Quebec City, July 19, 2016

July 19, 2016

53 degrees at 6:30 this morning but clear skies.  We take 112 to 73 N toward Quebec City.  We stop in a small town for gas and I try to talk to the woman clerk but she speaks no English.  I do remember the word for breakfast and she seems pleased that I said something she recognizes and points at a little diner across the street.  So we stop here for “petite dejeuner”. 

The waitress doesn’t speak English either, though I recognize eggs and she recognizes toast, so that’s pretty much what we have,  along with potatoes, coffee and juice.  The other clients are all older local men who are having a good chat in French.

From here we head for the town of Levis, which is directly across the St. Lawrence from Quebec City.  A roadtrekker advised that we can park there overnight at the ferry parking area  (for a fee) and ride the ferry to the city.  Seems like a good plan! We arrive about 9:30 AM, find a parking spot and hop the ferry.  Great view of the city with the castle-like Chateau Frontenac prominent.

The day is overcast and threatens rain a few times but thankfully holds off.   We walk through the lower part of old town – narrow streets and old buildings, most now shops and restaurants. 

There is a funicular to the upper city, but we opt to climb the many stairs.  We want to arrange a walking tour, and manage to find one that will begin in about an hour.  In the meantime we wonder along the Promenade that overlooks the river.  Many statues, beautiful flowers, street performers .

Champlain Statue

Our tour guide is Marie  Legrouix, whose English is excellent as she is married to a Brit. 

There are about a dozen people in our group.  We stop often and Marie explains the founding of the city by Champlain in 1608, the battles between the French and British, which the British finally won.   Despite the British victory, many French people already lived here and did not want to leave, so the French language and ways have prevailed.  Over 80% of the people of Quebec province speak French, though many are bi-lingual.  Some schools are French, some English but each school teaches the other language as secondary, through all the years.

We learn much about history of Quebec, and learn about the Canadian flag (the red stripes on either side represent the Atlantic and Pacific oceans – red because that was the color of the political party in power when it was adopted), the province of Quebec flag features the fleur-de-lis, and the City of Quebec flag features a golden ship, representing the boat that brought Champlain and the blue background representing France.

We learn about early founders, mainly males in the fur trade, and the French efforts to get women here – King Louis IV sent  780 “daughters” – orphans from France –yearly for 10 years to provide brides. The Ursuline nuns of a local convent  cared for the daughters and arranged marriages. Married men received many bonuses and benefits to encourage marriage. And it worked, because the population grew quickly. Because the French were mainly Catholic,  Quebec was Catholic and there are still many monasteries, convents, seminaries and churches.  Because organized religion is on the decline here, many of these buildings are being turned to other uses such as schools and government offices.

Former seminary, now a girls' school

In 1985 Quebec City became an UNESCO world heritage site.  It is the oldest European architecture in North America and the only walled city north of Mexico. 

One of the gates in the wall, rebuilt more recently

The wall was actually built in 1820 and lined with cannons to keep the Americans out and the city was never fired upon from that time forward.

Most of the roofing is made of metal  now, replacing flammable wood. And many roofs have snow fences and/or ladders to make snow removal easier. 

With an average of 11’ of snow a year, many of the roofs need to be shoveled.   The architecture is a mix of French and British influence.

The final battle between the British and French for Quebec took place in an area called the Plains of Abraham.  Turns out the reference to Abraham is nothing biblical at all, rather the battlefield area was where a local named Abraham pastured his cattle.  The area is now a huge park – the lungs of Quebec. When we walked there, they were setting up all kinds of tents and equipment for an upcoming music festival.

Following the tour we walk some more and have lunch at the oldest building in the city – Aux Anciens Canadiens, which our guide recommended for traditional Quebec fare.

We had salad and crab cakes to start, followed by Pork Pie and Veal Stew, ending with strawberry sorbet and maple bread pudding.  Very tasty and pleasant service.

Artists' alley

We wondered back to the lower city and did some “window licking” – French term for window shopping. Stopped to admire several impressive murals, then caught the ferry back to Levis about 6:00.

He's smiling because we tipped him.

Part of a city-wide art display on "passages"

 

Relaxed a bit and walked a walking/biking trail near our parking area.  Lots of bikers, roller bladers and walkers.  Beth walked down to these lovely fountains by the ferry terminal and then practiced taking night pictures of the city.

Quiet night.  There was another larger camper nearby, but otherwise the lot was empty and quiet.  We paid $16 for the parking – that’s about $12 American.  Not the Chateau, but quite nice.