And yes, to complete this unforgettable stay, my host family took me last weekend, to discover the capital. After notifying the school of our absence, we left on Friday morning: direction Ottawa! To show me around the country, we went to Algonquin Provincial Park. It was beautiful with the fall colors, which are splendid thanks to the red maples. After the 5 hour drive, we finally arrived at our
hotel to everyone's delight! But no time to wander, we went to pick up my correspondent's cousin who is at university in Ottawa to spend the evening with her then we explored a part of the city. It was very nice and very pretty with the illuminations of the night. Finally, we stopped to eat in a pizzeria. The road had made us all tired so we returned to our hotel to rest.
The next day, we took a tour bus to see all the monuments and historical buildings. We observed the embassies (France, Germany, China, Vietnam,...), aviation museum, the paliament,... After this sightseeing tour of the city by bus, we went to eat a Canadian speciality: poutine! It is a dish based on fries with cheese and a brown sauce (made with meat juice). Then there are several variations, with ham, mushrooms, raw vegetables,... In the afternoon, it rained but that didn't
discourage us and we took the car, to go to the "chic district" of Ottawa where are the house of the Canadian Prime Minister, the one of the president of the U.S.A when he comes to stay in Ottawa,... We also took a walk in the Rockcliffe park.
On Sunday morning, we took a walk to the parliament, the natural history museum and the Notre-Dame cathedral. Then it was time to hit the road again, but before heading back to Fergus, we passed through Gatineau Park located in Quebec!
This weekend was wonderful and allowed me to discover the capital of Canada. It also taught me many things about the history of Canada and I was able to see beautiful monuments and colors that we will not see in France.
Daphné Charrier