Coast to Coast Fall Tour - 2009 travel blog

And so back into Canada again - as we leapfrog in and...

 

Typical of many of the small Quebec towns we are passing through.....

......and typical, too, of the types of churches we see in each...

There's a fantastic cycle route in Quebec - the Green route -...

 

 

An old town Quebec City scene

...... and another

Street musicians in Quebec City - the harpist was incredible

Clare and I rode the funicular up to the boardwalk by the...

Another funky little old street with bags of energy

We sat and had a drink at the top of these steps...

Chateau Frontenac - do you remember the room we were in Clare?

Excavation of old building in front of the Chateau Frontenac

Looking back along the boardwalk as went to the Plains of Abraham...

Huge cruise ship docked beneath us - Celebrity's 'Constellation' - at Quebec...

It seems odd to be looking down on passengers at play on...

Plains of Abraham, Quebec City

 

 

It looks a bit like Dante's Inferno surrounding the camper where we...

But our parking spot looked across the boat basin towards the City,...


Today we crossed the 45th parallel. That means that we were at the midpoint between the Equator and the North Pole. Interesting for me, because I have straddled the Equator (in Ecuador) and we were very close to the North Pole when we did our Firth River raft trip out to the Beaufort Sea.

We crossed the border again today at Derby Line, Vermont - back into Canada - with a delightful border crossing official (unlike the sour-prune faced woman we had when we came back into the States after Niagara Falls) to welcome us back into Canada. In keeping with our usual "planning", we woke up and said "let's go North" and though we could maybe hook up with Sylvie's sisters, maman and brother in law in Quebec. So, after crossing into Canada we got a very nice lady at a Tourist Information place to phone to the sister and brother-in-law and they called us back - only to tell us that they are no longer in Quebec City but are now in Hull, Quebec. So we totally missed them! Unfortunately, we don't speak French and we knew we'd have trouble on the phone with Sylvie's sister and maman, so we called back to Sylvie to ask her to call them and let them know what was happening.

Then we drove on in to the Old Town of Quebec City - we heard there was a place that campers can park overnight at the Old Port - for about $40. There is, and it's a great spot - just beside one of the best markets ever - all fresh produce and local product - and a great view across the boat basin to the Old City. And, amazingly, as we pulled in we pulled up behind an Escapade motor home with BC licence plates and a 'Big Boys Toys', Parksville cover on the spare wheel and we just KNEW we had parked behind Bob (from Gabriola) who was on the road, heading towards Halifax, just a couple of days ahead of us. What a coincidence! So I stuck a note on the door of his van (should have put it on the driver's door, I think) then headed into the City to sight-see on foot.

It's been 27 or 28 years since I was in Quebec City and, as with any old city, there were not a lot of changes. Bruce was actually here just about 8 years ago on his ride across Canada, but I found it fascinating - again - to be here in a city that actually has REAL history. I love to experience the sense of passing time - and this city has hundreds of years of it!

After walking all over the place (up to the Plains of Abraham, etc) we came back into the Old City, and found a place to have dinner - and what a dinner! The Conti Restaurant very close to the Chateau Frontenanc (trust me, I was determined I was not going to cook in the camper with restaurants of the calibre to be found in Quebec City - especially as I have cooked every night in the camper on the road!). What a treat - best lamb chops I have had in years and Bruce had an incredible Osso Buco (veal was the specialty of the restaurant). Plus we had a delightful young waiter - only 20 years of age - who was so pleasant and personable in a truly sincere way (not old enough yet for it to be his 'schtick') who made me think strongly of how Reid might be by that age.

After dinner we trotted back down to the Old Port - only to find that the Escapade was gone from in front of us and no note for us. It HAS to have been Bob, but I'm thinking he probably got in the driver's door and drove off. I guess we thought he might have stayed there the night - like us.

Well, at least, as we had though we might have. Of course, being a parking lot there were not electrical hook-ups, and when we got back to the camper it turned out tha the fridge was off again - and no Gus in sight! So we packed up and pulled out of there (around 10pm) in search of a campground with hookups. Had to go back south of the St. Lawrence River to a KOA and parked ourselves in darkness (with trees overhead) with much muttering and cursing and finally making an executive decision to move to a different site than the designated one, so finally got settled again just a bit before 11pm

Note: Just had an e-mail from Bob - it was his motorhome in front of us, but as I thought he entered through the driver's door and didn't see our note until he was about 25 Kms down the road. Maybe we'll run into him in Fredericton tomorrow........

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