Possible French Club trip from Louisiana to Quebec? Help, please

[lucyanna girl]

Hi, I posted this on the Community Board and a wise person there suggested I ask over here.

The French Club at my daughter's school is considering taking a Spring Break trip in April to Quebec, Canada. Permission has been granted providing they can raise the money and that enough of the thirty odd members are interested and can get permission from their parents.

I am one of the parents who has been asked to go as a chaperone and to help the teacher "fact find" some possible places to see and stay. She is exploring possible ways to cut expenses (example, charter a bus or maybe fly - doubtful, I think). It would be quite a long ride, over 1700 miles and 27 hours one way.

This would be a wonderful opportunity for the students of our small rural school as many of these kids have never been far from home. Quebec was chosen because of our French heritage in Louisiana.

What would you suggest we see in Quebec? I know there are some Canadian members of the DIS. Any place you wouldn't want your teen to miss? Members of the French Club range from 15 - 18 years of age.

Hotels? Restaurants? Points of Interest? Really great shopping areas? And what about on the way there and back? I'm not sure what the exact best route would be but maybe someone has some suggestions about that too.

Thanks a lot. I know I have asked a lot of questions but we need lots of advice.

Penny

 

[angela1044]

I've only been to a few places in Quebec so I won't be too much of a help but I think the best places would be Quebec City and/or Montreal. Both are very rich in history and are very beautiful.

I'm sure you will get some great help from the wonderful people on here.

Have a wonderful trip. How exciting!

 

[lucyanna girl]

I've only been to a few places in Quebec so I won't be too much of a help but I think the best places would be Quebec City and/or Montreal. Both are very rich in history and are very beautiful.

I'm sure you will get some great help from the wonderful people on here.

Have a wonderful trip. How exciting!

Thank you. I'm ashamed to say how little I really do know about Canada when I think about it. This trip would do me as much good as it would the kids.

Penny

 

[Canadamom]

My daughter's class did a trip to Quebec this past spring. They went with a tour company that organized the whole thing...flights, bus transportation while there, a tour guide, hotels, meals, sightseeing, and cultural experiences. They also provided a night monitor at the hotels. Their name was Prometour. Might be worth checking into. Most of their touring was based in Montreal and Quebec City and they had a wonderful time.

 

[irisesareblue]

Montreal and Quebec City are very beautiful and very historical.

I would personally visit the following website for information:

http://www.bonjourquebec.com/us-en/accueil0.html

I would also suggest contacting a School Division in Quebec and arranging a cultural visit with another classroom? Perhaps pen pals?

 

[lucyanna girl]

My daughter's class did a trip to Quebec this past spring. They went with a tour company that organized the whole thing...flights, bus transportation while there, a tour guide, hotels, meals, sightseeing, and cultural experiences. They also provided a night monitor at the hotels. Their name was Prometour. Might be worth checking into. Most of their touring was based in Montreal and Quebec City and they had a wonderful time.

Sorry I was so long, I'm cooking and DISing at the same time. Where do all these hungry people walking in and out of my kitchen come from?

A tour company is probably the way to go. Even if we try I'm sure we will forget something.

Montreal and Quebec City are very beautiful and very historical.

I would personally visit the following website for information:

http://www.bonjourquebec.com/us-en/accueil0.html

I would also suggest contacting a School Division in Quebec and arranging a cultural visit with another classroom? Perhaps pen pals?

Thanks for the websites! A cultural visit sounds like a wonderful idea.

Thanks. These are the kind of ideas I was hoping for.

Penny

 

[ccudmore]

Some basic's on Quebec that may help you get started on your planning (I live a 15 minute drive from Quebec).

The province of Quebec is approximately double the size of Texas. So it's big. The biggest province in Canada by area. So you're for sure not going to see it all. In fact much of it is wilderness and only accessible by air.

The two biggest cities are Montreal and Quebec City. The Montreal area has a population of about 3.5 million people and is a large urban centre. There's a TON to see and do there. They've held the world's fair and summer Olympics in Montreal in past plus Old Montreal feels like you're in an old European city. There's a major airport (Trudeau) where you'll be able to get direct flights to most major cities. In Montreal the vast majority of people speak French but most also speak English so you'll be okay getting around.

