Hello, and welcome back to my newest of blogs. This one is going to be about our 2023 summer trip.
It all started in the evening of August 4th. We got in the car and started driving towards New Brunswick. After a few hours, we stopped at a hotel in Fredericton for the night. The next morning, we came downstairs and had breakfast. Then, for the next 7 hours, we drove to Montreal. On the way, we stopped at a town that has a waterfall called Grand Falls. There was a zipline there, but it was closed, so we could not go on it. But still, the waterfall looked very beautiful.
Grand Falls, New Brunswick
Later in the day, we arrived in Montreal where we are going to stay for 3 nights. The hotel we were staying at was called Sheraton at Laval, Montreal.
We hopped out of the car with the luggage and walked toward the entrance. There was a white vintage limousine outside with a driver sitting at the wheel. There was a revolving door that took us into the lobby which was enormous. On the left, there was a counter where you could buy snacks and breakfast. On the right, there was a bar and a restaurant. There were a few chairs and tables near the front desk. Tanya and I sat down while our parents checked into the hotel. The room looked very nice. There were two beds with a table in the middle. There was a tv panel with drawers and a place to sit. One thing I liked was that it had those lights that are connected to the bed so that when you pull them out, they turn on. After we got our luggage out; my mom, Tanya, and I went down to the pool. There was a pool, a hot tub and a steam room. I did a few laps and practiced flips underwater. After a while, the three of us came back up to the room and had dinner. Tanya and I watched some tv and then went to bed.
The next morning, we were going to a few places around the city after our breakfast. The first place we went to was called St. Joseph Oratory of Montreal. It was a large church with a huge deck, a museum, a cafeteria, and 2 or 3 church halls. There was a pleasant view of the city from the deck. The church halls were incredibly beautiful. The museum area was very dark with hundreds of colourful candles illuminating it beautifully. The building design was also very detailed. Many of the pillars had the shape of humans and animals carved onto it. It had a dome roof equipped with several huge musical pipes that sounded amazing when church music was played on.
Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royal, Montreal
After we came out of the Oratory, we went to the huge Montreal Science Center. At the reception, it had a model of one of those hockey ring ice machines. There was an IMAX, but there were no English movies on that day, so we did not watch anything. First there was an area for little kids to play in. There was a house with fake grass on the roof and a conveyor belt that led to the top. There is a small reading area with a shelf next to it, a fake campfire that had stools that looked like tree stumps, and a place for infants with lots of sensory toys. My favourite part was a supermarket with containers that actually smell like what’s inside. After the kid’s area, we went to a large room that can be entered through a hall sort of thing that is surrounded by mirrors and screens that show colorful patterns.
Montreal Science Centre
It looks very mesmerising. There were lots of experiments and things to do. There was a table with electric devices and wires, a lightbulb that can be powered by pushing a handle, and a water table that had a water vortex that makes the plastic balls in it spin.
Outside the science center, there was a big red structure that looked like atoms in a chemical bond.
We were about to go back to the car, but we noticed there was a carnival right next to the science center.
There was a humongous Ferris Wheel and some really big circus tents. We went on the Ferris Wheel first. It could take a lot of people at a time, so it did not take us long to get through the line. It was a very beautiful view of the Montreal waterfront from the top of the Ferris wheel. The carnival and the science center are both next to the St. Lawrence River, and on the other side of the river there is an amusement park called La Ronde (French word pronounced – La Haund, meaning – the round). We were going there tomorrow.
Montreal waterfront Ferris Wheel
After the Ferris Wheel, we went on the zipline. It was short but really fast. Later we walked down the streets of Montreal to the Place D’armes. There was a church on the way called Basilique Notre-dame de Montreal. Tanya and I played in the splash pad next to Place des Arts. It was extremely late by then, so the four of us got in the car and drove back to the hotel.
Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal
The next day was the last day in Montreal. We were going to the amusement park, La Ronde! We were going there for the entire day. We thought that because it was very cloudy, so not many people would come. And we were right. We got to go on all the rides that we wanted as many times. We decided that my mom and sister would go to the little kids’ section while my dad and I see some of the thrill rides.
La-Ronde Montreal
The first one we went on was called The Vampire. It was really intense. It was super fast with lots of loops and upside downs. Next there was The Goliath. It might look scary, but it was actually quite pleasant. Especially if you look to your side. It was a big track of up and down bumps. There were no points where the track went upside down. After that, we went towards The Monster, but when we got to the line entrance, someone told us it was closed.
There was another ride called The Splash nearby which was also very quick. It started with a ramp going up slowly and then zoomed quickly down into a large pool of water. Our shirts were soaked! There was a dryer, but we decided not to. It was a warm day, so our shirts would dry off soon by themselves. We decided to go back where my mom and sister were in the Kid’s section so we can eat lunch together. After lunch, Tanya and I went on one of those rides where you sit in a swing chair that spins. Then we split up again. My mom went with me, and my dad went with Tanya. First, my mom and I went onto the Goliath. My mom did not like it. Next, we went to the Titan. It was extremely big. It had four thick pillars meeting at the center in the air and one more moving one in the middle that ends in a spinning disk with a bunch of seats around it. It was not extremely fast, but it was really fun. The disk spins and the middle pillar moves side to side. Next, we went on a giant version of the spinning swing ride. We went on a few other rides like the one that has a tall tower and a cart that goes up slowly and drops. And one that the cart swings on a hinge and goes upside down. By then we were tired, and it was time to go back to the hotel and have dinner.
The next day, we checked out of the Sheraton at Laval hotel and began driving our way up to Mont Tremblant. But before we did that, we went to a place called Cosmodome in Montreal. It was a space museum and planetarium. It was amazing. There was a big rocket model on the outside. The line to the reception was really long, but it was worth it.
