WE headed to Quebec city on the 26Th September for 6 days, we headed out of Ottawa and followed the 417 up through Montreal and on to Quebec City, the roads are not the most exciting with being only able to see tree.
We arrived in Quebec at about 3.30 after a 5 hour drive and headed into the old city for a look as was to early to head o our B&B where we were staying. We parked near the Fairmount hotel and walked along the boardwalk below the Citerdale and then back around and back to the car, the view from the boardwalk over the river and Levi across the river was amazing, you could understand why they build the fort here in the first place.
We then headed back to the B&B and meet the owners, we were shown to our room, very nice cosy room for the week. We talked the the couple that ran it about places to go for dinner and they suggested to go down the road to Cartia street as it had lots of good food places, so we walked down the road and found somewhere for dinner.
The next day we got up and had the most amazing breakfast and talked and figured out what to do for the day in the old city.
We decided to head to the lower old city along the water front and see how we went from there. We parked the car and walked into the lower city.
The area was amazing all the old buildings and the narrow streets with little shops and cafes, we walked though all the little streets and looked in all the shops and then decided to head over to the markets as had been told that it was a good place to see, on the way there we passed the area set up to celebrate the 400 years of Quebec city. The markets were nice and very busy, there was anything from fruit veges and alcohol and jewellery on sale, not that we brought anything.
We left the markets and found a trail of green dots on the footpath and Sarah remembered getting a booklet on this, it was a guided trail so we decided to follow it backwards and head into the upper area of the old city. It passed some very nice old buildings and went up lots of stairs.
Once in the old city again we just wondered the streets looking at the building and shops, we decided to stop for lunch in a little place and got some origin Quebec food not, nachos, was cheap and filling so that was good.
We then walked around the Chateau Frontenac, we headed in to the main lobby, the place was huge, and i pity the poor guy that had to polish all the brass everywhere, we booked a tour of the Chateau but had to wait two hours so we headed out and wondered the city some more.
The tour of the Chateau was Really worthwhile, the girl that took it was dressed like in the twenty's and talked about life in that time, the tour went from the lobby up to one of the rooms and we got to see how the different areas of the chateau had been added over time. We also went into the room where Churchill and Roosevelt planned the D-day landing.
After the tour we headed back down to the lower area and had dinner and then headed back to the B&B to sleep..
Day 2 in Quebec City.
Once again our morning started with an amazing breakfast, and then we headed out walking to La Citadelle, we walked through the Plains of Abraham this is where the French lost to the British in 1759, and also lost control of the city. It was a fogy day but still a nice walk. We arrived just in time for an English tour so headed off on a tour of La Citadelle, it was a good tour that talked of the history of the fort, we headed up to one of the old canons and looked out over the river and also looked in the museums that where there. The odd thing is that the fort is still used by Canadian troops still. We then decided to do a tour of the Governor Generals house as it was also in the fort and was free. The house was amazing and very nice inside, the odd things was the girl that shadowed the tour the whole and the fact you could see she had a gun in the back of her jacket, but beyond that is was a good tour.
We headed back into the old city and looked around more, we found a maple syrup shop that had some of the history of how maple syrup was collected and processed that was enlightening, did not know it took 40 litres of sap to make 1 litre of syrup.
We then headed for Parliament buildings but discovered the toured did not run on the weekends never mind, we went back to the wall around the city and looked at the museum about the walls of the city, by now we had walked allot so slowly heard back to our B&B for a good sleep.
Day 3 in Quebec City.
Today we got back in the car and drove as out feet were still sore from yesterday. Today we headed out of the city and headed north to Sainte-Anne-De-Beaupre, a big church, we had read about it in one of the books we had, so decided to go look, the Church was huge and almost in the middle of nowhere, it was sort of interesting but not as nice as Notre Dame in Montreal, After about an hour of wondering around we headed further out to Canyon Ste-Anne. It cost $11 to wonder along the tracks and look at the narrow canyon with bridges crossing it with different view points, it was good but not $11 each good. We then carried on to have a look at Mount Ste-Anne parc which is a ski area in the winter, we figured we might get some good pictures of the autumn colours but was cloudy and we had to pay $4 to park the car, we decided was not worth it, if it had been a nice day it would have been good.
We heaed back to Quebec and headed for Montmorency falls, first we headed to the top and parked behind some shops and walked to the bridge at the top of the falls and joined all the other people taking pictures of the top of the waterfall, next we went down the bottom and found a little back street to park as the car park here cost $10, yes you get to pay for everything here, we parked the car and i walked to the falls and took some pictures before walking back to the car.
Next We went to Ile D'Orleans a big island in the middle of the St Laurence river.
We drove around the whole island and stopped at different spots and tried things like cider and chocolate, the island was very nice and a nice drive around, but again would have been nice if the weather was good. You could keep going back to the island and trying different things, I guess is a bit like Matakana at home.
We then headed back into Quebec city and drove around the edge of the river below the city, it had been done up for the celebration of the 400 years of the city and looked very nice. We then had dinner and went back to the B&B for some sleep.
Day 4 in Quebec City.
today we decided to have an easy day so headed out and looked at the big Shopping malls in the city, was quiet good we parked and looked in one and then you walk across a small road and you are in the next and so on. We wondered around until our feet started to hurt again and then decided to go and look at the Aquarium, It was good as there was hardly anyone there, we got in at just the right time to see them feed the fish in the big tank and then wondered a bit more before the Seal show and then the Walruses show, there where 2 polar bears also but they only wanted to sleep i guess they found it hot. We also found a big lobster and took his picture as we weren't aloud to take him home for dinner!
We then headed back into the old city and managed to find a free car park and went and brought some post cars since we had not got any the other day.
We headed back to Cartia street and found another place for dinner before headed back to our B&B.
The next day was head home time, so we left our B&B and headed out of the city and crossed the river and followed the old road back towards Montreal just for something different and we thought it might be more interesting, we went back thought Montreal and then finally back home, to unpack and get ready for work and also plan our next adventure next month.
