We woke up this morning to dark skies, fog, and rain (ah ha, liquid sunshine). Had I been transported back to the Pacific Northwest? Was I on the Columbia River? It sure looked like it until I saw that all the signs were in French. Welcome to Quebec, the France of North America and a UNESCO world heritage site (Michael thinks it looks more French than France does).
The word Quebec comes from the Algonquin word kebec, which means “where the river narrows.” The St. Lawrence River is only one mile wide at the point where the city was first founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain. It is one of the oldest cities in North America. Did you even wonder why Quebec is French while the rest of Canada is English speaking? France controlled the area for 150 years, and then the British defeated the French in the Seven Year War to win control. In 1874, the commonwealth of Canada was established. The city remained French in spite of British rule and today, 95% of the population speaks French as their native tongue (English is taught in first grade, so the population is bilingual).
Quebec City has no industry to speak of; it is the seat of government for the province of Quebec; unlike the rest of Canada, where all signage must be in English and French, here it is in French only; and it snows here – 11 to 13 feet is the average snowfall and last year they had 18 feet! Our guide said it is the snowiest city in North America. To keep the river open during the winter, they use an ice breaker starting in January. The St. Lawrence River is vital to the US economy as 10% of all US shipping goes from the Atlantic Ocean through the seaway to the Great Lakes.
The city is built on two hills – Lower and Upper. The city started in Basse-Ville (Lower Town). It is a jumble of narrow, rambling, and cobblestone roads and alleyways; stone and brick houses and plazas, many dating from the early 17th century. In 1682, a fire ravaged the town; as a result, it was mandated that all buildings be built of stone. Most of these are still standing today. Like I explained in the New York post, dirt from excavations was used as fill to increase the size of the waterfront and the bricks (used as ballast in ships coming from Scotland and England) were recycled for building houses. Nothing was ever wasted. They have a tradition of using copper for the roof: it is abundant here and it heats up in the sun so it helps melt the snow. The rooftops (many are red) are extremely steep and you will see ladders on top of them. They are there in case of a fire so firefighters can get up on the roof to pour water down the chimney to put out a fire (usually starts in the fireplace) and keep it from spreading to other buildings. Today there are many unique boutiques, galleries, restaurants, and tourist shops located here. It was just a short walk from the pier to town.
It was pouring rain this morning and I was hurting pretty bad today. Since my excursion was scheduled for after lunch, I just took my time getting ready for the day and reading a book. Michael decided to go out to see the city in the morning as his excursion was to visit a basilica and a waterfall located out of town in the afternoon and he wouldn’t have an opportunity to see the city. Michael’s impression of Quebec was -- in a word -- spectacular. It is indeed a gorgeous city!
I found Quebec City to be very charming, clean, and nicely kept up. They are very much into their heritage and it shows, especially with the city mural depicting its history. This mural is on the side of a brick building, 5 stories tall and was painted by 19 artists. It is quite a work of art and the attention to detail is impeccable. There were flower baskets and window boxes hanging from every street light and balcony. Even though the skies were gloomy, I did not get a depressed feeling as there was so much color. The Battlefield Park (also known as the Plains of Abraham) was where the French and British came to blows in 1759. And, we know who won that fight. Yeah, the French lost, but they managed to keep the culture. This is the “Central Park” of Quebec City and the grounds are magnificently manicured.
I started with 35 people on the bus and came back to the ship with 10. As the afternoon progressed, the rain stopped and people wanted to shop! I don’t get it. There is so much history and beauty and people were crazed to buy postcards and buy junk that they could get a home a whole lot cheaper (the tax rate is atrocious here). How about imprinting the sights and vistas into your mind? We had a walking tour of the Plaza Royale, the cradle of French civilization in North America and Notre-Dame des Victoires, one of the oldest churches still standing in Canada. All in all, it was an outstanding day.
Michael:
I spent a very pleasant afternoon in Quebec City. My tour began with a drive around the beautiful and pastoral island of Orleans. And guess what we finally saw --- COLORS!! Yes, we have been anticipating fall colors every since we hit New England and here they were at last, and beautiful. We continued on to the city of Ste Anne de Beaupre for a tour of the basilica, which was spectacular. Here’s some trivia (and yes, I thought of this myself) -- what is the difference between a basilica and a cathedral? A basilica is “a place of pilgrimage” while a cathedral is “the seat where the Bishop teaches from.” The basilica at Ste Anne de Beaupre, completed in 1928, was built on the site where colonial sailors caught in a devastating storms, prayed for deliverance and were spared. Aptly enough, the basilica prominently features a number of crutches, wheelchairs, walkers etc. that were discarded after people were healed.
Today, some one million people travel to this site each year. While the basilica, named after St. Anne, Jesus’ grandmother, is spectacular, the surrounding area is just tacky. It is chock a block with little museums, a “Cyclorama” containing the “World’s largest picture of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus,” and so forth. Perhaps the most outstanding features of the basilica were the copper doors. I have never seen anything like them.
We next traveled to the waterfalls at Montmorency. These where named for the Count of Montmorency, a good friend of Champlain. They were quite something, particularly since it had been raining so much they were running faster than usual. The falls are 272 feet high, approximately 90 feet higher than Niagara Falls, though nowhere near as wide. They recently open a bridge right over the falls and so you could walk out to some breathtaking vistas.
***
At dinner, a woman sitting at the next table thanked me (Beverly) for being such a good escort. She had been on many of my buses and she said she felt safe with me. She really appreciated that I looked out for my flock, especially the ones that couldn’t keep up. In fact, one escort today didn’t do that and two elderly ladies who couldn’t keep up took a taxi back to the ship when they couldn’t find their bus. They saw me walking back to the ship and then asked me to help them get the stuff that they left on the bus. It had a happy ending. I would never let that happen!
