Quebec City Tour

Thursday, August 23. The weather was perfect! After yesterday's rain, wind and cool temperatures we started the day with sunshine and light winds.

The campground has a free shuttle service that takes you to the Levis Ferry. From there you can head across the St Lawrence River and be deposited right at the base of the Old City. The ferry costs $3/person each way. Cheap and fast. Ferries depart every twenty minutes or so.

Three vans awaiting passengers

Departing the ferry dock.

Our sister ferry heading back to Levis.

The beautiful Chateau Frontenac. The most photographed hotel in the world. I don't doubt that!

As we approached the ferry dock at Quebec City.

The clock tower at the Museum of Civilisation. We hopped on our tour bus here, but we didn't view the museum. Too much to see outdoors!

Once we arrived in Old Quebec we made our way to the Gray Line bus stop. We had pre-purchased the double decker tour from the campground office. We boarded the bus and exchanged our ticket for a wrist band that enabled us to 'hop on and hop off' all day. As it turned out we only hopped on once and hopped off once, then we walked.

So I thought Montreal was pretty cool, especially in the older parts.....but NOTHING compares to the sights of Old Quebec City! Neat, clean, flowers everywhere, architecture to drool over. It was amazing!

Amazing structures and so well preserved.

Some of the 'newer' buildings in the upper city.

Via Rail building

Some of the walk-up apartments. They are above businesses. The Subway restaurant would be fine, but that is a pub on the left. Might not get to sleep very early.

The walls of the old city. They were repairing them in several spots.

It was early so not too many people out yet but this area would be packed by lunchtime.

The Quebec Parliament building.

Gates to the old city.

We stopped at the Citadel and got off the bus. As this is an active military base you could only go so far without joining a tour. We didn't, but if you want to see what it was like, pop over to Steve and Dianne's blog.

The guards outside the Citadel.

Inside the Citadel. You could go this far before being escorted.

A tour group just starting.

We walked down this very crowded street to ward the Hotel Frontenac. It was lunchtime and every restaurant was packed.

A great way to see the city. He holds up traffic though. Nobody can move very fast in old Quebec.....but why would you want to be in a rush?

The outside of the Hotel Frontenac.

Lots of history in this building. The Allies met here to discuss their strategy to win the Second World War.

Beautiful inside, from floor to ceiling.

Frontenac himself (the guy in the painting!)

So much to see inside the Hotel. There were displays everywhere. This shows agricultural products of old.

Artwork everywhere. This one was titled 'Blueberries'.

This was inside a store. No idea what it was called or what it was worth. Besides, where would we put it in the trailer!

The detail of the interior was amazing.

The green enclosure was the bar. Nice view from there, but pretty sure I couldn't afford the drinks.

Unfortunately the statue of  Samuel de Champlain was under repair, but pop over to Steve and Dianne's blog to see what it was like without the scaffolding.

The Fennicular. We took it down to the Old City.

The area outside the Frontenac. All the tour buses line up here. There were hoards of people everywhere!

We finally stopped for lunch in the old town below the Citadel. This area of Quebec City was the best part in my opinion.

Looking up at the Fennicular.

Streets were crowded here too.

....and lots of stairs. This is NOT a flat city!

Some were in a hurry. Not sure if she is running to or away from her wedding!

We finally stopped here for lunch. It was actually early afternoon.

Saint Jean street band. They were pretty good.

The church below was built in 1688!

King Louis 14th statue in the square.

This looks like another street, right? Nope, it's a mural painted on the wall. Amazing.
Many historical figures are shown within the mural.

Some original stone foundations. The support for the chimney is shown here.

The hanging flower baskets are huge. They certainly add beauty and contrast to the stone work.

A passageway that takes you between streets.

Very narrow streets

No idea why these umbrellas were hanging here, but it sure was colourful.

So, yes we stopped in to see what free samples they might have. Yes, it was VERY good fudge.

We missed getting a Beaver Tail pastry in Ottawa so we thought we would try here.

Take your pick of toppings. We chose cinnamon. No1 on the chart.

The entrance on the lower left took you to artist and crafters goods for sale.
It was a beautiful building.

This was a very popular cafe/bar.

When I first saw this guy I thought he had a couple of sheep! Nope, just two large dogs.

We caught the ferry back over to Levis and at the appointed time the shuttle from the campground arrived and whisked us home. A long and tiring day but oh so worth it.

Lots of ship traffic on the St Lawrence River.

The ferry skirts around the ship.

The Canadian Coast Guard have a base here. Two ships were in port. One was an ice breaker.

Even the Levis Ferry Terminal is picturesque. Kids were playing in the fountain to keep cool.

Stairway fro the Ferry Terminal to the upper street level. Thank goodness the shuttle picked us up on the lower level!

We had two busy days in Quebec City and could have spent a week more. Tomorrow we head further east and see much more of Quebec.

.......and that was Our View From Here!