Old Québec

I slept pretty well, the neighborhood seems to be a quiet family oriented one. Most of the sounds I heard were of kids walking to school on their own or with their parents. Flavie’s sweet cat came and sat in my bed as I got ready. I had a cup of tea on the terrace, then headed out to the local coffee shop, Le Philtre for a latte and an absolutely delicious fruit muffin to start my day. They had a cute little free library and also racks of pre-loved clothing for sale at really reasonable prices. The Internet is not working at Flavie’s place so I used their Wi-Fi to figure out how to get to Old Quebec. There were lots of great outdoor community spaces nearby, making it a very inviting space. 

I had a nice stroll back through the neighborhood which I did not see a lot of last night in the dark. I passed some public art, 2 refrigerators with fresh food for the needy, a sign for the Quebec marathon taking place on Sunday-it will be passing through the neighborhood I’m staying in so I’m planning to go out and cheer people on. The signal crossings don’t use buttons, instead you put your hand under a black box that recognizes movement and lights up to let you know the signal is activated. I like this touch-free method! 

So this post isn’t too long I’m going to mainly post pictures with a bit of commentary about where I went.

Sites on the walk into Old Quebec.

L’hôtel de ville (City Hall)

The Basilica Cathédrale Notre Dame de Québec. Absolutely gorgeous. 

Château Frontenac -wow!!! No wonder it is the most photographed hotel in the world. I had lunch at Le Petit Château, à crêpe and fondue restaurant in the château. Delicious crepes!

Dufferin Terrace – views of the St. Lawrence river and the surrounding buildings.

Citadelle de Québec – learned about Québec’s history. The stone building with the green roof and skinny little slits in the side was the building that faced the only entrance into the citadel. There were armed guards inside, and those openings were appropriately called murder holes. The views were spectacular, rightfully so as they needed a place with the best visuals to watch for attackers (mainly Americans…) I saw a black squirrel, something I’ve never seen before. The Royal 22e Régiment is still active on the citadel and we saw several people in their fatigues. Their regimental mascot is Batisse the goat who is part of all official events. There is even a job in the regiment as goat handler. The Governor-General (the Crown’s representative to Canada) has a second residence at the citadel (her primary residence is in the capital, Ottawa.) because it’s an active military base you can only explore the citadel on a guided tour. Our tour guide ended our tour at the monument to Vimy Ridge, a battle during World War One where a huge number of Canadians lost their lives. Je me souviens is Québec’s motto – it means ‘I remember’.

Petit Champlain-adorable street with lots of touristy shops. You can take the funicular (cable car) from lower to upper Quebec here. It’s like a minute long without much of view until you get to the top and get out. You could also just walk up a couple of staircases for free instead of spending five bucks to go in it. Guess what I did?? They aren’t too concerned about vegetarians here apparently…

There are cute little alleyways everywhere with art for sale or art on the buildings. Adorable cafés with sweet courtyards. And tour guides in 17th century costume.

Lots of beautiful churches. 

The ramparts & various gates that once guarded the city. There are lots of cannons here!

On my way home I saw a lovely park, art on a more modern building, a restaurant with a great name and murals. I stopped at the local marché for food, ate it and went to bed, I was exhausted!