Talks took place as early as mid-July, but we decided to NOT plan anything till mid-December, to scare off the ancient god of cancelled plans SorrySomethingElseCameUpAndIAmNotGoing.

Originally hoping to rent a white BMW X1, we got downgraded to Volkswagen Tiguan (still white, though). The rental company offered to wait for an hour until they assemble the BMW the BMW was ready for us, yet every respected traveler knows that the time system used by these folks is based off the time rate from a point something like 100 million light years away from Earth. Therefore we realized BMW is not coming in this lifetime and settled down for another miracle of German engineering 🙂

Which did its job, and even more, anyway. Specifically, our designated driver for the day got a Xmas gift speeding ticket. I knew he was not speeding on purpose, but got way too engaged in a convo with Justin, and have not noticed the speed increase following another car in front. I noticed the light-reflecting stripes on the cop’s uniform when he was pulling out from the curbside, but it was too late already. I also was not sure it was indeed a cop because his undercover car was slightly older than what police usually use. It sucks twice as much if you consider that it was right after we stopped at A&W for a burger and fries and had a sweet chit-chat about how much people are getting pulled over on the weekends or holidays. Justin also got a ticket for not buckling up, which was 12$ more than the speeding ticket Sasha got. Overall, I have to say that when you are not the one being fined, getting pulled over is pretty fun. Highly recommend. Get your tax money’s worth, after all.

Toronto – Quebec City drive takes 8 hours if you go non-stop, but of course we made snack and washroom breaks, getting us to the destination only at around 9 pm. The next day was all about city walks, creeps crepes-hunting and sliding down a traditional wooden slide right at the famous Fairmont Le Château Frontenac.

The lineups to pretty crepes cafes were insane and so were the parking spots. Just to illustrate, we entered one of the parking lots which seemed full at first sight, and then realized that wide as hell driving lane was actually another row of parking spaces, just covered in snow. We parked, and it hasn’t been 5 minutes when the remaining newly emerged parking spaces were all taken.

Over the past three years or so, I have been learning French on and off, and this trip finally gave me the chance to practice my conversational skills. Not the Quebecois people, however! The conversation would start off nicely, but once I re-ask “Pardon?” (because I am deaf, not because I do not understand what they are saying) they would switch to English and stick to it with the stubbornness of an English bulldog. Yes, the comparison here is a fully conscious little revenge of mine. Just give me the chance, mon ami. Once I called to book a table, there were connection issues, and so I had to re-ask. We ended up talking in two languages – him taking the booking in English and me replying in French.

Check out the gorgeous Montmorency Falls here, or the old Quebec City walks here, which remind me so much of my hometown.

The day finished off at Dufferin Terrace Toboggan Slide which history dates back to 1884. Our bodies and our souls froze during a 1.5 hour wait line, and all for 30 seconds of fame. Can’t complain though – it happens to be the most emotionally-intense experience of the whole trip, and cost us only 4.50 per person.

Next day was dedicated to the leg breaking challenge snowboarding / skiing.

What me and Justin did could hardly be called by its official sports name, because all the time that we were not spending trying to keep balance, we were spending trying to get up. My Indian friend did not like it at all; I was enjoying the falling and standing up process for the first six times, after which I simply got bored and lost my interest. I also neglected wearing a head helmet, which saved me a couple of greens; but Justin got his gloves with hand warmers stolen, so he had to spare a hundred for the new ones. And yes, we never made it further than the bunny hill 🙂

On our way back we stopped at Montreal’s Pete’s Meat restaurant, filling ourselves with the most meaty sandwich I have ever tried, in the most Christmas decorated place I have ever been.

I have visited Quebec for four times, but I think this time is my favorite one – mainly because of the contrast of all the activities we did. Just to make it a jubilee, I will go one more time in the future to do some whale watching at St. Lawrence. But that is a totally different story for another time 🙂

Avec beaucoup d’amour et à la prochaine fois.

P.S. As you may have noticed, certain words in my blog post are hyperlinked – these are 360 degree videos. Just click and drag the image to get a whole view. Remember to adjust the video quality, if needed 🙂 Here is another, another, another, and another recording of the night Quebec.