Val-Jalbert and Pédalos

I realized that I still have not written anything about last Saturday, which is a shame because Saturday was quite an enjoyable day.

On Saturday, (over a week ago now) we took an hour long bus ride through some of the most gorgeous countryside I have ever seen. Bright fields of yellow, beautiful forests... and, locals are proud of Lac St. Jean for a reason - as we passed it, there were audible gasps all along the bus aisles. It is a tremendous lake that stretches nearly to the horizon. Positively stunning, and just so... immense!

There was a little town, called Chambord I believe, that was situated on the lake. It was filled with white houses and pretty views and looks like a place where I would like to live for maybe a little while. Like a place out of a story book where a young teacher comes to work, and is all alone but then finds love and fulfillment with teaching the young children of the town. Something cute and cheesy and heartwarming like that.

Our bus ride took us to the historic village of Val-Jalbert, a now-abandoned town where the economy used to revolve around a pulp mill built at the foot of a waterfall. The town was built in the early 1900's, but was deserted after 25 years of occupation when the pulp mill was closed down.

It was a lovely place, with a beautiful waterfall, hiking trails, a télépherique (mini gondola),

and, of course, deserted buildings.

There was one house in particular that I would thoroughly enjoy living in. The house was filled with colours, none of which matched the others, and all sorts of old furniture.

An old school building also stood nearby, with somewhat ineffective period actors, although their presence did serve as a reminder that nuns were the teachers at the school.

I bought an overpriced iced tea, and looked in the recreated "General Store", where there were equally overpriced souvenirs. And large patterned furry coats for sale. I suppose those are appropriate to the time period... Overall the day was grand. I am reminded again and again of how much I love the outdoors. God is so beautifully displayed in His creation!

On the bus ride home, nearly everyone fell asleep. Back in Jonquière, my friend Emily and I wanted to go paddle-boating, but by the time we arrived at the rental shop, they told us it was too late to go out. Instead, with another group of girls from the Explore program, we met a funny elderly Québecois gentleman.

The conversation started as someone asked him to take a photo of our group, and he positioned the camera with the lens facing towards him. He looked taken aback, and exclaimed that he couldn't see anything. (In French, of course.) Someone helped him flip it around, and the photo was taken. We were all barely holding ourselves together, as it was quite the amusing display! We continued talking with him after, as he asked each of us where we were from, and how we were liking our time here, questions about the college, stuff like that. I somehow managed to explain to him in French how the educational system in the rest of Canada differs from the educational system of Québec. It was a bit of a challenge, but it felt so good to see him finally understand, to know that I had succeeded in saying something of use, using words outside of my normal vocabulary!

It was Sunday evening, after the Fjord en arbre, that Emily and I went down to the river (La Rivière aux Sables) and succeeded in renting a boat to take out on the river. We were with

three other friends, Sarah, Anita, and Erica, and as such, being an odd-numbered group of people, had to take out one pédalo (pedal boat) and one canoe. I sat in the bottom of the canoe while Sarah and Emily

paddled... :) .... and Erica and Anita took the pédalo.

The sunset from the river was gorgeous! I must say, I like the colours of the sky here in Jonquière. Or maybe I just like sky.

Afterwards, we went to a little place called Ici le café, and ordered delicious drinks that were more like desserts when you considered the amount of whipped cream that topped them. All in all, a very enjoyable day!