by Linda Aksomitis

I love Louisiana, so when I got the opportunity to visit southwest Louisiana for the biggest traditional holiday celebrated in the state, I jumped at it. The holiday is, of course, Mardi Gras, which came to Louisiana in 1699 through its French heritage. In fact, Mardi Gras means literally “Fat Tuesday” or the day before Ash Wednesday, which is part of the Catholic tradition around Easter.

Mardi Gras parade in Jennings

The one thing I discovered about Mardi Gras in the southwest, is that it’s a gathering time for families and communities. I arrived on the preceding Saturday, so was able to participate in lots of memorable events.

My first stop was Jennings, a friendly community with Cajun roots. The downtown festival was in full swing next to the W.H. Tupper General Merchandise Museum and Louisiana Telephone Museum. Of course the first thing I had to do was rush out to buy some Mardi Gras beads, little realizing how many I’d see before the next few days would pass.

Mardi Gras costumes

When friends invited me to ride a float in the Jennings parade I couldn’t say no. It was a great experience tossing beads to all who shouted, “Throw me something mister!” The traditional chant reflects the history of nobility allowing peasants, who were near starvation as winter drew to a close, to go into the streets and beg. Indeed the Cajun festivities include canvassing the neighbourhood for an evening community meal for all to share.

From Jennings I moved on to the small city of Lake Charles. Its first Mardi Gras parade was held in 1882, with the modern tradition being revived in 1980. Lots of family events were underway at the Civic Centre on Sunday, with activities for the kids, a Cajun band playing, and the Taste de Louisiane for everyone. Cooked and served by the students from the local culinary school, everything from the crawfish to bread pudding was delicious.

Sunday night featured the lighted boat parade and a chance to catch beads in the moonlight. With lots of laughter and plenty of beads feeding the fish, it took a real stretch to grab Mardi Gras beads out of the air that night.

Mardi Gras Royal Gala

Lake Charles has 32 Krewes or groups, representing all parts of the community. I had the chance to talk to members of many, including the Krewe de la Famille, the Krewe of Krewes, and the incredible Krewe of Illusions. While each Krewe has its own ball prior to the arrival of Fat Tuesday, Lake Charles has a gala ball open to everyone to enjoy the costumes.

Nothing was more spectacular than the Monday night Mardi Gras Royal Gala. It was as formal as a royal wedding, and fabulous glittering costumes to rival the best I’ve ever seen. The Krewe of Illusions, a professional krewe, crowned the event with an incredible finale. The wonderful thing about the costumes though, is that the Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu Revelers in Lake Charles, displays them all year round-so while you’ll miss the music, glamour, and lights, you can still see the artistry no matter when you visit.

Mardi Gras float in Lake Charles

Tuesday was a series of block parties that brought everyone to the streets to enjoy the final Mardi Gras parade. Water dripping off my plastic rain gear, I still had the time of my life leaping for beads as they flew through the air. Around me kids laughed. Parents grabbed beads to hand them. Grandparents smiled, enjoying the continuity of tradition.

To make my day complete, I found the “baby” in my slice of King Cake, so I was queen for a day. Beads circled my neck and doubloons filled the cups I’d caught. It was a holiday I’ll never forget.

Mardi Gras King Cake

Jeff Davis Parish Tourist Commission
Jennings, Louisiana
800-264-5521 or 337-821-5521
Online: www.jeffdavis.org

Southwest Louisiana/Lake Charles Convention & Visitors Bureau
1205 N. Lakshore Drive
Lake Charles, Louisiana
800-456-SWLA or 337-436-9588

Mardi Gras Museum of Imperial Calcasieu Revelers
809 Kirby Street
Lake Charles, Louisiana
337-430-0043

W.H Tupper General Merchandise Museum/Louisiana Telephone Pioneer and Children’s Telephone Museums
311 North Main St.
Jennings, Louisiana
337-821-5532

This article first appeared in SnowRider Online Magazine in 2006.

Family Vacation

The Bonhomme

Some family vacations are better than others–my grandson Jon and I rate our 2006 experience in Quebec the “best family vacation” ever!

With no experience at all in the French language, eight-year-old Jon started out somewhat worried about how we’d manage in Quebec. My French is so-so, as long as I can read or write it, I can likely manage. However, we soon discovered the langauge wasn’t a barrier for English-only visitors. By the end of the trip Jon had made friends, and even learned a few phrases to share with his classmates back home!

