Possible school trip from Louisiana to Quebec questions, please

[sunnyday123]

Oh well that was just a thought. I'm sure they would find plenty to see and experience without snow.

Penny

It really is beautiful. The one thing that really stood out to us was how clean it was, even the snow stayed clean.

 

[Ember]

Quebec City is beautiful and steeped in history. Montreal is very modern and quite European in its city vibe. For speaking French, Quebec City would be a better - most people in Montreal will switch to English at the first hint this is easier for you. (Drove me nuts when I was trying to practice my French!)

There's a lot to do in either city, though, you wouldn't go wrong either way.

 

[Sonya]

OK, I used to do this, I teach high school. However I live a little closer in Missouri. We went through tour groups, usually EF, and they would have 2 drivers and a bed for one of them so we drove around the clock. IT WAS A 31 HOUR DRIVE ONE WAY. They had a VCR on the bus and I think I have seem almost every Adam Sandler and Jum Carrey movie made!
So we would drive up, stay for 3 days and drive back. I think back then (about 8 years ago) it was about $400.
Some of the wonderful things we saw: (we only went to Quebec City)
The Citadel
Chateau Frontenac
Old Town
A sugar shack
Cathedral of Ste. Anne
Marie's for fresh bread (near Ste. Anne's)
And we gave the kids time wo walk around and enjoy the city. It is pretty safe and as it is a walled city we could tell them not to go outside the walls.
Oh, we went to the tallest building and they have an observation deck.

Hope this helps, either helping you go or helping you to deide what to do.

 

[Lanie]

Quebec city is really beautiful, you would have a lot of fun there. As for the attractions, there's historical tours of the city that are being given that are full of information about how people lived in the 17th century, so very interesting.

Last time I went we did the city's ghost tour at night, fun, historic and interesting, I would think especially good for teenagers.

The aquarium is cool, and so is the insectarium (a bug zoo).

You can go see Les chutes du Parc de Montmorency (waterfalls) which is pretty and easy and outside. The Canyon Ste-Anne is pretty impressive.

If you go during the spring you can go to a sugar shack, which is so yummy; during the summer there is a lot of small touristy stuff to do around town, the fall is very pretty with the golden leaves, and the winter is always impressive with the snow.

L'observatoire de la Capitale gives you a good view of the city.

There is a lot of battle stuff, such as the Bagatelle, the artillery, etc... which is all about the Battle between Wolfe and Montcalm (basically when the English conquered the French city).

The website quebecregion.com can give you good ideas about what to do... Quebec city is really francophone; if you go to Montreal you will probably meet as many anglophone as francophones, if not more.

 

[lucyanna girl]

Lots of interesting ideas, thanks.

The ghost tour in particular sounds like something they would enjoy as the does the sugar shack. We are in a rural area so the aquarium would be neat too.

I'll have to look up the Citadel, Chateau Frontenac, Old Town, and The Cathedral of Ste. Anne.

More than thirty hours on a bus!

I need a history lesson myself.

Thank you,

Penny

 

[NotUrsula]

If you can make a deal with Amtrak, you might be able to use a school bus to put the kids on the train at Meridian, MS, instead of having them backtrack all the way down to New Orleans from Jackson to catch it. That would save some time.

Having them take the Crescent Limited WOULD be a cool trip, because even though it does take a long time, it would give them a window on so much of America that you just can't see from the interstate. It passes through the middle of Atlanta, DC and NYC, and also through the Hudson Valley and the Blue Ridge, passing several major battlefield sites along the way.

One thing to be aware of with Amtrak, though -- it can run late. REALLY late. The Crescent is one of the better trains in this regard because it runs largely along the east coast through the dedicated passenger corridor, but in that stretch from Mississippi across through the Carolinas they can lose hours if they have to cede the track to freight traffic.

 

[Bay Hill]

Just wanted to jump in...

You can fly JetBlue into Burlington, VT (BTV). From Burlington, it's a 1/2 hour drive to the Canadian border. From the border, its a one hour trip to Montreal.
(Depending on "bridge" traffic going into the city).

The Greater Montreal Convention and Tourism Bureau has a excellent website..
www.tourism-montreal.org

There are 2 to 3 star hotels in downtown Montreal. The Best Western near Rene Leveque would be a good choice. They have a Chez Cora inside the hotel.

 

[ckay87]

What a great opportunity. I just want to chime in and say that I felt like a typical stupid American this year. We DO live driving distance from Canada, but I've never been. This summer we took a trip to Montreal and I was astounded. I always thought that *some* people in Quebec spoke French. Just for fun, I dusted off my college textbook (one semester only) and brushed up on a few words and phrases. Cute, huh?

