Hi everyone,
We had our second rainy day of the whole trip today, but like the rainy day in Banff it wasn't pouring and didn't rain for the whole day.
We had a lie in this morning after an early start yesterday. Our room is really cosy and comfortable, but the sun rises at 5am and our blinds aren't very good! Never mind. While Rob had a shower I went to find a supermarket as we've hardly had any fruit recently due to a lack of supermarkets near recent hotels. It was nice walking around while it was pretty quiet on the streets and it wasn't raining yet at this point. It took me three supermarkets to find a small skim milk. Crazy!
Once back, we had breakfast and then headed out for the day. We started off visiting the inside of the Fairmont le Chateau Frontenac that we saw yesterday. It was beautiful on the inside just as the other Fairmonts we've visited have been. Unfortunately I didn't ask Nan and Pa too much about Canada until after Nan was gone and Pa had a bit of trouble remembering, but it was the exact type of place I would have pictured them staying at here.
Once we exited, we walked out the other way through an archway along the road parallel with the Dufferin Terrace and then decided to walk around aimlessly, vaguely following the city walls. We saw a couple more of the gates along the city walls and lots of beautiful buildings lining the streets. We eventually made it around to Artillery Park, which was closed to the public for around 250 years while the space was used as a powerhouse, an artillery store and a gun carriage shed. It also had barracks that were used by the French and English, and during WWII was the site of Quebec City's main employer, a munitions factory. It was shut today as the tours are seasonal and start at the end of June, but we enjoyed having the park to ourselves and taking our time. We saw lots of canons along the city walls and had some good views too. At one point we even saw a section of the wall being restored.
We continued on around the city walls and could see out to the St Charles River, the banks of which seemed to be a more industrial area. Then we ended up near the Casse-Cou stairs and the cute little streets in that area that we visited yesterday. By this stage the rain was getting a little heavier and more constant, but we still stopped to watch the funicular. In 1879 when it opened it operated for six months of the year and was enclosed inside a wooden tunnel. When it was converted into an electric funicular in 1907 it then operated year round. I liked the beautiful trees and the ambience a busker in this area created. I imagine during the Christmas Markets in winter and during the warmth of Summer it would be even more special here. Sadly the weather in the 20s happened right before we arrived, and will again a few days later. The rain today was romantic and European in its own way too, though.
We stopped at a poutinerie and Rob enjoyed his first poutine. It was my second, as Courtney had taken me to eat some when I last visited Toronto. What is poutine? It's french fries with gravy and cheese curds on top, and originated in Quebec in the 1950s. I forgot to mention yesterday by the way, we have all been pronouncing 'Quebec' incorrectly at home. People here and in the rest of Canada say it as 'Kebeck', so I will too from now on. After our poutine, we found a cute coffeehouse off of Place Royale and we sat facing the square in the window and enjoyed the best coffee we've had so far this trip, and a pain au chocolat that we shared.
From here we rounded the corner and had a look at the Quebec City Mural, a 412 metre squared mural with notable figures from Quebec's history within it that was painted in 1999 by 12 French and Quebecois artists over a nine week period. After this we decided to hang out in the room for a couple of hours to escape the worst of the rain, as we had walked and seen a lot already.
This evening, we continued to walk around aimlessly enjoying more cute streets and eventually had some crepes for dinner. Rob had an egg, bacon and maple syrup crepe, and me a ham, cheese and mushroom one. Then we shared a creme brulee at another place. The waitress was very friendly here and when we answered her "where in Canada have you been?" question told us she thinks we've seen more of Canada than a lot of Canadians! Afterwards, we were finally treated to a bit of sun here which was nice, but it was very cold as the sun was low by this point. We enjoyed some gorgeous sunset views from up near the Citadelle. Tomorrow is meant to be colder again but clearer.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
PS: I need you all to cross your fingers and toes for me, as Lea Michele has tested positive for Covid. I have a ticket to see her perform in 'Funny Girl' on Tuesday 23rd May which is the day she is supposed to return, so let's hope she is OK! I am a long time 'Glee' fan so jumped at the chance to see her sing live whilst in New York. Cross everything!!
