Update # 13: Quebec City, QC

Update 13:  Quebec City, QC   July 10-13, 2010

We drove from Montreal to Quebec City via the river road. We hoped to see the water along the way, and we did in some places.  Modest homes to mansions occupied the waterfront acreage. Some sat perched on a high bank, and other nestled in near a low bank.  Many homes were hidden from view by trees and bushes between the house and the road. River rock entries, brick gateposts, designer fencing and manicured hedges hinted at what lay beyond the point where the driveway met the road. Across the road, fields of corn surround farm houses on three sides. For mile after mile the cornfields areonly interrupted by the occasional cow or horse pasture.

 Produce stands of all sizes stationed in farmhouse driveways sold strawberries, raspberries and corn. Cider mills begin to appear in this area selling the sweet apple nectar. The big storm that hit Montreal hit here as evidenced by the number of newly split trees with big limbs on the ground.

Small towns sat close to the road.  Garden swings for two people and glides for four people begin to appear in yards. People sway gently in an effort to fend off the heat of the day. 

Canadians love motorcycles!  Many swoop noisily down the highway. We've seen "bikes" with side cars and the traditional trikes with one wheel in front and two wheels in back.

New to us are the bikes with two wheels in front and one in back.  At first these look like a futuristic car coming at you... then you see the single back wheel.  We found these two at one of the falls we were visiting.

In a predominately Catholic culture seeing a stature of Mary either alone or set in an alcove is not unusual. However seeing church-size crucifixes or crosses was something new to us.  Some of these 6-8 foot symbols stood alone.  Some were under a canopy or in a gazebo.


The Quebec KOA thankfully placed us under a shady tree....nice relief from the sun.  (We forgot to take photos here of the campsite.) However the tree took away any chance for satellite reception. After setting up our new base we went in search of dinner. We had seen St. Hubert's in Montreal.  Yellow buildings stand out from the landscape with bright yellow delivery cars parked in the lot. A happy chicken, who reminds me of  Foghorn Leghorn, grins down from their signs. We expected the stereotype "chicken joint". However the menu provided a wide variety of entrees all made with delicious roasted chicken. I wish they had St. Hubert restaurants in the states.

Our first tour day began as usual at the visitor's center. However, Quebec City has NO BUS TOUR through the old city. The narrow streets and three story brick building attached to narrow sidewalks makes maneuvering the cobblestone lanes tricky even for small cars. Walking or bicycling is preferred modes of transportation. The smallest cars make up the majority of vehicles, although pick-ups and smaller SUV's are used too. We did take advantage of a park and ride lot to ride a shuttle bus to Old Town.  Once there, we saw plenty of available parking on the streets and in lots.

Old Quebec City climbs in tiers above the harbor.  Lower Town or Basse-Ville extends from the harbor to the base of the hill. The walled  city of Upper town or Haute-Ville sits high on the hill, and remains the only walled city north of Mexico.  A boardwalk creates a terrace halfway between the two levels. Cobblestones pave both areas.  The escarpment separating the Upper and Lower towns reminds me of the cliff in Port Townsend between the waterfront and the town on top. Only this one is covered with a stone wall and shrubs.

The bus dropped us near the docks, where a Holland Cruise Liner was moored. Place Royale forms the center of Lower Town. The area's preservation efforts keep it as it was in the 1800's.  Near the south end of Place Royale, Quartier  Petit-Champlain overflows with boutiques and restaurants on different street levels. One cobbled alley way leads to another and another.

We explored this one shop and watched this man who makes beautiful instruments.   We talked to several artists in this little shop.

We watched this girl poured hot maple sugar on to the ice tray. She then twirled a stick into the hot syrup and let it cool some on the stick. Then she would gather more from the hot syrup and cool it. She continued the process until the size was right to make pure maple sugar suckers.

 Several locations in the maze of shops provide a path to Upper Town.

We walked way around the base of the hill before we began the steep climb to the Upper Town streets. On this very hot day, Lynn and I needed a couple of rest stops on the way.  At the entry point we found gun mounts for a photo op.

To our surprise most of the buildings up here were apartments. Tall structures glued to one another to form a huge block with sidewalks.  Some buildings were narrow. Some were wider. The red building is a museum. The yellow house stood out from its more typical old brick neighbors.


Identical doors separated by a window or garage door opened onto the street. One place painted the doors different muted shades to have them stand out from the dark grey stone.  Shade provided by the block buildings and the narrow streets made the climb to the next level on the hill easier. Except for a couple of other tourists and a small car the streets were deserted. 

