Quebec City – The Battlefields Park

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

A walk to the Plains of Abraham

Back at the hotel I looked up the red-roofed hotel we were considering and found some pretty bad reviews on Trip Advisor so we ruled out returning to see a room.

We resumed our walk. About 330 feet up on Cap Diamant sits the star-shaped, British-built Citadelle, but we couldn't figure out how to get in or even around it. If I recall correctly, there was a wall outside an inner wall. So, we headed up to a street.

Below: Here we come to, I think, Porte Saint-Louis.

This is a sign you don't see in Victoria. Luckily we don't have to worry about ice on such a fine day.

There are several gates around the city.

What are these two sculptures doing here? It's probably because Churchill and Roosevelt met at the Citadelle to discuss war strategy.

I saw a picture in a book of a horse drinking out of this type of fountain.

There goes a horse now.

We're turning left at the gate and following the sign that points to la Citadelle. Many buildings are in here, including a residence for the Governor General of Canada. The Citadelle was built as a strategic spot against the Americans, although I read that it was never hit by so much as a cannonball.

This metal walkway connects one wall to another. There is probably a good view from that building on the right. It's a long way down. How does Glenn with his fear of heights walk across such things?

All over town were groups of school kids. Here they seemed to be reenacting a battle. Too bad we didn't have such field trips when I was a kid, because, although I learned about this area's history in school, I don't remember anything about it now. All I know is that General Wolfe died in battle here and Montcalm died shortly after, and the British won the war.

Further in we came upon a shop and large gazebo overlooking the river. We sat on a bench and relaxed a while before heading back to our hotel. We hadn't covered even a quarter of the grounds.