Beautiful Old Town Quebec
French Fix
This last week Ros has been with us in Quebec and it's been great! It has meant reprising some of the places we have already been to, but also an opportunity to explore old Town Quebec. It is a most beautiful part of the city and after several years of not visiting France, it was a good French fix.
The citadel |
Monday August 4th, Ros and Fred explored the old town while I took Jack for a trail walk and got some errands done. The following day, Ros was my tour guide, we walked some 8k climbing around 150m, up to the Citadel at the top of the old town.
The Citadel is the formal home of Canada's Governor General, though in practice it is only occupied a few days a year. Most of the time the Governor is based in Canada's capital of Ottawa, which moved from Quebec on December 31st 1857.
It is still a military base and is home to the "Royal 22e Régiment, also known as the Van Doos, is the only military battalion based at the Citadelle of Quebec. It has been stationed there since 1920. The Citadel serves as its headquarters and is also the location of the regiment's museum. The Royal 22e Régiment is the only French-language infantry regiment in the Canadian Armed Forces". Other Canadian battalions rotate through on ceremonial duties.
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Outer ramparts |
The Citadel sits on a hill alongside the St Lawrence river, so was strategically placed to defend the high ground as well as the waterway. The views at the top were stunning across Quebec city and the surrounding countryside.
We'd both like to spend more time exploring this part of town. It is beautifully maintained and public spaces mix modern art alongside traditional architecture.
I really enjoyed the French fix, architecture, ambience and buzz of the city. May, June or even September is probably a better time to visit, when it might be less busy.
There is also a huge variety of bars, cafés and restaurants, including three Irish pubs. Slightly incongruous as one of them was blasting out New Orleans jazz. I would have expected the Dubliners!
Many of the streets are pedestrianized and cafés spill out on to the pavement. Our lunch stop, was close to the waterfront and had steak et frites on the lunchtime menu. Could have been in a Parisian café, except the French being spoken didn't sound like French French.
More pictures of old town Quebec below.
Ros goes back to Vancouver late Wednesday and we head off towards New Brunswick on Thursday.
Beautiful though parts of Quebec and Quebec City are, I am ready for a change of scenery and the wretched highways and complex intersections that have had me going off on the wrong ramp a number of times!
The afternoon we arrived at the KOA campground (for the second time) we had a thunderstorm warning. We were not to be disappointed. Returning from an afternoon walk, we had literally just got up the steps into the RV, door still open, when a bolt of lightning lit up the trailer, with simultaneous sound effects.
None of us had ever been so close to the wrong end of a bolt of lightning. Jack was on equally alarmed. It was quite frightening. After we composed ourselves we looked around outside expecting to see the smoldering remains of an RV or one of the trees in bad shape. Nothing. We have no idea where it came down, there was no damage anywhere, so it remains a mystery.
Researching the effect of lightning on trailers it seems we would have been safer staying in the truck. Metal and Faraday cage and all that!
RVs
Whilst we have been driving across Canada, I have been struck by the variety of Recreational Vehicles or 'RVs' that people use on their camping trips.
From the home-made to the bespoke, from the sublime to the ridiculous.
I make no judgement on what personal choices are, as it has to suit individual need, budget and travel requirement.
Some require organized campsites, others can go off-road and into the backcountry with integral solar power, battery packs and fresh and used water storage tanks. It is 'horses for courses'. My only perspective is that we made the right choice in what we decided to get for our needs.
At the budget end, there are trailers which flatpack and open out with tented ends, or just hard sides that fold out to form a peak.
Everything from trailers that are home made to those production models (like ours), some that go from a pod of a few feet, to nearly 40'.
There are the 5th wheelers (5th wheel trailers) where the trailer attaches to the flatbed of the truck, a bit like an articulated lorry trailer attaches to the tractor unit.
Finally there are the motorhomes. Everything from a converted VW camper to the higher-end units that pull their own runabout cars. Here are a few examples:
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Another mini-pod (the car has just gone gone behind the other trailer). |
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A small pod-sized trailer |
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A retro-designed Boler mini-trailer |
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A motorbike trailer |
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The iconic Airstream - which come in a variety of sizes |
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An upmarket motorhome |
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Small chassis motorhome - popular rental size |
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A conventional older model of mid-sized travel trailer |
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European off-road motorhome that sells for circa €600k. Shipped over by a Swiss couple who plan to head down to Mexico for the winter, before travelling back up the West Coast of USA and Canada. It can stay for a year before they have to pay import taxes. (£523k - CAD $960k). It got a lot of Camp attention! |
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Top-end motorhome rig - circa $500k US (I looked it up) plus cost of the designer trailer and the Porsche that goes in it! (£374k - CAD $687k) |
Old Town Quebec
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The Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac - the brand clearly likes iconic landmarks |
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Tree lined walks |
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Quebec Parliament Building |
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Staircase and shadow (One of Ros's pics) |
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Lunch spot Cuisine & Cocktails Alphonse |
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Tour guide outside the restaurant |
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Hotel de ville - being readied for a weekend of the Gathering of the Giants (articulated maquettes) which tells the history of New France |
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And here's one of Fred and Ros from their mum & daughter day in Vieux Quebec |
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Old town architecture |
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After walking 8km and 150m up, we're ready for lunch |
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I bought the hat! |
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Street art |
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From the bottom looking up - we walked! |
The classic “Chateau Frontenac” from the Old Town photo! I took the same shot in 1978 and Louise took it again in 2005. It’s an irresistible view. Enjoying these updates - keep ‘em coming!
ReplyDeleteThanks Ken, we loved the old town, though after being in and around Quebec City for two and a half weeks we’re looking forward to fewer highways and more open spaces!
DeleteLovely series of photos! Thank you so much for sharing your journey. Warm greetings from Montreal!
ReplyDelete