Quebec City is the second largest city with a population of about 750,000 people and is the capital of the province of Quebec. It's a very historic city, and is one of the oldest cities in North America. There's also a lot of historic and cultural things to see and do there. The old walled city is amazing. There's also some good day-trips you can take out of the city to small villages to get a real feel for French culture. Inside the city of Quebec you'll also find that most people are bilingual, but less so than in Montreal.

Depending on when they plan to come there's all kinds of outdoor activities around too. Carnivale (the winter carnival) in Quebec City is amazing.

Outside of Quebec and Montreal the number of of people who speak English greatly decreases.

I suspect that for them flying is probably the way to go. It would be a longggggg..... bus ride for them.

Another option would be to go to Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. It's right on the border of the province of Quebec and is joined with Gatineau, the city in Quebec. There's a lot of French in the city as well and you'd get a good dose of French culture as well as learning a lot about the entire country of Canada. Lots of museums and activities throughout the year.

I'd love to help with any other questions you may have. If you want anything else answered feel free to PM me.

 

[momtolots]

I agree with the pp. Ottawa might be a good choice, or at least a day trip from Montreal, which is very doable. Lots of history, museums etc. In Quebec, high school ends after Gr. 11, then they do CEGEP, which is like Univ. prep. Doing a penpal exchange with one of the CEGEP's would be a great idea as someone mentioned. If you have any questions, there are lots of people here who will help you out. Good luck and happy planning.

 

[lucyanna girl]

Some basic's on Quebec that may help you get started on your planning (I live a 15 minute drive from Quebec).

The province of Quebec is approximately double the size of Texas. So it's big. The biggest province in Canada by area. So you're for sure not going to see it all. In fact much of it is wilderness and only accessible by air.

The two biggest cities are Montreal and Quebec City. The Montreal area has a population of about 3.5 million people and is a large urban centre. There's a TON to see and do there. They've held the world's fair and summer Olympics in Montreal in past plus Old Montreal feels like you're in an old European city. There's a major airport (Trudeau) where you'll be able to get direct flights to most major cities. In Montreal the vast majority of people speak French but most also speak English so you'll be okay getting around.

Quebec City is the second largest city with a population of about 750,000 people and is the capital of the province of Quebec. It's a very historic city, and is one of the oldest cities in North America. There's also a lot of historic and cultural things to see and do there. The old walled city is amazing. There's also some good day-trips you can take out of the city to small villages to get a real feel for French culture. Inside the city of Quebec you'll also find that most people are bilingual, but less so than in Montreal.

Depending on when they plan to come there's all kinds of outdoor activities around too. Carnivale (the winter carnival) in Quebec City is amazing.

Outside of Quebec and Montreal the number of of people who speak English greatly decreases.

I suspect that for them flying is probably the way to go. It would be a longggggg..... bus ride for them.

Another option would be to go to Ottawa, the capital city of Canada. It's right on the border of the province of Quebec and is joined with Gatineau, the city in Quebec. There's a lot of French in the city as well and you'd get a good dose of French culture as well as learning a lot about the entire country of Canada. Lots of museums and activities throughout the year.

I'd love to help with any other questions you may have. If you want anything else answered feel free to PM me.

ccudmore, What great information. Just tells me that if we get to make this trip I need to study up on your home myself.

The kids might find out that their Louisiana sounding French doesn't get them as far as they think it will.

I also think flying will be the only way to go. If we rode a bus it would take half of the Spring Break in travel time.

The trip would take place the second half of April. Probably leave here somewhere around the 23rd.

Thank you. I may indeed be PMing you if it all works out. Honestly, I think the teacher was amazed just to get permission for the trip. My daughter is a Senior in high school and one day trip last year is the only school approved trip her class has been on. The school district just doesn't usually approve a trip.

montolots,

I'm not sure yet just where all they will get to go (if they can raise the money). We live in a small rural community where many people farm and money is not very plentiful. The kids will have to fund raise like crazy to be able to come. I hope we can work it out. For some of these kids it would be the biggest trip of their lives.

Thanks,

Penny

 

[ccudmore]

If you plan to fly there's a money saving tip at a lot of Canadian's use and that's to drive to a nearby U.S. city and fly from there. Montreal is less than a 2 hour drive from Burlington, Vt, which is a Jet Blue city. You can get from New Orleans to Burlington through JFK in New York probably cheaper than getting direct to Montreal. Then you'd need to find a tour operator who would bus you the rest of the way. But then again you may find a great deal to Montreal direct.