In fact, the friendliness of everyone we met contributed to our ranking the trip the best family vacation ever. Some of our favorite Quebec family activities included: new experiences like dog sledding and watching the Quebec City dogsled racing during the Carnival de Quebec; skiing down the pine forest covered hills; discovering so many ways to slide down a hill (toboggans are old hat when you’re in Quebec–try tubing or rafting for a thrill a minute); exploring the historic streets of Old Quebec; and most important, meeting the Bonhomme and experiencing the world’s largest winter carnival, the Carnival de Quebec.

Quebec Eastern Townships

Skiing in Quebec

Our family vacation in Quebec’s Eastern Townships was packed with things to do and places to visit. Flatlanders, both Jon and I enjoyed strapping on skis and taking lessons on the snow-covered hills at Sutton’s Mountain Resort. Of course I never made it off the bunny hill, but Jon proved his expertise by taking the trip to the top twice and skiing right past me at the bottom. Mind you, there were a few falls involved.

Other family vacation highlights included visiting the Confiserie Tentation (Fudge and home-made candy) store owned by Dianne Beaudry in Sutton; watching the miniature train roar over its snow covered track in Knowlton; night skiing at Ski Bromont, and a great time at Chateau Bromont. Our Quebec dog sledding adventure was in Magog with Adrenlin Adventure. Martine Nadeau, the owner, taught us a little about mushing as she handled our team and led two other teams. For more information just contact Martine at: 1-888-475-3462.

Dogsledding

Quebec City

The many family vacation activities in Quebec City kept Jon and I busy–so busy we’d like to plan a Quebec City summer vacation to visit more attractions like museums and art galleries.

Snow tubing at Village Vacances Valcartier

Kids have lots of winter activities, from sliding down snow covered slopes at Village Vacances Valcartier; to bumper cars, ferris wheel, and Imax theatre at the Mega Parc des Galeries de la Capitale; to the the Ice Hotel Quebec-Canada; to the incredible Carnival de Quebec.

We played by day and by night sampled the cuisine Quebec is famous for. Even our breakfasts of crepes with maple syrup left us with a taste for more–we had to bring home Quebec’s maple syrup to share with everyone who couldn’t come along.

Quebec and the Carnival de Quebec are truly family vacation experiences you’ll treasure for a lifetime.

by Jonathon Daver-Aksomitis

Skiing in Quebec

I got to go to Quebec with my Grandma (Linda Aksomitis) from January 24 to 29, 2006. It was a great trip.

Skiing at Sutton Mountain Resort was the best part of visiting the Eastern Townships – the ski lift was very freaky. I had lessons with René and went down the hill with him. Then I skied down the hill with Marie Noelle and Thomas. Grandma had to stay on the bunny hill! The others went night skiing at Ski Bromont, but Grandma and I went to the pool at Chateau Bromont instead. It was the best place we stayed because it had a good pool and hot tub.

Dog sledding was very good at Adrenaline Adventure at Magog. I was a little nervous, like the dogs, since they were having their first run of the day. I sat on the sled with Grandma, and Martine, the owner, was our musher. We were the lead sled and it was very fast.

Knowlton, Quebec miniature train

We stopped at a nice fudge store in Sutton when we visited the towns. I got Mom and Dad the most popular fudge-it had peanut butter and chocolate in it. The lady at Confiserie Tentation made 120 different kinds of candy. She was cool. We stopped in Knowlton too and mailed a postcard. It is one of the five prettiest villages in the Eastern Townships. I also saw the minature train ouside the train store there–it was fun to watch.

It took almost all afternoon on our bus to get to Quebec City. We stayed at the Hilton Quebec-only on the fourth floor, but we got to go to the 23rd floor for breakfasts. We could see the parliament buildings out our window and Bonhomme’s Ice Palace.

The first night we got to go to the Mega Parc des Galeries de la Capitale. We watched Imax in French, and that was okay. I got to go on one of the rides and I bought a toy at one of the stores.

Tubing in the snow

Friday we drove around Quebec City to see the old buildings and then went for a walk, but it was cold. I liked Quebec City. The wall around the city was neat. I would have liked to climb up and walk on it, but we didn’t find any stairs up to it. The buildings are very old and interesting, and there are very narrow streets.

