Quebec City

Aug 23, 2019

Today is packing up day as we are heading for Quebec city. Debbie was able to do laundry before we packed so that set us up for the trip ahead.  We set up Miss Taken to get us around Montreal.  We have visited Montreal before, and were not keen on dragging the trailer through the city.  Our drive to Quebec City was about five and a half hours.  Debbie had reserved a commercial campground in Quebec and we wanted to be there before 8:00pm.  The drive this time was on major toll highways, but Debbie and Miss Taken navigated through the many bypasses and overpasses to get us safely to Quebec. We arrived at the Camping du La Jolie campground at 7:30pm.

We set up our camp and then sat in the dark looking at the stars and relaxing from our drive. Debbie made soup and we enjoyed a bowl until we were too tired to stay up any longer and went to bed.  

Aug 24, 2019

We are taking the campground shuttle to the city of Quebec City today.  We wanted to do a few things such as blogging, and decided to take the 1:00 pm shuttle in.  We packed some sweaters and water and things in a backpack and walked down to the main office. 

This is a huge commercial campground that had a mixture of permanent residents, some seasonal campers and then us campers, who are short term. Our campsite is about a 5-minute walk from the campground entrance.  It is secluded with trees and bush surrounding us.  The campground is about 20 minutes from the Old Quebec city.  The shuttle is taking us right to the front door of the famous Frontenac Hotel.  

Prior to us leaving we learned that the finale for the annual fireworks display was on tonight.  Our shuttle would not be available to pick us up late after the fireworks.  We had just met Dave and Carly from Portland, Oregon.  They too were wanting to see the fireworks, so we agreed to share an Uber ride back to the campground after the fireworks.  

Dave and Carly are both recently retired and are travelling across the continent in a van conversion motorhome.  Their campsite was three over from ours.  They have travelled across the northern States, came into Canada, leaving Quebec for Nova Scotia, then back down into the States. They will be travelling for a year before they return home!

Because we only had the afternoon, we decided to just explore the old quarter on foot and take the Hop on Hop off bus tomorrow.  Debbie had planned for a long time to shop for some clothes and things and so we decided to walk the many streets and check out the shops.  After visiting the tourist information center we had a quick hamburger and beers.  That bill for two burgers, two beers ended up costing $82.00!!! 

The old Quebec town is an interesting place.  It is the oldest city in Canada and the historic buildings are interesting to look at.  The stonework in walls of the buildings, the architecture in the various cathedrals and churches, the cobblestone streets,  just make you feel you are back in France.  The cathedral bell tolls every hour, on the hour. Overlooking the city is the Hotel Frontenac, reportedly the most photographed hotel in the world.  Directly beside and behind it is the Citadel, the original fort.  The entire old Quebec is ringed by the stonewalls of the fort and the present Citadel is a National Heritage Site and is still an opertional Canadian Military base.  It is the home of the Royal 22 Regiment, the Van Doos.

Debbie shopped while I followed her from store to store. Shopping is far from my favorite thing to do, so I tried to make the most of this by looking at the many different sights on the street.  

The popularity of this tourist attraction is unbelievable. All the sidewalks are filled three deep with tourists and shoppers, walking slowly along, looking in the windows and coming in and out of stores.  All along the street are small taverns and bistros, with tables on the street, with people sitting and drinking wine and beer and talking. 

Late in the afternoon, Debbie was finished shopping, I was tired of walking and we went to a small pub in the lower part of the city and enjoyed a bowl of soup and stew.  We were only a half block from where we had decided to view the fireworks. 

The fireworks were not starting until 10:00 so we found our perfect viewing spot on the cannon battery area overlooking the St. Lawrence River.  Several freighters slowly sailed up and down River.  We sat and “people watched”, the air was cooling forcing us to bundle up and put on our windbreakers. 

The fireworks finally came on at exactly 10:00 and for the next 20 minutes put on a spectacular show.  Then it was all over and the literally hundreds of thousands of people started walking out of the old quarter.  Vehicles were not allowed into the old quarter during this time, forcing everyone to walk in and walk out to the various parking lots.  We joined them, as we had a pre-arranged meeting place with Dave and Carly at the train station. The walk took us about 20 minutes but with a little help from some locals we found our way to the train station and Dave and Carly. The Uber driver arrived exactly at  11:00, and proceeded to drive us back to the campground. He must of thought that he was Mario Andretti by the way he drove, but frankly I think all Quebecers drive that way. We did get home safe and crashed into our bed, exhausted.