When we woke up yesterday morning, no one had any idea how stuffed we all would be by nightfall. The night before, we were told that we had to be up and ready with an overnight bag at 9 o’clock in the morning. And just as we were told, we waited patiently in the lobby when the sun rose. And just as we talked about the program of the day, a petite woman entered the lobby. Her name was Linda, and she was a teacher at a French Canadian high school. She and Emmelie had made some arrangements that meant that our overnight bags would come in handy, since we were to stay the night at some of the teachers’ homes. Linda and a bus driver took us on a bus tour where we once again could get lost in the beauty of the Canadian nature. We took so many pictures with our cameras that some complained that their cameras were overheating, but the end result was a bunch of absolutely stunning pictures.

And just as we drove into the city of Saint-Georges, we parked in front of a spectacular catholic church. The inside of the church was even more impressive that the outside, and to tell us the history of the church a French guide, who spoke in French (not English), shared his knowledge.    

For lunch (or diner, as the French Canadian population calls it), we ate at a local establishment, where local farmers sold their crops. The lunch which many of us thought would just consist of a sandwich and a soda turned out to be a three-course meal. We started out with a pumpkin soup, then had a piece of lasagne or a casserole dish, and finished with a piece of crumple apple cake with loads and loads of maple syrup.

As if that meal was not enough to make us swear off food forever, we went to an apple picking farm to pick some of the best apples that I have ever sunken my teeth into.  

Afterwards the apple picking, we arrived to a restaurant where dinner was to be served. The name of the restaurant is “la cabane à sucre”, and for those who know just a little bit of French, knows that “sucre” means sugar – and the name of the place sure did its food justice. There were scrambled syrup eggs, syrup glazed ham, syrup potatoes, and for dessert, crêpes with syrup, syrup butter, and some sort of homemade syrup lollipops with snow that has been preserved from last winter. Our host families had arrived to the restaurant to eat dinner with us, and so not to insult the Canadian traditions, we were almost forced fed syrup. Both our French skills and our good manners were put to a test as we manoeuvred through conversations with our families. Milica and I were chosen to live with the sweetest Canadian woman who lived by herself and her cute cat. And as the evening came to an end, we drove to her house where we kept talking for hours about the Danish culture and how the life of the Canadians were. Late in the evening when we all decided to get some rest, both Milica’s and my stomach were full and our mind pleased with the events of the day.  

Le vocabulaire du jour: 

Promenade (f) en autobus = bus tour

Èglise (f) = church

Sirop d'érable = maple sirup

Sucre (f) = sugar

Sucette (f) = lollipop

Tradition (f) = tradition

Soir (m) = evening

Événement = event