Fay Travels to Quebec!

After a two-year hiatus, Fay students were excited to travel to Quebec over mid-winter weekend! The trip was a four-day whirlwind of skating, tubing, and dog-sledding as they sampled the cuisine, culture, and sights of this winter wonderland city.

Arriving in Canada just before dinner, students ventured out for their first Quebec meal, followed by an evening of outdoor skating under the city lights. The following day students visited Montmorency waterfalls, the tallest falls in North America, for a beautiful view of the sugar powder effect. This is when the water falls and turns into small pieces of ice in the air. After lunch, they visited the Hôtel de glace (The ice hotel) and the Village Valcartier, the largest snow tubing park in North America. The day ended in traditional Quebecois fashion with a trip to the sugar shack, “Le Chemin du Roy,” a family-owned maple syrup shack for a lesson on how maple syrup is produced. This was accompanied by a feast of maple syrup (of course!), meat pie, ham, sausages, pea soup, baked beans, and fresh bread. They capped off the evening with dancing and singing traditional Canadian folk songs. After breakfast the next day, the Fay group boarded the ferry to cross the frigid waters of the St. Lawrence river for a tour of the lower level of the city around the Place Royale and the Petit Champlain. After seeing the city from the river, they were treated to an aerial view from a cable car ride. Later, students tested their curling skills as they learned how to play the sport that is so closely associated with Canada. Before heading home, students spent one final unforgettable morning snowshoeing, dog sledding, and cuddling with the husky pups in the magical woods outside of Quebec.

As one of the first large tour groups to visit Quebec since the pandemic, the Fay students and faculty received an exceptionally warm welcome everywhere they went. Trip Leader and Upper School World Languages Teacher Alina Argueta noted that the students’ highlights from the trip were constantly changing. “Depending on what we were doing at that moment, the kids would say, “This is most exciting activity!” or “Today is the best day!” This is Fay’s twentieth year traveling to Quebec, and it’s an incredible experience for the students. “It is such a popular trip because it is action-packed,” says Alina. “It is culture and history in action!”