Another thing to look into is chartering a plane. We did this once for a school trip and it ended up costing half of what a commercial flight would have cost and it took us directly where we wanted when we wanted. Lots of charter companies out there these days with excess capacity.

 

[lucyanna girl]

If you plan to fly there's a money saving tip at a lot of Canadian's use and that's to drive to a nearby U.S. city and fly from there. Montreal is less than a 2 hour drive from Burlington, Vt, which is a Jet Blue city. You can get from New Orleans to Burlington through JFK in New York probably cheaper than getting direct to Montreal. Then you'd need to find a tour operator who would bus you the rest of the way. But then again you may find a great deal to Montreal direct.

Another thing to look into is chartering a plane. We did this once for a school trip and it ended up costing half of what a commercial flight would have cost and it took us directly where we wanted when we wanted. Lots of charter companies out there these days with excess capacity.

Thanks for the tips. We usually fly Southwest and I see they fly into New Hampshire. I'll check both out along with a charter.

Someone on the Community Board just suggested Amtrak. That might be a thought too.

I'm curious, how late do you have snow there? I ask because we have kids who have never seen more than a few flakes in their lives.

Penny

 

[ccudmore]

Snow should be gone from the cities by mid-April. But there's ski hills near all of the major cities that will still have lots of snow.

Another "must do" is to go see a live hockey game. There's NHL teams in both Ottawa and Montreal, and an AHL (one level below NHL) in Quebec City.

 

[lucyanna girl]

Oh, they would LOVE to see a hockey game! (so would I). Maybe we could go out and let them play in the snow. That would be great.

Penny

 

[Applemomma]

Hi! We just took our family vacation to Quebec City this August. I had been as a teen in high school (ironically it was a French class trip!) and loved it and it didn't disappoint on this trip either.

The Plains of Abraham are a definite must, combined with the walled portion of the city. The battles fought here 250 years ago are partly what Canada was formed by. Huge amount of history here!

For fun, Valcartier Vacation Village (fabulous waterpark) is great and there's the Quebec Aquarium as well. Also the Galleries De Capital (probably spelled that wrong) is a mall with an amusement park, complete with rollercoaster, in it.

I would certainly look into flying into New Hampshire or even Maine for the cheaper air fares. Once you fly across the border there's all kinds of fees and taxes attached the price of the tickets. In fact when we fly to Disney we drive 10 hours to Portland, Maine! It can save us as much as $1500 for a family of four.

However, seeing as how my husband, and therefore my kids are direct descendants of some of the Acadians that were expelled from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, some of whom found their way to Louisiana after the Expulsion of 1755, I have to put a plug in for the Maritimes! No, you won't be able to combine it with this trip as there's way to much distance between here and Quebec City but Grand Pre, Nova Scotia might actually have more of a connection to the students families then Quebec City. Certainly worth looking at when you're studying the history of the Acadians, Cajuns and "Le Grand Derangement".

We now live only 30 minutes from where my husbands ancestor was locked in a church, given an ultimatum and then forced on to a ship against his will, quite possibly by my direct ancestor who was with the British army at the time. Some of his extended family we believe ended up in Louisiana, though we haven't been able to trace them. This past summer my daughter and I stood on top of a hill where one of the British forts stood looking over that exact spot. It was pretty powerful for her because she's at an age that she's starting to get it...that history is not just in a book in her classroom.

Ironically our trip to Quebec City was more about my British ancestors, since we knew one of them fought with General Wolfe. She and I went to the spot where he died of his wounds and she found it to be really interesting since we had just seen his cloak that he died in on the Plains of Abraham, on display in Halifax a few weeks before. I love it when history comes to life!! Of course all her 8 year old sister cared about was watching tv in the hotel room!

Sorry for the babbling! It's late and you touched on one of my favorite topics

 

[lucyanna girl]

Hi! We just took our family vacation to Quebec City this August. I had been as a teen in high school (ironically it was a French class trip!) and loved it and it didn't disappoint on this trip either.

The Plains of Abraham are a definite must, combined with the walled portion of the city. The battles fought here 250 years ago are partly what Canada was formed by. Huge amount of history here!

For fun, Valcartier Vacation Village (fabulous waterpark) is great and there's the Quebec Aquarium as well. Also the Galleries De Capital (probably spelled that wrong) is a mall with an amusement park, complete with rollercoaster, in it.

I would certainly look into flying into New Hampshire or even Maine for the cheaper air fares. Once you fly across the border there's all kinds of fees and taxes attached the price of the tickets. In fact when we fly to Disney we drive 10 hours to Portland, Maine! It can save us as much as $1500 for a family of four.

