Day 36/37 Trois Riviéres - Île Saint-Quentin

Île Saint-Quentin

We decided not to go on the bus trip to Montreal on Saturday and not to go on the trip to Shawinigan on Sunday. 

Instead, we had a quiet weekend with no real plans. We did a little bit of shopping and then went over to a little island that splits the St Maurice River at Trois Riviéres (this is where three rivers gets it’s name). The island has a wonderful beach and swimming pool.

Swimming in the St Maurice River (The St Lawrence River is behind turquoise)

La plage (the beach)

Ships on the St Lawrence 

Is Ryan getting bigger? He looks so tall in this photo.

The ice cream parlour very close to the university

Yum! 

Yum!

We are now in our final week. I am a bit stressed because we have this mammoth assignment to have ready for Tuesday morning. We have to choose a Quebecois historical figure and prepare a 5 min (YES I SAID FIVE MINUTES!) speech on that person WITHOUT notes! Forgetaboutit. If I had to do this in English I would be a bit stressed but to do this in French when I can barely say ‘how much is the banana?’. 
This has pushed me to my safe place called - the island of apathy. Apathy is the place where stress cannot exist.

I have chosen for my historical figure - Maurice Richard. 

Maurice Richard 'The Rocket"

If you have not seen the movie about his life I would thoroughly recommend it. He was a legend in hockey in the 1940s and 1950s. He (and all french Canadians) was badly discriminated against because he was french. He broke all the records of the day, helped get the Montreal Canadiennes (Habs) five consecutive Stanley cup wins and won a total of 11.
He spoke out against the blatant discrimination and almost gave up playing hockey as a result. If only I could say all this ‘en francais’!