A WALK - PART 2
Now we turn left off Grande Allee. The Quebec Parliament Building was built in the late 1800's. A ceremony was going on when we arrived.
Above: The 7 metre high Fontaine de Tourny was one of two created in France. Over a century later a businessman spotted one of these fountains, in pieces, being sold in a market so he bought it and donated it to Quebec City. The four figures on the bottom represent rivers.
This one is my favourite of the 22 bronzes around the building.
"The Pause in the Forest" was displayed at the Paris World's Fair in 1889.
Statue of Wolfe.
Walking back toward our hotel we came across more sculptures. There is probably a reason for the Gandhi one being here but I don't know what it is.
This one was to do with the Boer War I believe.
A cute horse.
I ran up onto the gate for a look around.
Another horse and buggy.
We don't really know where we are but it looks like we're heading to the lower town. Down some side streets...
... and looking back up the stairs we'd walked down.
It looked like somebody carved their sketchbook drawings into the wall. I don't care for them but while we were marvelling at the fact that the city would put a tiny sculpture in a case out in a public place, a raggedy-haired fellow came along and started talking to us about history and the city. It's too bad that we were running out of steam at that point because he was all ready to give us a walking tour. He was the sort of person who I think would have been interesting to chat with for hours in a coffee shop. We had a similar experience riding up in the funicular one day, but the man we met there was at the other end of the fashion scale. He was in his 30's or early 40's, dressed in a sharp suit, and he told us a bit about the history of some of the buildings and seemed fascinated to hear of our impressions of the place. These events surprised me because so often we, in the west, hear stories about the French being unfriendly, yet here were two people who had nothing to gain financially by talking to us but did as if we were lifelong friends. I can't imagine this happening in Victoria.
This monument had something to do with the Irish in Quebec City. At the start of the 19th century about a fifth of the population was Irish Catholic.
"I can't imagine this happening in Victoria" . . . . but maybe you would be the friendly people in Victoria talking to the tourists . . .
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