Val-Jalbert, St. Félicien, Alma, Dam-en-Terre

We had our first excursion on Sunday, the 11th. The trip consisted of several stops around Lac St. Jean, which is a huge lake about an hour and a half west of Chicoutimi. I heard that it is the largest inhabited lake in Québec, which I believe. Our first stop was probably the most enjoyable for me. It was the abandoned, now "historic" village of Val-Jalbert. The city was created for a paper mill in the early 1900s, but then was completely abandoned after some time, leaving empty but intact schools, churches, and houses. The most amazing thing, though, were the waterfalls. The biggest one was really impressive, and then you can ride a telépherique thing up on top of the mountain and see a few others. From the top, there`s a great view of Lac St. Jean, lots of forests, and the big waterfall. After that, we drove to St. Félicien, where there is a big zoo. It was a lot better than the zoos I`ve seen in America. We got to see them feed several animals, the coolest of which were the grizzly bears. There was also a very active polar bear who would press himself up against the glass. After the zoo, we went to Alma, where we stopped to eat and a few brave people swam. The water can`t be more than 70 degrees, but in Canada I guess that`s about as warm as it`ll ever be. We played some games on the beach there, and walked around to see some of the campers. It is apparently a huge spot for campers, and Claude, my Québecois father, told me that they go there all the time. That was it for the Lac St. Jean trip. This Friday, we`ll go to Québec city for 2 days, which I`m really looking forward to. At the school, things are going along normally now.....lots of activities, teacher wearing the same clothes EVERY day, etc...