Québec - View from the River

On our third day in Québec we thought we'd drive away from the city to see what was there.  We also thought we'd have breakfast in perhaps a less expensive local establishment outside the city. We thought about driving north but ended up going east, alongside the St. Lawrence River and drove as far as Sainte Anne-de-Beaupré - some 30 miles away.


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It turned out that Ste. Anne-de-Beaupré is a place of pilgrimage for some catholics due to the church being reputed as a place of healing.  People also go there to visit the Cyclorama of Jerusalem.  We visited neither the church nor the Cyclorama, but turned around, stopped at Tim Horten's for coffee and donuts and returned to the city.  I can't help thinking that we missed an opportunity to do something a bit different by not going into the church or the Cyclorama, but I guess neither of us thought it worthwhile at the time.  It was only when we returned to our hotel to look up information that we learned what it was all about.

The highlight for us on that particular day was to be our 4-hour evening cruise on the St. Lawrence River to see fireworks over the Montmorency Falls.  The day was overcast and very humid with threatening rainstorms in the afternoon and evening.  We had pre-paid for our cruise tickets so off we went downtown on the bus armed with sweaters, umbrellas and (in my case) a rain jacket.  We picked up our tickets, at the same time enquiring about the predicted 60mph gusts on the river.  We were told that nothing short of a tsunami would cause the cruise to be cancelled.  I wasn't sure how bad it could be, but having crossed the English Channel a few times in choppy weather I wasn't too excited about being tossed around on a pleasure boat on that vast river.

Anyway, we went for an early dinner (because we hadn't booked the dinner cruise) and arrived at the boat about 45 minutes before it set sail.  I should mention at this point that it had been raining on and off for a while so that when we got on board, everything was wet, there were few places to sit under cover.  Since we were actually there to view fireworks, we set up on the top deck at the front - potentially the windiest, chilliest, wettest place but we decided to take a chance.  We barricaded ourselves behind umbrellas while it rained and hoped things would improve!

Taken on my mobile phone when the rain stopped

I had been looking forward to this cruise because it would afford an opportunity to see Québec from the river by night.  I'd seen it in photos but wanted to see it for myself.  I'm a sucker for 'views'  bright lights and fireworks so if it hadn't been for concerns about the weather I'd have been quite excited about it.

View of the Château Frotenac from the quayside.

 As it turned out, we were very fortunate.  The rain stopped and the clouds began to clear and while not a perfect starlit night, we ended up having a lovely evening.

The Château Frontenac from the river at dusk.

Wet deck after the rain stopped.

None of my fireworks photos are worth publishing and none of the night views of the scenery came out as well as I hoped, but we had such a nice time, it doesn't really matter.  At one point, members of the crew brought round free food - a box containing a ham baguette sandwich, a bag of chips (crisps) and salad.  We didn't know there would be food, but we devoured it despite having already had dinner!

Night view of old Quebec

Another feature of the cruise that we hadn't expected was the party atmosphere and from our birdseye view of the deck below we enjoyed the music and dancing as much as those who were participating.

The crew leading a performance of "YMCA"

It was fun singing along to all the old and new songs - and even a French one which I knew but can't for the life of me remember where from!  All in all it was a lovely evening and not at all spoilt by the rain or 60mph gusts of wind.

End of Day Three.

Quebéc - Friendly New France

So having done a recce the night before and found where the route of the $3 Navette (shuttle) bus passed close to our hotel, we went out to catch the 10:04 bus into the old city. Unfortunately, it having been many a long year since we rode on a public bus, we lacked the necessary coinage to deposit into the cash receptacle. To our utter astonishment, the driver, upon seeing our $20 bill and lack of coinage said, in English "No no, it's OK, you can have it.  It's a gift." and handed us two FREE bus tickets!  Bravo, that man! I say.  What a city! I can't imagine any bus driver being that kind anywhere else in the world.  What a wonderful warm feeling that gave us as we entered the old city once more. 

The bus dropped us at the foot of the cliff at the Basse Ville (Lower Town) and we walked slowly up the hill to the meeting place for the Voir Québec walk we had booked.  The sun was bright with the temperature in the 80s (F), but there being no humidity I felt up to the two-hour tour which we were about to take.  (Normally I wimp out after five minutes with the humidity levels we get in Massachusetts.)

I'm not going to go through the details of the walk, nor repeat the history because I can't remember most of it.  What I will do, though, is post captioned photographs that I took along the way. Don't forget to click on the pictures and magnify them for a super-duper close-up view!

Le Promenade des Gouverneurs

English style architecture

French style architecture

The French Consulate

Restaurant Aux Anciens Canadiennes - the part on the right is the oldest building in the city, dating back to the 1600s.  The horses and carriages carrying tourists are a daily sight in the city.

Rue du Parloir, leading to the Ursulines Museum

Entry to the Seminary, now used for the architecture faculty of the university.

Seminary courtyard

The once disreputable, now desirable street behind Rue St. Paul, where water used to flow and the buildings were accessed by stairs and bridges.

To help preserve the area's history, some apparently connected buildings are mere facades.

Sous le Fort, looking towards the Funicular

Petit Champlain

This is where our tour ended, after nearly two and a half hours of walking up and down hills.  Soon after we had a late lunch in a nice restaurant called Sous-le-Fort.

Baguette with duck, camembert cheese, pearl onion marmalade 'frites' and salad with a locally produced  alcoholic beverage made with pears to wash it down. Mmm!

End of Day Two

Québec - Speaking French in Canada

Last week, DH and I had the opportunity to spend a rare few days alone together, so after dropping the kids off at their residential summer camp, we took to the road and headed north for Québec.

 Quebec's most impressive hotel, and iconic landmark, le Château Frontenac.

The Château being somewhat out of our price range, we stayed in a hotel in the Sainte-Foy district of greater Québec and for $89 US per night, had a comfortable, spacious room on the ground floor in a quiet part of the hotel.  Free internet, convenient parking and a heated outdoor pool made it all the more pleasant. We arrived late Monday afternoon and after checking in, we drove from Sainte-Foy to Vieux Québec. 

I really had no idea of what to expect, although I'd seen some photos, and Googled a street-view of the area, but it was still somewhat unknown.  We managed to find a parking space nearby a restaurant-pub, "le D'Orsay", where we had dinner.  We got a table near an open window so the evening breeze came in together with the sounds of the street entertainers and the crowds of people watching them across the way.

After a delicious meal we walked up the rue du trésor, otherwise known as "artists' alley", where I lusted over the etchings, watercolours, acrylics and oils that were on sale. Many of them showed the sights of old Québec, particularly depicting them across the four seasons.

The architecture of the old city lends itself to some wonderful artistic renderings and all the works reflected the colours of the city at its vibrant best.

Alongside the Anglican church at the top of the alley there were more artists and sales of pottery, jewellery and sculptures.  We then walked towards the Château and the statue of Samuel de Champlain and past the crowds watching the entertainment to get a view of the St. Lawrence River.

We walked along the "Promenade des Gouverneurs", or Governors Walk, which is a boardwalk along the top of the cliff with expansive views of the river.

End of Day One.