Surprise! As we exited one such deserted lane, we found ourselves looking down an incredibly busy street. We apparently had walked into Rue Sainte Jean, the town center.Stores and restaurants overflowed with people. Vehicular traffic was restricted for several blocks. Festival signs and banner hung across the street.  McDonald's blends in with its surrounding architecture.

For lunch we chose Une Petite Coin Breton.  (one little corner of Breton) The wait staff wore traditional Flemish costumes as they serve the delicious crepe cuisine.

An arched portal gate at the end of Sainte Jean shows the entrance/exit point for this part of the Upper Town. Outside the gate, festival tents beckoned to passers by. Loud music blared from the nearby stage as jubilant festival attendee gyrated to the rock beat.

We turn back along the interior wall and began to climb again, toward the Citadel.

 Samuel de Champlain created the fortress in 1608 for the French. The Citadel successfully defended upper town and the lower mercantile district for six decades. In 1759, the city fell to the British ending France's claim to the area. However Quebec is British in name only. Today in cultures and traditions it remains French.






By design there is only one road into the Citadel. Two stone walls surround the fort and the Royal Guard stand duty at the gate.  The Governor General of Canada uses the fort as one of his official residences.

We didn't realize that the Citadel remains an active Canadian base until we found entrance to the grounds needs a fee and an escort.  We could enter the gift shop, however, and peek at the grounds. According to the AAA tour book, the Citadel is the largest fortification in North America garrisoned by regular troops. Being more than familiar with a military base community, we opted to just walk around the outside.

From this Citadel height, the cruise ship looked like a toy.The roofs of Place Royale created colorful uneven tiles around the base of the hill.  Immediately below us, four forest green and white striped parasol-topped gazebos sat at intervals along the 50 foot wide boardwalk. Black, ornate wrought iron supported the four corners of each gazebo, that provided shade for the green metal benches along each side. We descended the steep walkway to seek comfort under the nearest gazebo. A soft breeze blowing up from the river provided momentary relief from the heat. 

Families strolled along the boardwalk with little one running ahead. Young lovers moved slowly, arms entwined even in this extreme heat. Street musicians gather an audience.
Some people sat on benches using Popsicles and ice cream to cool off. Cameras clicked everywhere.

The boardwalk winds around the mountain from the Citadel and in front of the Chateau Frontenac extending into a large wooden plaza.

The Le Chateau Frontenac presents an imposing edifice above the boardwalk. Built in a medieval French style, the ancient high rise hotel comes complete with copper roofs and turrets. The center block can be seen for miles.   We entered the gift shops from the boardwalk level. The Chateau gift shops and inner halls reminded me of the Chateau Lake Louise in Alberta and the Coronado Hotel in San Diego.

 

The ruins of an original building lie under the plaza. For a fee you can go down and explore the ruins.

We paused in the plaza to watch a street performer juggle pins, fire and knives from the ground and from a unicycle.

Tired and hot we chose to take the Funicular down to the Quartier Petit-Champlain. The twin glass elevator cars runs up and down the slope on a set of steel tracks moving people between the upper and lower town.

Soon we boarded the shuttle bus and returned to the air-conditioned car.

We attempted a driving tour around the modern Quebec, but it didn't come close to being what the brochure advertised.  The drive took us by the National Assembly Building and its fountain. The old train depot and its fountain and the waterfront were included.  We did see lots of parks, which appears to be typical of the Canadian culture.Festivals seem on-going in all Canadian cities.  Montreal had just finished a Blues Festival with about 265 venues of which 200 were free.  Some kind of kid festival was going on along the waterfront in Quebec City as well and the music concert on the hill.

This is the train station and the fountain across the street from it.

 

Revived by the coolness wafting over us, we decided to stop by the Chute de la Chaudiere....the falls by near our campground.  The falls are the results of a hydroelectric plant. The guys had enough energy to hike down to a bridge and lower viewing site. The girls stayed at the street level view platform.

Parc de la Chute-Montmorencey became our first destination the next day.  For only a $10 parking fee, we could enter the gates and walk to the foot of the Montmorencey Falls,,,hmmmm....we did. A flat walkway led from the visitor center to the falls. A tremendous amount of water spills over the cliff sending spray well out to the closest viewing platform and sprinkling visitors. 

Photo op in front of the falls.

Attached to the gorge wall, a series of wooden stairs switchback up the side of the steep embankment. Several gazebo viewpoints allow resting places along the way. Jay and Derrille scaled the wooden apparatus to reach the  foot bridge suspended over the falls. 

