Friday, 20 May 2016, Quebec

We “hopped on” our bus a short walk from the hotel at 9:40 AM. The first part covered ground that we had already covered on our own, so we did not hop off at any stops, but it was interesting hearing the guide’s commentary. The first new stop was at the Observatoire de la Capitale, a trip to the 31^st floor observation deck of an insurance building. Obviously, impressive views.

Next stop on the Plains of Abraham. We walked from our stop at a lookout point to the museum. The main presentation was not working, so they gave us free admission to the rest of the exhibits. I hope to go back tomorrow for the main event, but I might have some convincing to do.

A few blocks earlier on the bus we passed a chain restaurant that was suggested by Celeste’s friend Janice, so we went there for some poutine with sausage (hot dog) and a roast beef sandwich. Well worth the stop.

We walked back to our drop-off point, caught the bus again, and rode it back to the Chateau Frontenac shortly after 3. We wandered in the vicinity for a while and caught the 4 PM departure that had us back near our hotel by 4:10. We dropped our backpack and went for a bakery treat and some groceries, then back to our room.

Celeste has wanted to try the Thai place across the street and we decided that tonight was the night. With all our snacking, we weren’t real hungry, but finally headed out before 8. We finished less than half, although we did manage to choke down our delicious desserts of deep fried apple and banana. Sure wish we had a microwave for our leftovers though.

Thursday, 19 May 2016, Quebec

I woke up at 7:30 and went to the bathroom. Celeste was still sleeping, so I went back to bed. When we both woke up it was 11 AM! I guess we had to do a little catch up from the short previous night and all the walking and late night yesterday.

We left about 12:30 for the Lower Town again. We decided to take the 2 PM 90 minute river cruise. The ticket agent upsold us a combo package that includes two days on the hop on/hop off bus. The combo price is a pretty substantial saving and one of the bus stops is pretty near our hotel, so it will work well for us. The river cruise was pretty good. Scenic views, including Montmorency Falls, and interesting commentary.

  

From the cruise we took the Funiculaire to the Upper Town. Pretty views (including of our boat), and it sure beat climbing the stairs.

We took a stroll on the Dufferin Terrace, a very wide boardwalk just below the Chateau Frontenac, which includes a wooden toboggan run built in 1884.

We poked our noses inside the Chateau to see how the other half lives. Then we wandered around the neighbourhood for a while. We were just starting to think about eating when we stumbled upon a Subway. I know we should have eaten at a local bistro, but this was such an easy decision that avoided all the wrestling with choices. I swear that we will eat at some local places in the days to come.

We got back to our hotel a little after 6 and settled in for the evening.

Wednesday, 18 May 2016, Quebec

Celeste had a rough night, so we had a bit of a late start. We went to a small grocery store around the corner and stocked our hotel room fridge. After lunch from our newly stocked larder we headed out shortly after noon walking to the Lower Town at the foot of the fortified cliff. We will cover the areas on top of the cliff later. Because today and tomorrow were forecast to be a little cooler than the rest of our stay, we wanted to do the bulk of our indoor activities on those days. Today we toured the Museé de Civilisation. We covered a section on the development of Quebec history and culture, another on nanotechnology, and took the guided tour on First Nations and Inuit. After the museum we wandered around and took in the Place Royale square and the Rue du Petit-Champlain tourist shopping street where we succumbed to the siren call of gelato. Celeste was not confident that she could walk back on a full stomach, so we decided to walk back and eat from our fridge. After that we watched the Survivor finale.

Much of what we saw today was built in the early to mid-1800s, although some structures were older and some newer. It had a vaguely European feel, although the streets we saw today were generally wider and straighter with fewer older buildings. Most buildings here are plain, unpainted stone, whereas in Europe there seems to be more stucco and paint.

We expected to see lots of churches, but this one caught us by surprise. Not one of the more historic or beautiful.

Tuesday, 17 May 2016, Quebec

Both of us messed up when setting our alarms for 3:30 AM, but, luckily, we both woke up anyway. We had booked a cab for 4, but he came a bit early. By 4:15 we were already checked in and heading for airport security. We got away a few minutes early and had a good tailwind, arriving in Toronto more than 20 minutes early for our 5 hour stop over.

Our credit card gives us a couple of free admissions to the airport lounge, so we cashed them in. We had a nice pleasant environment with comfortable chairs and a minimal buffet.

We arrived in Quebec City on time just before 6 PM Eastern time (2 hours later than home). We were in our hotel room by 7 and, a little later, went for dinner in the hotel restaurant. I went for an exploratory walk around the neighbourhood and then we unpacked and settled in. We were in bed by 10:30.