However, seeing as how my husband, and therefore my kids are direct descendants of some of the Acadians that were expelled from Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, some of whom found their way to Louisiana after the Expulsion of 1755, I have to put a plug in for the Maritimes! No, you won't be able to combine it with this trip as there's way to much distance between here and Quebec City but Grand Pre, Nova Scotia might actually have more of a connection to the students families then Quebec City. Certainly worth looking at when you're studying the history of the Acadians, Cajuns and "Le Grand Derangement".

We now live only 30 minutes from where my husbands ancestor was locked in a church, given an ultimatum and then forced on to a ship against his will, quite possibly by my direct ancestor who was with the British army at the time. Some of his extended family we believe ended up in Louisiana, though we haven't been able to trace them. This past summer my daughter and I stood on top of a hill where one of the British forts stood looking over that exact spot. It was pretty powerful for her because she's at an age that she's starting to get it...that history is not just in a book in her classroom.

Ironically our trip to Quebec City was more about my British ancestors, since we knew one of them fought with General Wolfe. She and I went to the spot where he died of his wounds and she found it to be really interesting since we had just seen his cloak that he died in on the Plains of Abraham, on display in Halifax a few weeks before. I love it when history comes to life!! Of course all her 8 year old sister cared about was watching tv in the hotel room!

Sorry for the babbling! It's late and you touched on one of my favorite topics

Thank you, that is really interesting to me.

Sounds like there would be plenty for them to do. A mall with a roller coaster would really be a change from our little bitty town where the almost the only store is a WalMart.

It would be nice to know where in Louisiana your family ended up. We are in northwest Louisiana.

It seems to flying is the only real option. I thought the train might work price wise until I saw thirty hours just to get to New York City and that the price doubles if you get a sleeper.

Penny

 

[peigirl]

I chaperoned my daughter's grade 9 school trip to Quebec City a couple of years ago.

It was thru Jumpstreet tours. They were amazing. There was never an idle moment.

I can't remember all of the details but I think we stayed for 4 nights and had 2 motorcoaches loaded with students.

We visited Valcartier Park, did walking tours of old Quebec City, it was February so Carnival was on, went to a Maple Sugar Shack, went to some kind of traditional supper, had breakfast one day at a place that serves the best croissants and hot chocolate in a bowl, visited a museum and also the mall with the rollercoaster. The kids watched an Imax movie while the parents shopped. I know that we did more, but my memory is getting short.

I think at the time, the total cost for each child was $700, which included transportation, lodging, breakfast and supper. They were responsible for their own lunch.

Paula

 

[photomama]

Hi Penny.

My name is Dawn and I am from Baton Rouge, but have been living in Canada for almost 4 years. My dh is Canadian. When we lived in BR we would fly into Burlington, VT via Jet Blue. This is only 2 hours outside of Montreal - your best $$ flight we've done this trip many times. I think Quebec City which is another couple of hours from Montreal would be a great experience for the kids. As a Louisiana native with french background, I know your french will be fine. Anyway, most places in Quebec City will be fine to help you in English or French..

If you need any help, feel free to email me.

 

[Nahanni]

High schoolers generally love trips to Montreal and Quebec City for historic sites, galleries and museums, Biodome and shopping ($$ especially if dollar is near par). Make sure to get some food experiences: fresh wood-fired bagels (Fairmont or St. Viateur), smoked meat sandwiches (Schwartz's Deli), Poutine-french fries smothered in gravy with cheese curds.

If you are Cajun (google: acadian family names), you may be more interested in a heritage trip to Grande Pre-Church Point, Nova Scotia. Unfortunately, less appealing to teens and logistically more challenging/expensive.

 

[weewuvvdisney]

Following is a website for "Old Montreal". There are many historic buildings and museums there down at the Old Port:

http://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/eng/accueila.htm


Here is the website for the City of Montreal where you will find some cultural activities:


http://ville.montreal.qc.ca/portal/page?_pageid=5977,41725561&_dad=portal&_schema=PORTAL


If I come up with some other websites, I will post them.




Jan

 

[averysmom]

http://www.eftours.ca/ForTeachers/P...px?TourCode=QCS&Year=2009&Product=EA&Tab=itin

This is a highly recommended tour operator who only does educational tours.
This is who we use for our European trips at our school.