We had our second rainy day of the whole trip today, but like the rainy day in Banff it wasn't pouring and didn't rain for the whole day.
We had a lie in this morning after an early start yesterday. Our room is really cosy and comfortable, but the sun rises at 5am and our blinds aren't very good! Never mind. While Rob had a shower I went to find a supermarket as we've hardly had any fruit recently due to a lack of supermarkets near recent hotels. It was nice walking around while it was pretty quiet on the streets and it wasn't raining yet at this point. It took me three supermarkets to find a small skim milk. Crazy!
Once back, we had breakfast and then headed out for the day. We started off visiting the inside of the Fairmont le Chateau Frontenac that we saw yesterday. It was beautiful on the inside just as the other Fairmonts we've visited have been. Unfortunately I didn't ask Nan and Pa too much about Canada until after Nan was gone and Pa had a bit of trouble remembering, but it was the exact type of place I would have pictured them staying at here.
Once we exited, we walked out the other way through an archway along the road parallel with the Dufferin Terrace and then decided to walk around aimlessly, vaguely following the city walls. We saw a couple more of the gates along the city walls and lots of beautiful buildings lining the streets. We eventually made it around to Artillery Park, which was closed to the public for around 250 years while the space was used as a powerhouse, an artillery store and a gun carriage shed. It also had barracks that were used by the French and English, and during WWII was the site of Quebec City's main employer, a munitions factory. It was shut today as the tours are seasonal and start at the end of June, but we enjoyed having the park to ourselves and taking our time. We saw lots of canons along the city walls and had some good views too. At one point we even saw a section of the wall being restored.
We continued on around the city walls and could see out to the St Charles River, the banks of which seemed to be a more industrial area. Then we ended up near the Casse-Cou stairs and the cute little streets in that area that we visited yesterday. By this stage the rain was getting a little heavier and more constant, but we still stopped to watch the funicular. In 1879 when it opened it operated for six months of the year and was enclosed inside a wooden tunnel. When it was converted into an electric funicular in 1907 it then operated year round. I liked the beautiful trees and the ambience a busker in this area created. I imagine during the Christmas Markets in winter and during the warmth of Summer it would be even more special here. Sadly the weather in the 20s happened right before we arrived, and will again a few days later. The rain today was romantic and European in its own way too, though.
We stopped at a poutinerie and Rob enjoyed his first poutine. It was my second, as Courtney had taken me to eat some when I last visited Toronto. What is poutine? It's french fries with gravy and cheese curds on top, and originated in Quebec in the 1950s. I forgot to mention yesterday by the way, we have all been pronouncing 'Quebec' incorrectly at home. People here and in the rest of Canada say it as 'Kebeck', so I will too from now on. After our poutine, we found a cute coffeehouse off of Place Royale and we sat facing the square in the window and enjoyed the best coffee we've had so far this trip, and a pain au chocolat that we shared.
From here we rounded the corner and had a look at the Quebec City Mural, a 412 metre squared mural with notable figures from Quebec's history within it that was painted in 1999 by 12 French and Quebecois artists over a nine week period. After this we decided to hang out in the room for a couple of hours to escape the worst of the rain, as we had walked and seen a lot already.
This evening, we continued to walk around aimlessly enjoying more cute streets and eventually had some crepes for dinner. Rob had an egg, bacon and maple syrup crepe, and me a ham, cheese and mushroom one. Then we shared a creme brulee at another place. The waitress was very friendly here and when we answered her "where in Canada have you been?" question told us she thinks we've seen more of Canada than a lot of Canadians! Afterwards, we were finally treated to a bit of sun here which was nice, but it was very cold as the sun was low by this point. We enjoyed some gorgeous sunset views from up near the Citadelle. Tomorrow is meant to be colder again but clearer.
Love to all
Claire
Xoxox
PS: I need you all to cross your fingers and toes for me, as Lea Michele has tested positive for Covid. I have a ticket to see her perform in 'Funny Girl' on Tuesday 23rd May which is the day she is supposed to return, so let's hope she is OK! I am a long time 'Glee' fan so jumped at the chance to see her sing live whilst in New York. Cross everything!!
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