Canoe Races over the St. Lawrence - Running Across the Ice!

Today we woke to snow, but it quickly turned to slush. I think we should have brought our rubber boots instead of our winter boots! It was a good thing we brought extra socks, extra mitts etc, as each day we are drying out the ones from the day before. If only my boots were water proof - after eight years, not much can water proof them anymore!

Morgan stayed up reading until long after I went to sleep last night - he started and finished his book even though I told him we had to get up and walking to our destination before noon (lazy bones). He grumbled, but he did finally get out of bed. We dressed in our winter gear and put his ski pants in the backpack, as we were heading to the edge of the St. Lawrence and had no idea what the weather might be like close to the frigid water. With map in hand (oriented properly today, thank you, front desk), we started off on our adventure. We had originally planned on having lunch at L'Astral (the revolving restaurant with a view) but discovered that it and our canoe races were at opposite ends of the old city. Another day!

We went downhill, then uphill, then downhill, then uphill. Morgan complained. I told him to get over it. He got grouchy, and I got obstinate that we weren't going to quit. Saskatoon is very easy to walk around in - it's level, for the most part, and the streets are very wide compared to here, and even the street signs are easy to see and at regular locations. We finally realized that street names are posted on buildings....the street names on the poles are directional only (ie. rue Saint-Paul this way). So, that realization made it much easier to find our destination. He was upset because it seemed like we were backtracking all the time, going in circles, and we couldn't see our destination. He is alarmed by the driving and street-crossing which seems to have different rules than home (ie what does a flashing green light mean? why are there no crosswalks?) However, we read the map, asked some locals, took some chances, and found our destination. We didn't feel so badly about having trouble with the tourist map when the locals couldn't figure it out either.

In between leaving and arriving at the river, we stopped for lunch at Piazzetta. I was so proud of Morgan for ordering his meal in French, and thanking the server politely in French each time she brought him something or filled his water glass.  He ordered a pepperoni and cheese pizza, and I had goat cheese on pita (so good). And, exciting I know, I managed to convey to her that the bathroom needed toilet paper, without reverting to charades. A good thing too!

The canoe races are ridiculously dangerous. A group of four, mostly men but some women, and a steersperson, jump in a giant canoe and row upstream on mostly open water for about two kilometers. Here they are going upstream; you have to see the video of the river to understand how strong the current is:

Then, they cross the river, and come back down the other side through the ice and more often than not, when they get stuck in the ice, they jump out and push the canoe across or through the ice, then jump back in and keep rowing. They cross the river again, go back upstream, back across, and back down through the ice. After two circuits a winner is declared. They don't wear life-jackets; there are no rescue boats on the water except two giant tug boats, and what we thought was a rescue helicopter turned out to be a news outlet. Here is a photo at a distance of the canoes in the ice (those six black dots in the ice are canoes, and the helicopter in the center is the tv helicopter):

And here is a closeup (sort of grainy, sorry). They are in fact pushing their canoes over the ice floes while running - every now and then they jump in when they get to open water, then jump out if they get stuck:

A very nice couple let us in next to the railing to watch. Morgan's spirits improved dramatically to actually see something other than having to walk endlessly; they loaned him binoculars (and he thanked them in French) and we chatted a fair amount mostly in English and with my French as a backup. They offered to take our photo:

We watched for about 45 minutes, then left to continue our day. My impressions of the St. Lawrence were of immense size and power - you just don't understand how big it is until you're beside it. Morgan figures it's about four times the width of the Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon. What's really interesting is that Quebec is built where the river narrows - it gets much wider, the farther towards the ocean it goes.

We happened to go by la Musée de la Civilisation which overlooks the river, and decided to go in. Okay, I decided to go in, and Morgan dragged his feet behind. We had planned it for later in the week, but we were there! I had high hopes for this museum and I expect if I'd been on my own I would have spent hours there, but there really wasn't much for kids to be interested in and it was very formal. The display about Quebec history was impressive to be sure, however the room is very dimly lit and it's very quiet. The display about the local Ameridian populations' histories was very impressive to an adult but again, not so much for kids. Plus the security guard followed us like we were stealing stuff (we were the only ones in the gallery). It was awkward, and I was glad that kids under 11 were free because they won't get much out of it.

The highlight was the interactive display about water. It was very neat and I highly recommend it. It involved images displayed on water curtains, interactive activities like pointing at the wall and making waves in the images, etc, and had quite a powerful message. Morgan left wanting to conserve water, and asking about poverty. It was shocking for him to read that some people spend four hours a day finding drinking water and carrying it to their home. No photos allowed in that display, but I did get one in a later gallery of a reproduction of a map from Samuel de Champlain (probably against the rules but the grouchy person didn't come at me with arms waving about "photos" til another gallery - I wasn't using a flash):

After the museum, we wandered along Dalhousie to see what we could see. We saw a lot that we are going to go back to see later in the week, including Place Royale, and I'm sure it will involve several trips up and down the Funiculaire, thus avoiding hiking the stairs to the upper city; Morgan thinks it's a capital invention:

In this picture you can clearly see the wall around the upper city, and how high up it is - that's the Chateau Frontenac at the top, and Morgan in the red jacket:

Once we came up the Funiculaire (awesome, only $2 and saves a heck of a lot of energy), Morgan was able to lead me from the Chateau to our current hotel even though it involved some downhill twists, turns, forks, etc. Not surprisingly, he has a better head for direction and landmarks than I do :)

Tonight we spent $9 on supper at Ashton again, and are watching the Mythbusters marathon on Discovery Channel (in English!) which is Morgan's favourite. A few pages of New France and some Zombie Dice and it's time for bed. Tomorrow, we get to leave the city for the first time and I think Morgan will enjoy feeling space again. Coming from Saskatoon, it feels crowded here, and we always feel like we are salmon swimming upstream. In fact I often look to the other side of the street to see if maybe most people walk one way on each side of the street, but no; we just always seem to be wending our way through. I expect that will thin out during the week though!