 Lynn and I drove the car to the hotel high atop the cliff.  Fortunately our parking receipt from below allowed us to also enter the hotel parking lot. The guys met us and we followed the more or less level trail to the bridge. 

The Basilica of Sainte Anne du Beaupre complex can be found a little ways north of the Montmorencey Falls. People come here for healing and ,as in St. John's Oratory in Montreal, leave crutches and canes behind. Like the other magnificent structures of worship the circular sanctuary claims your attention, except this one in comparison has a look of simplicity.

White columns create the circular altar boundary. Half walls of dark brown wood disappear behind the stark white columns. A shallow pyramid of glass panes held by gold triangular frames hangs like a cap at the back of the sanctuary. The cap is rimmed with a wide, flat fringe of gold metal. Inside the cap, white glass balls illuminate the tabernacle and table below. Two gold supports connect the cap and the table creating three areas behind the table. Sheer white curtains hang from the cap to the floor.  Also suspended from the cap, a crucifix hangs between the gold supports.  A simple white altar cloth totally covers the front altar table used for Mass.   A singular beeswax candle at each end of this table provides the only decoration.

 A diorama depicting Jesus and the woman at the well form an extension of the altar to the left.

 Just beyond the diorama an ornate statue of St. Anne rises above the church floor in the center of an open space. Her pedestal creates a circular kneeler around the base for people to kneel and pray. Behind her is one of many side altars.

 In contrast to the simplicity of the main alter; the other altars within the basilica remain ornate. Stairs near St. Anne lead to a corridor that circle behind the main altar. The walkway separates the sanctuary from ten small alcoves dedicated to people revered by the church.Although each alcove connects to the next one, each space provides a place for quiet meditation.

The lower level of the basilica contained the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception. Two smaller chapels also reside there. Down a side hallway, an identical replica of the white sculpture of the Pieta in France, sits in a circular alcove with a domed ceiling.  I entered a Votive Room with hundreds of burning candles. The heat reminded me of the inside of a kiln.  The complex includes a monastery, gift shop, and a museum on the ground level.  Up the hill is a Way of the Cross and another chapel  that I didn't realize were there. Again the heat drove us back to the air conditioned car.

Most things in the area make a reference to something associated with the basilica. St. Anne's Canyon a little farther north is a narrow deep gorge from which a waterfall cascades down in seven levels.

Two suspension bridges span  the narrow  gorge.  The easy walk under the shade of the forest was doable on such a hot day. We hiked the bridges

The photo on the left is from one suspension bridge to the other one, up high.  I don't think you can see the lower one in this photo. The photo on the right is looking down from the second suspension bridge high above it.

Then Derrille and Jay took off to do the lower bridge too. A sign informed the hikers that passed that way: There are 182 steps to descend to this bridge, and remember you need to climb the same 182 steps to return here.

We also had some fun photo opts with the "residents" of the park.

This grouse reminded Derrille and Jay of the time they were chased down a trail in Alberta by an angry grouse....except that one was MUCH BIGGER!  :)

The rest of our day was in the coolness of the car as we drove around Ile d' Orleans. A bridge gives visitors access to the island.  Although it was late in the day, the chocolaterie shop was still open, and Lynn left a monetary contribution there.  In the 17th and 18th century 300 Europeans settled on the island, which makes it the largest historical district in Quebec. The country side is beautiful.  Farms roll over the hills that form the center of the island.  Homes sit around the waterfront like a fringe.

Fruit stands every half mile caught our attention. We stopped at one and bought more fresh raspberries.  Besides raspberries and strawberries, the farms grow potatoes, onions, wheat, hay, vegetables, and grapes. Small wineries invite you in. Cider mills do the same thing.  Dairy farms  provide fresh milk and cheese products. The road around the island follows the water. 

Large ocean going freighters come and go up the St. Lawrence Seaway.  Modest home, farms and manors reflect the island life.  Here people sit on their front porches or use the swings and gliders in their yards.  To our surprise a large number of homes had swimming pools.  Some were the portable above ground kind, while others were good size regular in the ground pools.  Many homes possessed lovely flower gardens as well as large vegetable gardens. 

As done in many houses in Canada, laundry hangs on the lines to dry. 

Around the island each little town had a church in downtown.

We stopped for dinner, on the east side of the island, at a little Bistro right on the water.  We sat outside and enjoyed a lovely evening. Then we continued our leisurely drive around the island to exit via the bridge and return to the RVs.








Next stop:  New Brunswick