Quebec City - Admiring Grande Allée

Friday, May 15, 2009

A WALK - PART 1
Beyond the city walls

Click on map to enlarge

(Arrows show where we're taxiing to;
then we're walking back)

The plan for the day was to venture beyond the city walls to a paper store. We asked at the hotel about taking a bus but the man there told us would be complicated so best to just take a cab. It would be a pleasant walk back through a nice neighbourhood, he said, adding that it would be about a three quarter hour walk. We would stretch that out into hours. We had a vague idea of the area from the bus tour the day before. The store, Les Petits Papiers, is on Avenue Cartier between Grande Allee and Boulevard Rene-Levesque, just inland from the Plains of Abraham.

I had fun spending money there. Glenn bought orange plastic cutlery in another store.

In this part of town I noticed that English was not spoken as much as in the main tourist zone. On this warm, sunny day we sat outside at a cafe with our juice and snacks, people-watching and enjoying the sunshine. I had to go back into the cafeteria and ask for forks. I didn't know the French word for fork (forgot my little French/English book) but the lady behind me in the lineup immediately came to my rescue and translated. That was as bad as it got with the language issue.

We did a fair bit of walking around this area - along Boulevard Rene-Levesque, onto the 'grand' Grande Allee and into part of the Plains of Abraham.

Above: Photos taken on Avenue Cartier. The price of gas in the lower left photo is 98.9¢ a litre - cheaper than ours.

Another Cochon Dingue restaurant is here.

There were a couple of odd sights on side streets. The statue looked as though it was plunked in the only available space between the house and sidewalk, as if waiting for a permanent home.

The historic "Maison Henry-Stuart" is one of the few remaining Anglo-Norman cottages in Quebec City. At one time it was considered to be at the border of the city and country.

Metal sculptures.

Lovely architecture along Grande Allee. Photo with the gold dome shows the Symphony Orchestra building.

Joan of Arc statue. We veered off briefly to the edge of the Plains of Abraham. The Joan of Arc Garden there sits on top of a huge underground drinking-water reservoir.

It is a functioning parking metre but where did they dig up such an out-of-place relic? Maybe it's a faux finish to give that special weathered patina. (People get to park for 5 hours at these meters?!)

Now we come to ... "a church," you may be thinking. But actually we went in to see an art show.

General Montcalm statue. Montcalm was defeated on the Plains of Abraham and died in 1759.

On Grande Allee are many, many, many restaurants. I wondered how many weeks or months it would take to try each one on this street.

I believe this is the Quebec City Armoury that was mostly destroyed by fire.

Quebec City – Searching for a cheap breakfast

Friday May 15, 2009

Our goal first thing this morning was to find breakfast for the two of us that would cost less than $34, which seemed to be the magic low figure for eating out.

We found it, not far away from our hotel at one of the restaurants named Le Cochon Dingue. We called it The Crazy Pig. Believe it or not, we never set foot in their bakery section, but a person can only eat so much in a day.

There is still some water on the cobblestones from the rain the day before (hopefully no one will look too close and notice that I cloned a person out of this picture) ...

... but it is a beautiful morning now, perfect for a walk, which just happens to be on the agenda. What a great place.

Quebec City - Murals

MURAL 1

The Mural of Quebecers is in the lower town on Notre-Dame Street. It was painted on a five story building in 1999... with 600 litres of paint! I'm not sure how I feel about murals but have to appreciate the skill and effort that goes into a work like this.

Above: a musician sets up. The mural attracts a lot of attention and is a good gathering spot for people.

Funnily enough, when I first saw pictures of this mural, I thought the bridge was real.

You might think the 'glass' windows were real.

A diagram shows the location of the famous people depicted in the mural.

And a photo shows the building as it looked before it was painted.

A seating area in front of the mural.

MURAL 2

The Petit-Champlain Mural is at the end of a row of shops, also in the lower town.

Some information from the internet: ...it illustrates the origins of the Cap-Blanc neighbourhood, the bombardments in 1759, fires, landslides and other disasters to have befallen Quartier Petit Champlain over the years, as well as the strength and courage of those who built, lived, developed and breathed new life into this part of Quebec City.

Close-up above: There is a raccoon inside. And a cannonball in the wall.

It looks like the lady is about to use her rolling pin.

The little boy in the rafters has a slingshot.

Quebec City - Embracing the cannonball

Did I mention that Quebec City has cannons everywhere? Up until now I hadn't seen a cannonball anywhere.

The tour was worth it just for having this pointed out to us. You never know where you're going to see a cannon, or a cannonball!

The other thing the tour was good for was to show us an area of town I hoped to visit the next day, when the weather forecast looked more promising.

Quebec City - Walks, a bus tour and a bit of rain

Thursday, May 14, 2009

We met Glenn's sister and husband for breakfast at the Frontenac. There was a buffet brunch - way more than we could eat. We visited in the lobby a while before saying good-bye. A few tears were shed. They got ready to head back to the States and we of course packed up and moved down to the Auberge Saint-Antoine.

Since the forecast was for rain, which I still didn't completely believe, we thought of things to do inside. One was to go to the 'Quebec Experience' where I hoped to learn something about this town's history in an easy way. The other was to take a city bus tour. Unfortunately, the timing didn't work out to do both but we didn't know that yet. Tours can be easily booked at the booth at the top of the Funicular or at the tourist centre, both not much more than a stone's throw from the Frontenac.

We set out on foot to get information and explore more of the city.

Above: Place-Royale. I read this is the oldest marketplace in Canada. We would wander through here often.

A playground. Everything in this city seems to be done with a lot of thought and creativity. Note cannon in background.

Now this is something you would not see in Victoria!

I like the lace curtains.

Art galleries all over the place and we didn't step into one!

Rue du Trésor where the artists set up. Trésor means 'treasure' I believe.

A couple of street scenes.

After eating more of that delicious butternut soup at the hotel, except this time it had green onions in it and the toast had melted cheese, we went back to the upper town to take the 2 hour city bus tour.

The bus was small and the driver/guide drove it like a sports car. It was hard to take pictures out rain-spotted windows so the picture below, taken when driver stopped so we could get out, is the only one worth showing. I thought I was in Victoria at the Inner Harbour for a minute. Don't know where this is, but it must be in Vieux-Port. Bassin Louise Marina, perhaps. We did get to drive into the Citadelle on this tour, barrelling in with the walls just inches away from the sides of the bus.

The rain stopped by the time the tour finished, which is how I came to leave my umbrella on the bus.

I like taking pictures when things are wet but it's not raining so we walked around the city some more. Here again is the striking Aux Anciens Canadiens restaurant.

A quick diversion down a side street..

We thought we'd have the French restaurant experience, so I think it was this place on the left-hand corner where we ate. Except it was run by Italians! Surprisingly, Glenn had French onion soup and he really liked it.

Back in the square where we had breakfast our first morning. There's another of those drinking fountains for horses.

I'm confused about areas. I think this is looking down to Rue du Petit-Champlain. But I could be wrong. By the way, Quebec City has 29 outdoor staircases, more than any other North American city.

The funicular.

We were attracted to the airplane on the sign...

... on our way to a maple shop.

Everything here is done with a flourish...

Even a fence by a construction area is artistic.

It was just wonderful walking around here this evening - lively with the wind and the activity but not in an obnoxious way.

Now we're nearing our hotel.

The Museum of Civilization is right next door.