The word Quebec comes from the Algonquin word kebec, which means “where the river narrows.” The St. Lawrence River is only one mile wide at the point where the city was first founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain. It is one of the oldest cities in North America. Did you even wonder why Quebec is French while the rest of Canada is English speaking? France controlled the area for 150 years, and then the British defeated the French in the Seven Year War to win control. In 1874, the commonwealth of Canada was established. The city remained French in spite of British rule and today, 95% of the population speaks French as their native tongue (English is taught in first grade, so the population is bilingual).
Quebec City has no industry to speak of; it is the seat of government for the province of Quebec; unlike the rest of Canada, where all signage must be in English and French, here it is in French only; and it snows here – 11 to 13 feet is the average snowfall and last year they had 18 feet! Our guide said it is the snowiest city in North America. To keep the river open during the winter, they use an ice breaker starting in January. The St. Lawrence River is vital to the US economy as 10% of all US shipping goes from the Atlantic Ocean through the seaway to the Great Lakes.
The city is built on two hills – Lower and Upper. The city started in Basse-Ville (Lower Town). It is a jumble of narrow, rambling, and cobblestone roads and alleyways; stone and brick houses and plazas, many dating from the early 17th century. In 1682, a fire ravaged the town; as a result, it was mandated that all buildings be built of stone. Most of these are still standing today. Like I explained in the New York post, dirt from excavations was used as fill to increase the size of the waterfront and the bricks (used as ballast in ships coming from Scotland and England) were recycled for building houses. Nothing was ever wasted. They have a tradition of using copper for the roof: it is abundant here and it heats up in the sun so it helps melt the snow. The rooftops (many are red) are extremely steep and you will see ladders on top of them. They are there in case of a fire so firefighters can get up on the roof to pour water down the chimney to put out a fire (usually starts in the fireplace) and keep it from spreading to other buildings. Today there are many unique boutiques, galleries, restaurants, and tourist shops located here. It was just a short walk from the pier to town. It was pouring rain this morning and I was hurting pretty bad today. Since my excursion was scheduled for after lunch, I just took my time getting ready for the day and reading a book. Michael decided to go out to see the city in the morning as his excursion was to visit a basilica and a waterfall located out of town in the afternoon and he wouldn’t have an opportunity to see the city. Michael’s impression of Quebec was -- in a word -- spectacular. It is indeed a gorgeous city!
I found Quebec City to be very charming, clean, and nicely kept up. They are very much into their heritage and it shows, especially with the city mural depicting its history. This mural is on the side of a brick building, 5 stories tall and was painted by 19 artists. It is quite a work of art and the attention to detail is impeccable. There were flower baskets and window boxes hanging from every street light and balcony. Even though the skies were gloomy, I did not get a depressed feeling as there was so much color. The Battlefield Park (also known as the Plains of Abraham) was where the French and British came to blows in 1759. And, we know who won that fight. Yeah, the French lost, but they managed to keep the culture. This is the “Central Park” of Quebec City and the grounds are magnificently manicured.
I started with 35 people on the bus and came back to the ship with 10. As the afternoon progressed, the rain stopped and people wanted to shop! I don’t get it. There is so much history and beauty and people were crazed to buy postcards and buy junk that they could get a home a whole lot cheaper (the tax rate is atrocious here). How about imprinting the sights and vistas into your mind? We had a walking tour of the Plaza Royale, the cradle of French civilization in North America and Notre-Dame des Victoires, one of the oldest churches still standing in Canada. All in all, it was an outstanding day.Michael:
I spent a very pleasant afternoon in Quebec City. My tour began with a drive around the beautiful and pastoral island of Orleans. And guess what we finally saw --- COLORS!! Yes, we have been anticipating fall colors every since we hit New England and here they were at last, and beautiful. We continued on to the city of Ste Anne de Beaupre for a tour of the basilica, which was spectacular. Here’s some trivia (and yes, I thought of this myself) -- what is the difference between a basilica and a cathedral? A basilica is “a place of pilgrimage” while a cathedral is “the seat where the Bishop teaches from.” The basilica at Ste Anne de Beaupre, completed in 1928, was built on the site where colonial sailors caught in a devastating storms, prayed for deliverance and were spared. Aptly enough, the basilica prominently features a number of crutches, wheelchairs, walkers etc. that were discarded after people were healed.Today, some one million people travel to this site each year. While the basilica, named after St. Anne, Jesus’ grandmother, is spectacular, the surrounding area is just tacky. It is chock a block with little museums, a “Cyclorama” containing the “World’s largest picture of Jerusalem at the time of Jesus,” and so forth. Perhaps the most outstanding features of the basilica were the copper doors. I have never seen anything like them.
We next traveled to the waterfalls at Montmorency. These where named for the Count of Montmorency, a good friend of Champlain. They were quite something, particularly since it had been raining so much they were running faster than usual. The falls are 272 feet high, approximately 90 feet higher than Niagara Falls, though nowhere near as wide. They recently open a bridge right over the falls and so you could walk out to some breathtaking vistas. ***
At dinner, a woman sitting at the next table thanked me (Beverly) for being such a good escort. She had been on many of my buses and she said she felt safe with me. She really appreciated that I looked out for my flock, especially the ones that couldn’t keep up. In fact, one escort today didn’t do that and two elderly ladies who couldn’t keep up took a taxi back to the ship when they couldn’t find their bus. They saw me walking back to the ship and then asked me to help them get the stuff that they left on the bus. It had a happy ending. I would never let that happen!
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