Explore Quebec: First Day

After getting up at the literal crack of dawn, I headed to the airport to begin my journey to Quebec City.
My parents had a hard time saying goodbye (my mother especially. I don't think I've ever seen her cry so much) but, they eventually let me go through security.

I spotted a lot of kids I recognized from school and even an old teacher of mine, Mr Fotopolus, who I had for grade ten gym class. Sure enough, my seat was beside him and his entire family, who were headed to Athens after stopping in Toronto. I expected his one-year-old daughter to completely ruin my four hour flight, but she was a charm for most of the flight. His family members were all very nice, expect for his grumpy Greek father.

I grabbed lunch at the Toronto Pearson airport before walking right past all the members of Mariana's Trench. It was funny, really, because no one was following them around or freaking out over them. In fact, it was as if no one even noticed or knew them, which I'm sure must have been nice for them for a change. No one is going to take me fully serious due to my lack of photographic evidence, but rest assured, they were there. I waited at my gate, hoping someone from the trip would notice or that I would be able to spot some of the kids from the Facebook group, but, I thought wrong.

We boarded a plane smaller than the one to Toronto. I ended up sitting beside a lovely grade eleven girl named Gabbie from Edmonton who was headed to Gaspee to attend the same program as me. In the hour and a half we had together, we decided that we were long lost soul sisters. She was very kind, talkative, and incredibly down-to-earth, and we shared so much in common that it wasn't even funny. I was fully intrigued by every single story she told me and I couldn't believe that we had the same values and opinions on things. I will for sure be keeping in contact with her.

I found my luggage and had no problem finding one of the monitors, Helen. I managed to meet some nice kids my age from Newfoundland and shared some laughs on the bus ride to the campus. We signed in and took our bags to our rooms while meeting our monitors. So far, they are all very nice and easy-going. I joined a small group of kids to take a tour of the places we would be going on campus.

Honestly, there was so much information to take in and things to remember that I got very overwhelmed by the end of it. Thankfully, my friend Lucy mentioned that Matthieu, one of the monitors, would be able to help me out. Sure enough, we had an hour long conversation, in both French and English, and I started to feel a little better.

I've finally unpacked all my things and have begun settling in. It's insanely hot and humid and warmer air just blows in if the window is open, but, I do have a wonderful balcony right next to my room with a great view of the trees, buildings, and sunset. I'm hoping that things will only go uphill from here.

 

Paris Day 4 and Coming Home

Our last full day was spent primarily on our feet. I was still pretty sick, but there were times when I didn't feel as bad. We waited in line to explore the Catacombs, which held approximately six millions bones. It was basically a maze of tunnels that ran under the streets of Paris. It was hard to deal with how small and wet the tunnels were at first, but I made it through.

Apologies in advance for the weird quality of the pictures. Because of the dim lighting, it wasn't easy to get great pictures. 

Although it was kind of creepy, I found it quite calming walking past all those bones by myself.

We then had some free time for lunch as the other group began to go through. I stumbled into a pastry shop run by two younger girls and had the best strawberry tart ever. We waited in this little area for the other group to finish.

I sat down on a bench near an intersection and took this picture. It has now become one of the favourites. I caught it on my film camera, which I had boughten in London but then forgot on to the plane to Calgary.

We re-grouped and started our French Revolution walking tour. Which would have been all fine and well for me, except that I became overwhelmingly sick. We didn't stop walking and taking the Metro for about three hours.

We ended up coming back to the Louvre and got the chance (a small one, mind you) to take in the Love Lock Bridge.

We stopped the tour here in the Place de la Bastille. Long story short, no one enjoyed the tour, which is a shame because we got to see so many wonderful landmarks. Between all of the walking, lack of food and bathroom stops, and the insanely boring and rude tour guide, we were all ready to call it a day. But, to end it all, we spent time on the Champs-Elyees and went up the Arc de Triomphe. For me, though, I took a cab back to the hotel to have a bath, pack, and catch up on sleep because I was feeling horrible.

Although I felt bad or leaving, I knew it was the right thing for me to do. Sure, I missed the last dinner with everyone, but it wouldn't have been fun for me in the state I was in. As much as I wanted to go up and see Paris from the Arc, I knew that I couldn't take going up all of those spiraled steps.

We woke up early again and took our last bus ride to the Charles de Gaulle airport. Since I didn't have time to grab breakfast before leaving the hotel, I waited in line at Starbucks and then literally booked it back to our gate. 

Not entirely sure how the boy taking my order got Narsi out of Karlee, but I couldn't help but laugh.

The only other picture I have is of this one after taking off in Toronto to head home. I feel asleep with my disposable camera on my lap and woke up forgetting it under my seat. 

Overall, I absolutely loved the cities I visited. My only issues were that there was so many people who all grouped together, so we all didn't really branch out, I had to run by a schedule without any alone time (which is CRUCIAL for me), and my roommate slowly became an issue at times. Also, because there was 53 of us in total, we had to rush through all of the things that we had planned in so many days. We never really got to relax and take in the fact that we were in Europe. Everybody was stressed out most of the time. Now, I'm not saying I regret going at all. I adored both cities for different reasons and, because of this trip, I know I will be going back in the future. Either way, I saw this trip as a learning experience. I now know that I will return to Europe and how I will travel there. This trip was a pretty big milestone for me. Everything about it was out of my comfort zone. But, I have the experience under my belt and I know how I will use it on my future travels.