Wednesday, 25 May 2016, Québec

We checked out, left our luggage in the lockup and were on our way about 10:30. Our only sightseeing goal for today is Artillery Park. It is a Parks Canada site focused on the development of the city’s fortifications over the years. One of the highlights was a scale model of the area built between 1806 and 1808. It was built locally to assist in military planning, shipped to England for further study by military planners, and then stored in a museum until its return for Québec’s 300^th anniversary.

On our way back to the hotel, we discovered that the circus troupe was doing a show in front of the church again. We caught all but the very beginning. They were quite good. They make you wonder how some of those stunts are possible.

For lunch we went to place around the corner that we had noticed over the last several days. We had passed by several times in the late afternoon/early evening and there was always a lineup of young people trying to get in. Celeste looked the place up online and we decided to check it out. Their gimmick is that every basic menu item is $5 and you can pump them up with additional trims for additional cash. It was pretty good for that price.

We returned to the hotel for our luggage, caught a cab, and were at the airport before 2 for our 6:30 departure. The WestJet counter didn’t open until 4:30ish. Our flights were on time and uneventful. We flew directly over Ottawa on the way to Toronto. Didn't get the camera out fast enough to get a picture of Angie's house, but here is one of parliament hill.

At Toronto, we had an almost 15 minute walk from one gate to the next. We arrived home a few minutes early at 10:40 Regina time 2 hour difference).

Some items of interest from the week:

The church around the corner had a small shelter containing a cupboard and fridge. Apparently people can leave food there for the homeless to help themselves. The area of our hotel is in the process of renewal. Although  it is quite commercial and gentrified, there were several homeless people still around checking garbage cans for bottles.

There virtually no pigeons there. We saw a pair huddled together on the ground in a park and that was it. The guides on our bus tour joked about passing the cheapest hotel in Québec, a pigeon house where they fed the pigeons something that interfered with their reproduction. Seems to work. Although we didn’t notice a lot of other birds either. Not sure if the quite treeless environment of the city is not conducive to them or if they are getting into the pigeon food.

The church near our hotel has an interesting income stream. They have turned the basement into a boutique for local fashion designers.

The PST here is 10% and it seems to be on virtually everything. Add the GST of 5% and there is 15% added on to almost anything you buy. Although it is not that much more than our 10%, it sometimes caught us by surprise when you bought something for $40 and the bill was $46.

Until next time...