We had been to Quebec City before, but it was way back in 2008. At the time, we had our dog Whiskey with us and we had parked our motorhome Sherman across the river in Levis, and taken the ferry across to explore the city.
This time, we have our motorhome Igor with us, and we parked on the north shore and walked 4 kms (2.5 miles) each way to get to the old city center.
Our walk started at the industrial port area.
Some older waterfront buildings west of the city center.
Interesting horse art.
There are some amazing murals in Quebec City.
Click to make the photo full size, then click again to zoom in and see some of the detail.
Not many people in old town... yet. It's still early!
There are a lot of these fun inflatable pink guys set up around town.
It's actually part of an art installation called "Mr. Pink" in English.
The Crazy Pig bistro.
Notice the pig peaking in the window.
Lots of little pedestrian streets to wander around.
Another Mr. Pink.
The Louis St. Laurent Building (the old post office).
The bee in the flower garden.
We walked up to the magnificent Chateau Frontenac Hotel.
The hotel opened in 1893.
Looking down on old town.
Quebec City is very photogenic!
Since it was free, we popped into the cathedral.
The exterior is nothing special, but the interior is interesting.
Fancy altar.
Ruth, in the bear hug chair.
The poor old bear chair has seen better days!
Skinny hotel.
Odd art.
The city ferry port that takes you across to Levis.
Entrance to the Chateau Frontenac Hotel.
When we were here in 2008, because we had our dog with us, we never went inside the hotel. This time, we did...
We can only afford to look around.
We went down to the restaurant to check the menu. They were still serving the breakfast buffet. Breakfast buffet is offered everyday at $45 CAD ($33 USD) per adult (taxes and service charge extra).
The elevators.
Entrance doors from the inside.
Pretty flowers.
We walked up to the Citadel for the views back...
Gorgeous day in Quebec City.
Postcard perfect.
Someone was having wedding photos done.
Entrance to the Citadel.
Church steeples.
There have been a lot of wars between the French and the English at Quebec City.
So there are a lot of old fortifications and walls.
We walked back down to another part of old town. By this time, there were a lot more tour groups around. It turns out that the tour buses tend to drop their groups off up at the Citadel, and then the group tour walks down to the old town, avoiding any uphill climbs. Quebec City is essentially built on the side of a cliff and there are a lot of hills and stairs around town.
Another fantastic mural.
And another Mr. Pink.
Lots of tour groups in old town.
Horse and buggy.
Quebec City parliament.
Quebec City is the provincial capital of Quebec.
We walked back to Igor, and had some lunch. Then it was time to hit the road! We need to be back in Ottawa today, so had to put some miles on. We drove all afternoon and arrived at the Ontario border near Hawkesbury. Mostly four lane highway. Not fun, but we finally had to get going!
We overnighted at a park overlooking the Ottawa River, and today we go to our friends Bob and Denise's to pick up our son's car that we had left there at the beginning of August, then to Ottawa where we have a meeting with a house sitter. Ruth will be looking after three cats on her own while I go for my annual guys weekend away on Thursday.
Yesterday's drive 325 kms (201 miles).
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$50 Applebees Gift Card. If you're going to go to Applebees anyhow, you might as well save ten bucks!
And in Canada...
Mini Cordless Chainsaw. On sale, plus there is a $20 off coupon showing!
It really is a beautiful city! I especially admired the first mural (side of a barn) and the narrow pedestrian streets, charming.
ReplyDeleteIt really is a beautiful city, we sure enjoyed our visit and this was the second time that we have been here so that says a lot.
DeleteI loved that first mural too, the details are amazing. The second mural was great too. We had seen that one when we were here back in 2008. I like how the seasons change in that mural as it goes up the wall. It starts off in spring and finishes at the top in winter.
The city really does have a very European feel to it.