Then we crossed the border (by car) and within seconds I had my first "uh oh" moment when I realized I didn't even know how to read "north" "south" "east" and "west" in French and there were, in fact, NO English alternatives. Yikes! Montreal felt like going to Paris without crossing the ocean. Stupid as this may sound, I had no idea that EVERYONE spoke French! Most people were able to switch, like someone else said, but I had the most trouble ordering a doughnut (6 tries before I got the right kind & I bought all 6 ) and navigating the subway (finding my way back to the hotel was my proudest moment of the year.)

So I really, really hope the kids are able to make it. It's such a unique place, without having to go too far away.

 

[starrzone]

Quebec City is beautiful and steeped in history. Montreal is very modern and quite European in its city vibe. For speaking French, Quebec City would be a better - most people in Montreal will switch to English at the first hint this is easier for you. (Drove me nuts when I was trying to practice my French!)

There's a lot to do in either city, though, you wouldn't go wrong either way.

I second this. Quebec City is much more "French" than Montreal; because of language laws, all signs are in French all over the province, but Quebec City, in my experience, is definitely more "French-speaking" than Montreal (I consider it to be more like NYC; very cosmopolitan and international). It's a gorgeous city, and I know the kids would have fun; I went there in Grade 8 for a school trip and had a blast!

A word about the language; I'm not sure if the students you are taking know French, but perhaps on the drive/ride to Quebec or beforehand, you could teach the kids some basic French words. The locals will appreciate it VERY much, as a lot of them really don't speak much English and I'm sure they're used to people not making any effort whatsoever to speak their language. One of my favorite memories from my trip in Grade 8 was in a gift shop; I was buying a t-shirt and the proprietor asked me (in French) my name. I responded, "Je m'appelle ___ MacDonald", and he goes "MacDonald? Comme le restaurant [like the restaurant]!" and laughed for several minutes. There aren't many MacDonalds in or near Quebec City! It was a small, but really neat lesson in communicating with someone who speaks a different language

 

[PatsMom]

My daughter was a serious French student who is now majoring in French in college. Her sophomore year she went to Montreal and had a nice time. Highlight was junior year and a 10 day trip to France. I accompanied her and we had the time of our lives.

Her senior year (2008-2009) the French trip was to Quebec. I went on that trip as well. I suppose that before anyone thinks I am helicoptering, I should say that I went because she and I just wanted to travel together and I love to travel. Had nothing to do with no wanting her to go by herself with the group. I let her go sophomore year before her teacher discovered that I spoke French and wanted me to come along!

The company that arranged the Quebec tour was called Immersion Tours. I am not sure how the bus was arranged - it might have been separate or dealt with through Immersion. http://www.immersion-tours.com/

The tour guide was excellent. All of the kids were given buttons instructing people to speak to them in French. They had "pop quizzes" at various places where if they knew the proper language they would win tickets to put into a drawing at the end of the tour for a prize. We stayed at a decent hotel a few blocks away from the Chateau Frontenac.

Being in NH we did not have your transportation issues - the bus ride isn't that far. We are in the northern part of the state so that helped us out even more.

If you can manage to pull this trip together, it is something the kids will remember all their lives. I still run into the France and Quebec kids in town sometimes and we stop to talk about our trips. Especially the France group because it was small. I keep in touch with the kids via our Facebook group.

 

[declansdad]

What a great opportunity. I just want to chime in and say that I felt like a typical stupid American this year. We DO live driving distance from Canada, but I've never been. This summer we took a trip to Montreal and I was astounded. I always thought that *some* people in Quebec spoke French. Just for fun, I dusted off my college textbook (one semester only) and brushed up on a few words and phrases. Cute, huh?

Then we crossed the border (by car) and within seconds I had my first "uh oh" moment when I realized I didn't even know how to read "north" "south" "east" and "west" in French and there were, in fact, NO English alternatives. Yikes! Montreal felt like going to Paris without crossing the ocean. Stupid as this may sound, I had no idea that EVERYONE spoke French! Most people were able to switch, like someone else said, but I had the most trouble ordering a doughnut (6 tries before I got the right kind & I bought all 6 ) and navigating the subway (finding my way back to the hotel was my proudest moment of the year.)

So I really, really hope the kids are able to make it. It's such a unique place, without having to go too far away.

That is strange, especially for Montreal. I have never had a problem speaking English there, and most people in Montreal do speak English. Quebec City is much more uni-lingual but even there you find people who will speak to you in English.

 

[Cheshire Figment]

Nobody has mentioned one important thing everyone must have, which can take months to get:

Passport!