Quebec City

Yes, Quebec City it was!

During my long weekend there, I visited Old Quebec- the charming and historic town surrounded by a stone wall. Did you know that Quebec City is the only fortified city still standing in North America? Mind blown. 

I then trekked to The Battlefields Park, where the Plains of Abraham stood, a site of frequent clashes between the British and French in the 18th century. The hike was manageable itself, I just wasn’t dressed for the workout. Little did I know that Quebec City was on the edge of the Appalachian mountains…I wore a heavy pair of denim jeans on a sweating hot day! It would’ve tolerable for strolling on the flat landscape of Toronto.

Thankfully, rolling hills made the perfect perch for photos. This one is overlooking the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, the most frequently photographed hotel in the world:

I then proceeded for a tour of the Governor General’s second official home (the first one being in the capital, Ottawa). This is the view from His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston’s balcony in the Citadelle of Quebec. 

I walked back to Old Quebec and saw rides that would’ve given us English Canadians a shock…

…I mean, what ARE those? Neither motorbike, car nor Segway- the closest resemblance are bumper cars from amusement parks. Those weren’t the only rides in Old Quebec, however…Every five minutes, a horse drawn carriage would pass. Would you have believed me if I said I took these photos in France?

Outside the window of the hotel where I stayed: I kid you, this is the view from McDonalds:

McDonalds seem to always hold the best piece of land in tourist hotspots (i.e. the McDonals across from the Royal Ontario Museum). After an expected  greasy lunch, I visited the Notre-Dame de Québec Cathedral.

Autres photos…

Then came the Assemblée nationale du Québec (National Assembly of Quebec) building.

It’s walls were decorated with black, life-sized statues of figures important to the history and development of Quebec (e.g. Samuel de Champlain, Jacques Cartier, James Wolfe and Louis-Joseph de Montcalm). You can now go and wiki who they were. 

My legs could do no more walking, so I bid farewell to Quebec City and crossed a bridge…which I’ll save for tomorrow’s post!

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