Apologies to those who rely upon my travel posts as the reason to get out of bed in the morning. I had limited access to internet with in Quebec (we didn't feel like paying the 5 bucks a day for the hotel's wifi), so I didn't have much chance to give a day-by-day. No worries, it was just a short two day stint, so I can give the highlights here:
It short, it was a blast. Not much to report from Brossard, it was just a stop along the way to break up the drive. After breakfast at our Comfort Inn, we headed further north for Quebec City. We had to drive through some pretty tight traffic, complete with the suicidal driving tactics of the Quebec residents, but we made it in without a scratch.
Our hotel in Quebec was about 2 miles from the main part of the city, the Old Town, but a bus passed out front every fifteen minutes. Having been told that the nearby grocery sold two-day passes, we popped in. The attendant was this elderly man, and I thought, this is going to be interesting. Quebec is not like Montreal. Some people there really cannot speak English, or just very little. So I went up and asked, in my best French "Parlez-vous Anglais"? To which he responded "Yes, of course", in an English accent. He later said "there aren't many of us English folk left here", so there is still some remnant of the time the English occupied that place.
We spent much of the day on Friday walking around the Old Town. We first checked out the Gare du Palais, the ornate train station located near the port. Around that time we realized we were hungry, and decided to go back to the gate entrance to the old city, where we saw some trailers set up selling food. I got frittes and poutine, a popular local dish made up of french fries topped with gravy and cheese. Not something you should eat daily, but it was pretty good. Nick decided upon something simply called "le sandwich" that was depicted on the side of the trailer. You couldn't really tell what was in it. but he went for it anyway. It turns out the meat was, get this, deep fried bacon. Yeah, you heard that right. I guess they figured, hey, lets take the worst thing for you, and deep fry it. Nick said that, he hoped something that is so bad for you would taste better. Disappointing I guess.
We spent the rest of the day touring the old city, which was very small in area, and jam-packed with tourists from around the world. I didn't expect that in what is a pretty remote place, and Quebec city is not very big (just under 200,000 people) but there they were, tour groups from China, India, what have you. We made our way to the Chateau Frontenac, the city's main landmark. The 19th-century Canadian Railway architecture style hotel overlooks the St. Lawrence, and the hill it sits upon offers great views. Neither of us was interested in paying to go in, so we strolled the wooden promenade outside, enjoying the perfect weather (warm, but with a nice breeze) and viewing the crowds. We eventually made our way up to the Citadel, the walled fort also overlooking the River. From there we walked all the way along the city's walls to the St. John's gate, the entrance to the Old City and just in front of where we begin, where the cooked food stalls were still in operation and live music was going on in the city square.
We sat on the grassy ramparts for a while, chatting and watching the people moving about in the square or making their way into the Old Town (ok, there was some female watching in there as well....). We then decided to go to the lower part of Old Town, and check out the city's port. On the way there we passed through Petit Champlain, a compact area of narrow streets packed with restaurants and shops. Dusk was beginning to set by now, and at the port we found out that a light show was set to take place at 10:00 that night, being cast onto a large silo located at the port. We still had some time, so we figured we had better grab dinner. We noticed a Lebanese guy selling kebabs by St. John's gate, so we headed back.
The kebab weren't enough for Nick, he needed a little something more. "I noticed that trailer also had fajitas, I will get one of those", referring of course to the place we ate at earlier. Ok, sounds good. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but when you think of a fajita, you think of grilled chicken, right? Well, Nick at least thought so. Upon receiving his order, he realized, much to his horror I should say, that the meat wrapped inside was more of the deep fried bacon. He was visibly shaken. He couldn't even eat all of it. "I can't do it Adam". He had to take out some of the meat, apparently to save some of his dignity. You know that feeling you get after eating something you know is bad for you? Well, I can't imagine what was going on in his head at that moment. "I hit rock bottom Adam, this is it".
