More Canadian
Experiences: Quebec City, Quebec
May 20, 2013 – “Bon
jour, parlez-vous, anglais?” (my high school French is sadly very pathetic,
but everyone we met in this French speaking region has been very nice and tried
to help us, most speak a bit of English J)
Our North American Safari has exited the Maritime region of Canada and we set out
to see more of this amazing part of our continent. History, history, and history – we continue to
be amazed at the age of things here. Explorer Jacques Cartier established
Quebec City in 1541, this city has many of the oldest places in North America:
first church, first girls’ school, museum….. . Our campground was across the
Saint Lawrence River from Q.C., so we rode the ferry over and got an
outstanding view of this walled city. We wandered around the cobble stone
streets, enjoying some window shopping and trying to orient ourselves. Old
upper town is the historical center with many museums, restaurants, fleur de
leis tee shirt selling shops and some very engaging musical street performers. Riding up the funicular railway to the top of
the Cap Diamant (upper town) we were at the doorstep of the world famous Le
Chateau Frontenac. Wow what an extraordinarily beautiful place. This is
reportedly the most photographed hotel in the world, certainly in Quebec City;
one can hardly go anywhere where its presence is not seen. We ended our first
day’s exploration with martinis in the bar at the “Chateau” Quite a treat!
 |
| Funiculair |
 |
| Le Chateau Frontenac |
May 21, 2013 – These adventurers headed back over to
the city where we made our way up the hill to Citadel. North America’s largest fort
is still an active military base. Pierre
our guide gave us a very interesting and informative tour of this fortification
and its history; started by the French in 1750 and completed by the English in
1850. The 22nd Royal Regiment, the 1st all French
speaking Battalion, is the force that oversees this base. They are a very
respected group and hold honors in Canada as extemporary units. The “Van Doos”
(Vingt-deux. French for 22) founded in WWI earned 3 Victorian Crosses in combat.
The view from this point was great one could see 360 degrees around the city.
We walked back down the hill, taking in many old building and sights. Then made our way to a sidewalk café for
lunch, we were enjoying a bit of sunshine after a wet night before and misty
morning.
May 22, 2013 – Today we spent some time exploring the
area of Levis. We drove up to the Terrasse de Levis (a former fortification
across the Saint Lawrence River built to protect QC) and enjoyed the view of
the city and beyond. Levis is a very old
area itself, with many well-preserved stone buildings, colorful residences and
shops. One can see that many who work in Quebec City would live over here and
go across to work. The weather was not very conducive to much walking (more
rain), so most of our exploration was from the car today. Mike wound us through
the narrow streets where we took in the sights of this area. We made good use
of a free afternoon and caught up on laundry and a bit of organization. Living
in a small space of the MoHo really makes keeping things “orderly” essential.
Tomorrow we head to Montreal; we are looking forward to some better weather –
tv report is giving us hopes of SUNSHINE in a day or two.
 |
| Levis |
 |
| from Ferry to Levis |
 |
| view from Levis |
No comments:
Post a Comment