What's up everybody
And welcome back to Vagabrothers.
Right now, we're in Quebec.
In this episode we're feasting in a traditional sugar shack
Drinking some cider
And staying in a hotel made completely out of ice.
But first we have to climb up this massive frozen waterfall.
We're at the Montmorency Falls.
Home to this massive, frozen waterfall.
I'm going to go learn how to do some ice climbing.
We got these guys here that are experts.
I'm gonna see how these guys do it
And then see if i can learn a couple tips before i go up.
Alright well we've just got to the base of the waterfall back here
And the frozen section that Mark's gonna be climbing.
Dude it's freezing right now man.
It's so cold, you've got two beanies on!
Okay but that's the only deviation from the Vagabrothers Winter Packing List.
It's gonna be good to get some exercise.
My name is Francios Guy Thivierge.
Adventurer, health fitness professional.
I'm teaching ice climbing at the Montmorency Falls since 1980.
It's my passion, we're gonna try to ice climb together.
Lets go!
This is gorgeous up here.
The waterfall all around me is frozen.
You can see the water going through the ice.
It's beautiful
It's good, it's fun.
Not a bad workout either.
Another little interesting fact guys.
This waterfall is bigger then Niagara falls
And right now we're pretty much the only people here.
Spectacular waterfall but it is cold.
It's cold, i'm not gonna lie, I can barely feel my fingers right now.
So i'm looking forward to lunch and warming up.
It was not Le Massif of Chamonix nor the highest peak of Everest
But it was something and I had fun.
I did, I really did.
Anyways now we're gonna go warm up with a little bit of lunch
At a traditional sugar shack
And we'll tell you more of what that is when we get there.
Alright guys well now we are in the Ile d'Orléans.
First discovered by Jacques Cartier
And he actually called it the Isle of Bacchus
Because he found some wild grapes growing
And Bacchus is the Roman God of wine.
It's one of the first settled places here
Where they developed agriculture in Quebec
And its maintained that heritage.
It's where a lot of farms are.
They produce a lot of cider here
But we are right now infront of a sugar shack
Last night we did kinda like a modern twist, on an urban sugar shack.
Well this is the old school, real deal.
Time to warm up, feast, eat, drink and be merry.
Yes, like Bacchus.
Well that was quite the re-past
And now we're gonna step outside
And see how they actually make the maple syrup.
Which is basically like tapping the trees
And getting sap from the inside.
It's actually not the sap that makes maple syrup.
It's actually the water that's in the roots of the tree.
And once the tree thaws
It starts to bring the water up to the leaves
And it's actually that water, that liquidy substance
That is used to make the syrup.
But we are gonna try some maple taffy right now.
Quintessential Québécois right here.
So this is maple syrup.
It's been boiled, so they get it right to 112 degrees
And then you take it, you pour it on to the snow
And then it becomes in to this lovely little popsicle.
It doesn't get much fresher then this.
Wow.
Alright guys, well we've just finished eating
And now, it's time to start drinking.
We're heading to a cider producer
One of the other amazing products that's made here.
Always remember to wear your seat belt children.
Welcome.
I present to you the first cider house of the island.
We have eleven products with alcohol.
The first is the light cider.
It's 6.5 percent of alcohol
We take it like a wine.
We have the effervescent, it's more like a beer
And the most popular is the ice-cider.
We have three types of ice-cider
And this is made with frozen apple
We have the apple in the trees or we press the apple in the Autumn
And we put it outside for freezing.
This is like happiness in a glass
How do you say happiness in french Alex?
Bonheur
Happiness is "bonheur"
This is bonheur en glace
That's like icy happiness
Gosh! French is so hard
[Attempting to speak French]
You're fluent bro
Fluent in one sip
Alright, well that was delectable.
Now we're on our way to a hotel completely made of ice.
It's really cool from here you can see across the St Lawrence river
And the city of Quebec is where the river is at its narrowest point
And that's actually what it means
Quebec means where the river is narrow in Algonquin.
Guys this is incredible.
Right now we're in the honeymoon suite of the Ice Hotel
And there is pretty much the entire animal kingdom
Sculptured in ice.
There's an owl, a wolf behind me
A grisly bear catching a salmon
All of it carved out of ice.
Trees, mountains
And of course where the magic happens.
I feel like this is like hipster heaven.
Everyone's got the polar bears and wolves on their shirts
And here you can stay in the polar bear room.
This is our room for tonight.
It's called the underwater garden.
I got dibs
On the one next to the fish.
Yeah it looks like you doesn't it.
It does yeah.
The theme of this years Ice Hotel is rivers.
This is definitely like the Ice World of Hoth from Star Wars
But this would be like after the wartime
When they can finally have peace
And turn it in to a resort, this is what it would be like.
Because you definitely walking around this place like lost
Like you're in the underground bunkers of the resistance.
But I think it's time for a drink.
Cocktail.
Let's go find the Mos Eisley of the Ice planet of Hoth.
These aren't the rooms you're looking for.
Incredible day, we're in the Ice Hotel.
That's my bed right there.
Got a fur lining on top of the mattress.
A beautiful sleeping bag.
Alex is back there tucking in already
Anyways guys, if you enjoyed this video, give it a thumbs up
Share it with your travel buddies
And subscribe to Vagabrothers
For more travel videos every Tuesday
Because tomorrow we are going to Charlevoix
The beautiful region just up the St Lawrence river.
It's gonna be awesome, so stay tunned for the rest of the series.
Alex, what do you have to say
In the mean-time
Remember to stay curious, keep exploring
And we'll see you guys on the road.
Peace!
It's so cold.
I can't feel my legs Stanley.
I don't wana die.