There were 3 big rooms in the planetarium. There was a VR area, where people wear a VR headset and sit in a vibrating chair where there was a screen showing videos of rockets and a few beanbag chairs so you can sit. There were also two tables with pictures and info on different types of rockets. In the third room, there was something that I really thought was interesting. It had models of the planets in the solar system. Each had a platform showing what the surface of that planet would look like. For some of the planets like Uranus and Jupiter, they put steam to make it more realistic.
There were a few things that we could do. There was the VR, there was the 4d, and there was the mission experience. We first went on the 4d it was a 2-seat theater with unique features. The VR was of a roller coaster. Now it was time to do the mission experience. There were two missions to choose from: The moon landing, or the Mars exploration. We chose the Mars one.
Cosmodome, Montreal
We were each given a bracelet that had the Cosmodome logo on it. There were six rooms. Three of them were minigames, and three were videos. The first room was a video. There was this guy walking around and telling us that we were the first people ever sent to mars and that we had to do all the games to make it out. Even though we could hear the person in the video, he never opened his mouth. There were a few different types of games. There was on where you had to navigate your way through the rocks in a rover. And one where you have to scan the various parts of the mars base and put them together. It was super fun. After around 2 hours at Cosmodome, we began to drive to Mont Tremblant. Here in Mont Tremblant, we will meet with another family and will be with them for the rest of the trip. They have two kids. Both are younger than me. There is Rishaan, and his little brother Kiaan. They do not live in Mont Tremblant, so we will all stay in the same hotel. We were staying in a hotel called Chateau Beauvallon. About 10 minutes later, Rishaan’s family came. We got settled in the suite we had there, and the four of us kids listened to me play on my keyboard and me and Rishaan played some games on my Nintendo Switch™.
The next day, we were going to do something really fun. We were going to go to the Mont-Tremblant village, and we were going on a zip lining course in the mountains. There are five different ziplines. We took the Chateau shuttle bus to the village and took the gondola ride to the top of the village.
Mont-Tremblant Resort
A few from our group stayed with the younger kids (Tanya and Kiaan) at the village, while the rest of us went on the ziplines. The first zipline was at the top of the mountain, so me, Rishaan, my mom, and Rishaan’s dad, along with all the other people who paid for the zipline.
We took a group of pickup trucks to the first zipline because it was up in the mountains. We all got on the edge of the mountain where the platform was. It was like a cliff edge balcony but there was a swinging gate on one side instead of a fence and there was a lot of ropes and cables on the edge. We took turns attaching our gear to the ropes and then zooming down the line. there were two guides with us helping us and they were with us the whole time on the ziplines. Even though Rishaan was old enough to come with us, he was not heavy enough to make it all the way across. That is why he has a different type of strap that can connect to one of the guides straps and then they can go on the line together. The zipline was extremely fun. The wind whipped in my face and the view was very nice. After the first zipline, there was a short walk in the woods to the next line. It went on like that for the rest of the ziplines, some of them being so long that you cannot even see where in ends. After the last zipline, there was another walk to the end of the ziplines and back to the village. There we met up with my dad, Kiaan, and Kiaan’s mom.
Now it was time to go on the skyline luge. There was a line to the gondola that led to the top of the luge, but it did not take long. But at the top of the gondola there was a really long line. the people who already went on the luge got to go immediately, but there was a long line up for the people who hadn’t yet. It was because we did not know how to yet.
Here is how the luge works: at the top of a hill there is a track. And the carts go on the track and slide down. There is a pair of handlebars to control the cart. It can brake, accelerate, and move side-to-side. It cannot actually accelerate, because it does not have a motor, so it is all on gravity to make the cart move. We got to go on the luge three times. After that, we took the shuttle bus back to the hotel.
That’s me at Skyline Luge, Mont-Tremblant
The next day, we checked out of the Chateau Beauvallon, and we drove to Quebec City. Tomorrow, we were going to a waterfall called Montmorency Falls and we were going to see the view of the river near Quebec City at Fairmont le Chateau de Frontenac. It is a big hotel in Quebec City. (See my other blog.) we were staying in a hotel called Hotel Classique. After we checked in, Rishaan and I played some Nintendo Switch™.
The next morning, we drove to Montmorency Falls. It was a little bit rainy, but it was okay. We all got out of the car and walked to the place where you can see the waterfall. There were a few other people there too. Suddenly it started to rain really hard we all ran to our cars. The rain only lasted for 2 minutes. And guess what happened next? We got sun!!! we all got out of our cars and decided where we should go. We would go to the other side of the waterfall and check it out there. We drove to the other side and went on the bridge that led across the waterfall.
Montmorency Falls, Quebec City
After the waterfall, we went down to Quebec City and parked. We walked around for a while, and we stopped at Fairmont le Chateau de Frontenac. There was a show going on there where a guy did some impressive tricks, so we watched it for a while. then we went to the edge of the hill where the river was. I noticed that the sun was shining in the opposite direction to us, it shone across the river making the part of the city on the other side of the river look like it was made of gold. And since it was raining earlier, there was even a rainbow! The view was very beautiful.
Fairmont le Chateau de Frontenac
The next day was the last day of the trip. Me and my family went to the Quebec aquarium while Rishaan, Kiaan and their family drove home to Ontario. At the aquarium, there were many fish, seals, and even 2 polar bears. One room in the aquarium that I liked was one that was completely dark ant the only source of light was in the tanks. There were a bunch of jellyfish, and in their tanks were colour changing lights that seemed to make it look like the jellyfish were glowing.
Aquarium du Quebec
The aquarium was super fun, but now it was time to drive back home. We drove all the way back without stopping and arrived at 2am. Everyone was asleep except my dad. That is how my summer trip went. Hope you liked the story!
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