May 27th - Quebec City

This is our last 'rest day' before we get to Halifax on the 30th. Though, the description 'rest day' does not accurately describe the five previous days we have stayed somewhere for two nights. The same goes for our rest day in the wonderful city of Quebec. We have been 'on the go' ever since we had breakfast.

Our hotel, the Hotel Champlain,  is privately run and situated in the centre of the Haute Ville. The building won't win any prizes for architecture, but we have a very comfortable and large room

Our walk took us through typical Quebec streets with lovely old houses and plenty of trees.

We walked to see the Chateau Frontenac hotel which dominates the skyline of the Haute Ville and on the way we were passed by one of the electrically powered free shuttle buses that run in the city.

We went in to the Notre Dame Cathedral and saw the amazing golden ceiling inside the dome of the altar.

When we reached the Frontenac, in front was the statue of the founder of Quebec, Samuel de Champlain. He founded the city in 1608.

We walked along the Terrasse Dufferin and looked back at the monumental structure of the Chateau Frontenac.

We were walking towards the Plains of Abraham and went around the Citadel using the Promenade des Governeurs opened in 1960 by John Diefenbaker, Canadian Prime Minister. The promenade climbs by 350 steps to the Battlefields Park, with wonderful views of the St.Lawrence.

We walked across the Battlefields Park to the Joan of Arc statue in the Joan of Arc gardens which had lovely carpets of flowers.

A little further on in the park is the memorial to General Wolfe who died in the battle for Quebec. The stone memorial is on the exact spot where he died.

We walked back to the Haute Ville by way of the Citadel with its impressive fortifications.

There is a funicular you can take to the Basse Ville.

At the lower level we entered the Basse Ville with its very pretty streets and squares.

Our walk then took us back up to the Haute Ville through more lovely quiet streets.

 At the top of the ramparts were these two canon.

Finally, we walked up to the main arch leading through the ramparts before returning to our hotel

On their walk Bob and Thelma had seen a restaurant called Toast! that had a particularly interesting menu, so he booked a table for us to eat there this evening. The food was quite the very best we have had on our trip across Canada. Haute cuisine from beginning to end. The chef and owner, Christian Lemelin, came to introduce himself at our table. He was from Quebec and had been trained and worked at various restaurants including the world famous French Laundry in California. As we worked our way through our second bottle of wine we raised our glasses to Kenny and DeeAnne, saying how much we missed them They should, by now, either be home in El Paso or nearly there.

We all agreed it was a wonderful way to finish our day in this fantastic city. Tomorrow we leave Quebec to drive nearly 400 kms along the north shore of the St.Lawrence River to Baie Comeau where we catch a ferry at 5pm to cross the St.Lawrence. The crossing takes about 2 hours. Once again we will see how huge this river is!