After that we went to the Village Vacances Valcartier. It was the best! I was too short to drive the bumper cars, just like I was too short for the zip lines and tree-top adventures at Parc Aventure Sutton in the Easter Townships. But, I rode with Grandma. She was really good except for one crash into the boards, but at least we didn’t get stuck there like other people. Tubing in the park was awesome. The sliding hills were very high, so we looked for green runs. I took the conveyor once to the top and once I pulled my tube up the hill. I slid down the snow at the kids’ ice castle too. There were lots of kids there, so it was fun.

things we ate in Quebec was crepes with maple syrup every day for breakfast. I also liked the wild duck we had at Auberge West Brome. Grandma’s favourite was sugar pie-it was like pecan pie without the pecans.

Visit to Quebec's Ice Hotel

cool. My favourite room was the lounge where I got hot chocolate. We sat on ice benches covered with hides, so they weren’t even cold. Nefertiti’s room had the nicest ice sculptures. I wouldn’t want to sleep in the ice hotel, in case I had a room a long ways from the hot tub at bedtime, and had to run through the cold. Robert, one of the people in our group, slept there and he said it was very good.

Snow Rafting at Quebec Carnival

The Carnival was the last day. Bonhomme came to our breakfast, so we had pictures taken with him-he’s a big snowman. We walked through Bonhomme’s Palace and saw all the snow sculptures. They all looked good-everybody should have won. I liked the huge hand the best.

Ice fishing was cool too, even though I didn’t catch a trout. Snow rafting was even more fun than going downhill on a toboggan. I liked bouncing over the bumps with the raft. Being a foozeball player was good. I wore a blue shirt for our team and was hooked to a pole with a seat belt. I couldn’t move very far. Our team only lost by one point.

The dog races down the streets of Old Quebec were very fun. There were lots of people! Grandma and I sat right in front on the snow so we could take pictures. I took lots.

Bonhomme at Quebec's Winter Carnival

Carnival was fun-everybody should visit! The people should be very proud of Quebec City. It’s a good city.

by Linda Aksomitis

Kids with Bonhomme at Quebec Carnival

There’s nothing more fun than being a grandma and introducing your grandchild to new experiences–one of our most memorable has been a visit to Quebec Carnival, also called the Bonhomme Carnaval or the Carnaval de Quebec. The largest winter carnival in the world, Quebec Carnival runs through three weekends beginning in late January and ending in February of each year in Quebec City.

My grandson, Jon, and I, started the first day of Carnival meeting the Bonhomme over breakfast at our hotel. There couldn’t be a better ambassador for Carnival–and kids–than this seven foot snowman! Born in 1954, Bonhomme has been the official representative of the Carnival for generations of young Quebecers.

Inside Bonhomme's castle at Quebec Carnival

Like Bonhomme, we wrapped a bright, long red arrow sash around our middles before setting off outside. I immediately recognized the sash as being part of Metis tradition in the west, so wasn’t surprised to discover it had a similar history in Quebec and had been worn by both the bourgeois and the habitant classes during the 19th century. The original function of the sash was to tie jackets at the waist to keep them closed, but now it’s one of the cultural traditions that make Carnival such an integral part of Quebec winter celebrations.

First stop was–where else–the Bonhomme’s Palace. As you might expect, a snowman lives in an ice castle, with all of the furnishings even made of ice. We wandered through, checking out the ice benches, bed, and even bathroom!

Carnival events inside the walls of Old Quebec

Bonhomme’s festivities take place on the Plains of Abraham, one of Canada’s most important historical parks. In the 18th century the French and English battled for the right to rule, with the deciding battle happening on September 13, 1759. The British, led by General Wolfe, crossed the St. Lawrence River above Quebec, and defeated the French, led by General Montcalm on these Plains, establishing the course of history.

Today Quebec City is the only city north of Mexico that is still surrounded by the original battlement walls. Jon, like many other youngsters, looked for an opportunity to climb the walls, while the older and younger members of the crowd enjoyed visiting and drinking the free mugs of hot chocolate that were handed out.

Ice Sculptures at Quebec Carnival

After the hot drinks we decided to check out the ice sculptures. Regarded by some as the best Ice Sculpture festival in the world, the Quebec Carnival has a variety of different levels of competition. While many of the teams are Canadian, the sculpture artists come from around the world to show their best creative skills at the three-week-long festival. Another long-time Quebec cultural activity, ice sculpture has been popular since sculptors like Louis Jobin’s first ice creations in the 1880s.

While Jon gazed enviously at the sculptor’s tools–the small shovel and pick–I marvelled at the intricate work such utensils could do!

