Exciting start to the day. When I got home last night there was a sign on the door that some of the streets in the neighborhood would be blocked off at certain times on Friday because they would be filming scenes for a TV series, À propos d’Antoine. I had no idea if I’d see any of the filming, so I was happy when I woke up and saw members of the crew hanging out on the street corner near my Airbnb. I ended up having an excellent view of a running scene involving the main character- I saw the moving camera, boom mic and even heard un, deux, trois, ACTION! being called out. Fun! I realized that I’ve seen movies and tv shows being filmed in New Zealand (among them, a Peter Jackson film) and now Canada, but never in California where I’m from and lived most of my life. How funny!
Went to a cafe that had a librairie (bookstore) on the second level with comfy seating and tables. Great selection of books on feminism, lgbtq, Québec history and poetry. It’s a little confusing, in French bibliothèque means library and librarie means bookstore.
While waiting for the bus I saw a woman my age whizz by confidently on a hoverboard! I got a one day bus pass because I knew I’d be traveling on several different buses throughout the day. It costs $3.75 cash every time you get on a bus even if you are only going a couple of stops or have to transfer to another bus or two. A 24 hour bus pass cost me $9.25 and I figure it would’ve cost me over $30 if I paid for each individual bus I went on during that time.
My first stop was a recreation of a traditional Huron-Wendat village in Wendake. I did a one hour tour in English and learned about the history and culture of the Huron-Wendat Nation (the French named them Huron after their Mohawk-like hairstyle, and also named Lake Huron after them as that was their ancestral home. They were driven out of the area by the Iroquois and migrated to the area around Quebec City, much depleted due to war and disease. From the original group of 8 of families, 300 people, the Nation now consists of 4 families and 4,600 people.
We learned a little about some of the other First Nation tribes such as the Inuit, who live in an area devoid of trees and use huge stones to indicate where villages and food are located as well as creating traps for animals.
The long houses were pretty amazing, there are different levels for firewood, sleeping and storage inside these very tall (and long depending on the size of the family) buildings. Like the canoes they are constructed from birch which is light and strong.
I also learned about the different types of snowshoes they used and ways of preserving meat and fish.
On my walk back to the bus I saw the first church built to convert the Wendat people to Catholicism and several street signs in Wendat language. I was happy to hear the local school is now teaching students the language, once thought to be lost forever. It was a lovely walk past a river and falls.
Next, I took the bus to the Montcalm neighborhood, which has lots of street art, cute little restaurants and beautiful old buildings. I stopped at a place called Frites Alors, translates to So Fries and had a good pulled pork sandwich and fries with an amazing spicy sauce.
That fueled me to my next stop at the old Port where I checked out the grain containers are lit up at night, also saw a gorgeous full moon.
