing park.
At 2:15, we met with Chuck and made our way to the ice hotel where we met up with Dan who guided us through the frigid structure. Dan gave us the history behind the hotel, how it is constructed, how much it is to stay for an evening and took us on a tour of the chapel and the hotel's largest suite. It is incredible what people can think of and engineering such a marvel. After the tour, some kids (and chaperones) enjoyed an icy beverage from a glass made of ice (I'll post a picture on the instagram). Finally it was time to leave the mountain and head back into the city.
We were dropped off on the lower old city right next to the water where Chuck took us on a walking tour of the lower city. We saw incredible murals, quaint store fronts and learned of the King Louis the XIV's initiative to help the population grow in Québec. We were back on the bus in no time and off to dinner. Tonight's choices included salmon, chicken kabob and beef. Usually dinner signals the end of the night but not for us! We got right back on the bus and headed to the parade.
Chuck and his insider information got us right to the start of the parade with prime real estate parking (which made for a quick exit, stage right). This year's theme was wilderness animals and they were breathtaking! Make sure to look at the instagram for some of the floats we saw throughout the evening. Despite being tired, the kids looked like they enjoyed the parade as the danced to the music and bringing back the trust fall (that was so like 8 years ago). Chuck told us that right when we saw the Bonhomme (the official mascot of the winter carnaval), we should book it back to the bus as the traffic would terrible. And we did exactly what we were told. We bolted to the bus after the Bonhomme passed us and Chuck congratulated us on the quickest exit from the winter caranval he has ever done.
This is our last evening in Québec and the kids are enjoying their evenings in the hotel relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Your students have been extremely well behaved this trip and you should be proud that they're representing Valley, tri-towns and the United States well. Tomorrow we have some souvenir shopping to do and then it's back to the states we go! We're working on being able to watch the Super Bowl on the bus ride home tomorrow...i'll let you know how that turns out. BONSOIR! KLAM out.
Pictures and videos from today's activities!