‘Only as high as I reach can I grow. Only as far as I seek can I go. Only as deep as I look can I see. Only as much as I dream can I be.’
Art on the peninsula
Just cruising down the Gaspesie peninsula – beautiful area, but we have hit rain and wind. This week started with John returning from a weekend visit with a friend in Niagara Falls and me coming back from a short stint in Arkansas – you can read more about this in last week’s letter.
Rellies Halloween Photo
We had one more ‘rellie’ meal with my Uncle Jim and his family – excellent as usual and lots of good laughs and catch up.
Uncle Jim and Dad
So, the next day, we headed off to ‘la belle Provence’ – Quebec (by the way, Quebec City is actually said like this: Quebec, Quebec en Francais!). This took 2 days, our first night was at a lovely campsite on Lake Ontario, but with a very grumpy Dutchman – quite amusing.
Sunrise at grumpy Dutchman’s campsite
Our second day, found me dusting off my cobwebs of my pigeon French to start the great hunt of finding campsites open at this time of year – we are past the shoulder season. There’s one thing I’ve learned that, both in France and Quebec; a little French goes a long way to getting help. They really appreciate the effort. One even said, I had very good French!
We had a few nights outside Quebec City, one of my favourite cities for its beauty and historical significance.
Chateau Frontinac
A lot of Canada’s beginnings started here. Even our written history started with a French historian. This was where the English beat the French which is why we are a dominantly an English-speaking country and we beat the Americans – a little known fact that the Canadians have been, one, if not the first nation, to beat them in a battle/war, but they tend to forget that part of their history.
City Hall, Quebec
From Quebec City, we decided to go around the Gaspesie Peninsula onto our main destination – the Maritimes. This area is rich in culture, food and fun. I can highly recommend it, if you have the time to drive it. They even make the ancient alcohol – mead – which I sampled! One thing I’m sad I missed is a sugar cabin, best to plan ahead for going to one of these, but worth the effort.
What are your experiences of trying to speaking in another language? Has it helped or just wasn’t worth the effort?
Love
Debx
