I am back in the City today before flying off early tomorrow morning.
We left Val-Jalbert after breakfast this morning. This has been our home for the past couple of nights in Saguenay. Although it does not appear on the show, Val-Jalbert deserves a good mention. It was a REAL industrial town that dates back to the VERY early 1900's ... and is now an authentic 1920's mining town which happens to have some lovely "hotel" rooms attached to it.
I had a lovely, bright and fresh room ... only months old. In the 1950's the area was used by walkers ... and in the last year, millions of dollars have been spent building new accommodations, rebuilding the old wood pulping mill and turning it into a restaurant and meeting area ... and refurbishing some of the old 1920's houses/homes into living museums (www.valjalbert.com).
I was most impressed by the service we received from the staff (mostly students) who work there. Professional "hoteliers" they may not be ... but I know many properties that could learn much from these youngsters.
SO - we drove back to Quebec City and spent the whole afternoon picking up shots in the beautiful sunshine!
Specials thanks must go to Nancy Donnelly from Saguenay who looked after us in the province and Michelle Couture-Demers who has looked after us here in the City.
EXTRA EXTRA special thank-you to Marouan - driver, guide, friend - who has been SO brilliant with us! Seven days with us is not easy ... ha! We have had fun ... and then MORE fun!
I LOVE QUEBEC ... I LOVE CANADA! I am going to miss being here in this country so much ... wonderful sights, smells, cuisine ... shopping, flora, fauna ... hotels, museums, art galleries ...
and most importantly people ... I LOVE CANADIANS!
Adieu Canada ...
Song of the Day: A Girl Called Johnny - Waterboys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vL5L5Y61Jyk
Weather: Magnifique!
Val-Jalbert (waterfall and pulp mill)
"main street"
nancy donnelly (saguenay tourism) + marouan bel fakir (quebec tourism)
michelle couture-demers (quebec city tourism)
that's a wrap folks!
