Quebec City

Wednesday August 14, 2013

The hotel

We were on our way bright and early into the morning rush hour, heading east. Quebec City is about 160 miles from the marina so we expected to be there for lunch. The drive was uneventful. The countryside was green with corn and wheat in the fields. It rained. We were checked in to our hotel by 1 PM and headed into the old city.

Quebec City is brilliant. Visiting here made the whole trip to Canada a big win. Its hard to believe that we are in North America. If Quebec City was designed and built by Walt Disney he could not do a better job.

First a bit of history. QC is located on a prominent headland where the St. Lawrence narrows. Its strategic location was identified by Champlain (a French explorer) back in the 1500s. The French settled and fortified the position which miffed the English and after about 100 years General Wolf attacked and conquered the city. (Back in Australia we learned this in grade school). Some time later King Louis of France accepted this defeat in exchange for recognition of French control of Haiti. (I seem to have made some deals like that, just on a smaller scale.)

Street scene

QC is the only fortified city in North America. It has been beautifully preserved for tourists. Walking around QC is lie walking around Luxembourg or Heidelberg or Regansberg in Germany. It houses the most photographed hotel in North America. The architecture, the atmosphere, the setting and view of the river from the top of the cliffs is spectacular. I am at a loss for words.

We learned at our hotel that there would be a free outdoor Cirque de Solei performance that night, so after dinner in town we rugged up and headed to the Citadel. We followed the flow and amazingly ended up "on the stage" of the outdoor theater. I have seen lots of shows (including CDS) but this was just amazing and breathtaking. We have some video that I will try and upload.

Thursday August 15, 2013

Deidre in summer gear

We were on the red double-decker for a tour of the city by 9:30 AM. This is becoming our new standard for a new place. Its not that expensive and you get to see the whole place and get some history. Fun, but a bit cool.

There is no doubt that Quebec in Canada is a funny set up. A business in Quebec MUST answer the phone in French - that's the law! There is no English allowed on signs in Quebec, but French is mandatory on signs in the rest of the country. We found French-Canadians friendly and charming and 100% multilingual. No one starts a conversation in English, but we have experienced some really generous experiences in Quebec.

After lunch we retrieved the truck and drove back to Montreal, getting well and truly caught in peek hour. Montreal seems a bit of a mess. The traffic is horrible, the infrastructure is falling down. Deidre made dinner on the boat.