This is getting quite long, and I am here at work, how about a little intermission? Also, I know it is August already, you are all probably wondering where my end-of-the-month "Next Destinations" post is, well, it is coming, albeit a little late. Lets get the Quebec story done with first. Back with more late.
It short, it was a blast. Not much to report from Brossard, it was just a stop along the way to break up the drive. After breakfast at our Comfort Inn, we headed further north for Quebec City. We had to drive through some pretty tight traffic, complete with the suicidal driving tactics of the Quebec residents, but we made it in without a scratch.
Our hotel in Quebec was about 2 miles from the main part of the city, the Old Town, but a bus passed out front every fifteen minutes. Having been told that the nearby grocery sold two-day passes, we popped in. The attendant was this elderly man, and I thought, this is going to be interesting. Quebec is not like Montreal. Some people there really cannot speak English, or just very little. So I went up and asked, in my best French "Parlez-vous Anglais"? To which he responded "Yes, of course", in an English accent. He later said "there aren't many of us English folk left here", so there is still some remnant of the time the English occupied that place.
We spent much of the day on Friday walking around the Old Town. We first checked out the Gare du Palais, the ornate train station located near the port. Around that time we realized we were hungry, and decided to go back to the gate entrance to the old city, where we saw some trailers set up selling food. I got frittes and poutine, a popular local dish made up of french fries topped with gravy and cheese. Not something you should eat daily, but it was pretty good. Nick decided upon something simply called "le sandwich" that was depicted on the side of the trailer. You couldn't really tell what was in it. but he went for it anyway. It turns out the meat was, get this, deep fried bacon. Yeah, you heard that right. I guess they figured, hey, lets take the worst thing for you, and deep fry it. Nick said that, he hoped something that is so bad for you would taste better. Disappointing I guess.
We spent the rest of the day touring the old city, which was very small in area, and jam-packed with tourists from around the world. I didn't expect that in what is a pretty remote place, and Quebec city is not very big (just under 200,000 people) but there they were, tour groups from China, India, what have you. We made our way to the Chateau Frontenac, the city's main landmark. The 19th-century Canadian Railway architecture style hotel overlooks the St. Lawrence, and the hill it sits upon offers great views. Neither of us was interested in paying to go in, so we strolled the wooden promenade outside, enjoying the perfect weather (warm, but with a nice breeze) and viewing the crowds. We eventually made our way up to the Citadel, the walled fort also overlooking the River. From there we walked all the way along the city's walls to the St. John's gate, the entrance to the Old City and just in front of where we begin, where the cooked food stalls were still in operation and live music was going on in the city square.
We sat on the grassy ramparts for a while, chatting and watching the people moving about in the square or making their way into the Old Town (ok, there was some female watching in there as well....). We then decided to go to the lower part of Old Town, and check out the city's port. On the way there we passed through Petit Champlain, a compact area of narrow streets packed with restaurants and shops. Dusk was beginning to set by now, and at the port we found out that a light show was set to take place at 10:00 that night, being cast onto a large silo located at the port. We still had some time, so we figured we had better grab dinner. We noticed a Lebanese guy selling kebabs by St. John's gate, so we headed back.
The kebab weren't enough for Nick, he needed a little something more. "I noticed that trailer also had fajitas, I will get one of those", referring of course to the place we ate at earlier. Ok, sounds good. Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but when you think of a fajita, you think of grilled chicken, right? Well, Nick at least thought so. Upon receiving his order, he realized, much to his horror I should say, that the meat wrapped inside was more of the deep fried bacon. He was visibly shaken. He couldn't even eat all of it. "I can't do it Adam". He had to take out some of the meat, apparently to save some of his dignity. You know that feeling you get after eating something you know is bad for you? Well, I can't imagine what was going on in his head at that moment. "I hit rock bottom Adam, this is it".
This is getting quite long, and I am here at work, how about a little intermission? Also, I know it is August already, you are all probably wondering where my end-of-the-month "Next Destinations" post is, well, it is coming, albeit a little late. Lets get the Quebec story done with first. Back with more late.
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