Kids trying ice fishing at Quebec Carnival

Our next stop was something Jon could participate in–the ice fishing. While Quebec youngsters may have lots of opportunities to try this with their parents on the thousands of lakes in Quebec, where Jon and I are from in Southern Saskatchewan, there just aren’t that many lakes or ice fishing opportunities. Carnival organizers create an artificial lake just for the kids and stock it with 5000 trout. The fishing pole is simple, just a rod and line with a hook on the end, but kids do get results!

While Jon was disappointed not to pull something out of the ice hole, we knew we’d have just dropped the fish back down for some other child, since we were staying in a hotel and had no access to cooking facilities.

Jon’s favourite activity at Carnival was a tie between foozball with real live players (we both got to participate) and snow rafting.

Snow Rafting at Quebec Carnival

The raft we used truly was the same kind of raft used on the water, except a snowmobile pulls it to the top of a hill overlooking the Plains of Abraham. Once we were all in the raft, it was pushed ahead over the crest of the hill to slide through a snow course of lanes created by foot-high banks of snow. The screams were all pure fun!

We also climbed into the Ice Castle, walked through the indoor buildings and exhibits, and watched lots of fun events. Carnival, we both decided as we dragged our tired feet back to our hotel, is an event everyone should attend at least once in a lifetime!

If you go:

Visit the Carnaval de Quebec web site at:  http://www.carnaval.qc.ca/

Teacher’s Pages with games, songs, and more: http://www.carnaval.qc.ca/en/scolaire.asp

Copyright 2007, Linda Aksomitis (Pub date – Jan 16/07).  All Rights Reserved.

by Linda Aksomitis

Sled dogs at Quebec Carnival

Quebec Carnival has a tradition of more than a century, while dogsledding has been around for much, much longer. What better combination then, than to put the two together, and have dogsled races be one of the premier opening events for Carnival? Indeed, dog sled races have been an integral part of Carnival festivities since its inception.

The really unique thing, I discovered, about Carnival’s sled dog racing event is that it runs through the downtown of Old Quebec!

Quebec City celebrates its four-hundredth birthday in 2008, with the core section, called Old Quebec, designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 as a colonial urban landscape. It is the only city north of Mexico to still have its original fortification walls in place.

Sled Dogs racing through Old Quebec at Carnival

The dogsled race is called “La Grande Viree” and runs along one of the central streets of Old Quebec. Buildings that have stood for centuries tower over the race, while cheering spectators crowd together on the snow covered sidewalks to cheer the dogs.

Me, I crouched under the nylon rope barrier, camera in hand, for a groundhog’s eye view of the race.

With over thirty of the best dog teams from around North America to run, there’s a lot of excitement at the start line. Each musher brings his team to the line, while the dogs lunge ahead, anxious to prove themselves. The mushers try to calm their dogs, but it’s easy to tell they’re anxious to be off as well.

Sled dogs at the starting line for "La Grand Viree"

La Grand Viree is a timed event, rather than head-to-head racing, so the dogs are released at intervals of around a minute apart. This allows each musher time to make sure his team is ready before he’s given the flag start. Each team has four dogs pulling the sleigh.

If weather conditions have been warm, snow must be hauled onto the streets. The total length of the course is six kilometers, although half of that is the return route. Once the race has been running for awhile, the two-way traffic consists of sleddog teams still being released, and the first teams returning to the finish line.

Many of the dog teams and their mushers are local, so there’s lots of cheering from the crowd. While I sat, squatted in the snow, I listened to the family of one team anxiously waiting for the release, then the running of their team.

Start of a dogsled race with dogsled team and musher at Quebec Carnival

The musher pushes off as his dog team is released, to help speed the start before jumping onto his sleigh. Dogs reach speeds of up to 50 kilometres per hour during the race, since it is a short sprint race.  During my walk through the staging area, prior to the race, I discovered many different styles of sleighs, depending on the preference of each musher. The dogs, as well, are of various breeds, including huskies and malamutes.

It’s easy to see from the dogs that they love their sport–and whether dogsled racing is a local tradition, as it is in Quebec, or something new, as it was for me, the cheering crowd love it too.

If you go:

Visit the Carnaval de Quebec web site at:  http://www.carnaval.qc.ca/

Copyright 2007, Linda Aksomitis (Pub date – Jan 16/07).  All Rights Reserved.