Continental breakfast?! SWEET!
We weren’t expecting to have decent breakfasts for much of the trip, but when you get it included with your hotel charge why not use it. Continental breakfasts are never that exciting, but we definitely enjoyed some cereal, coffee, hot chocolate, OJ and toast, to get us going for our day of site-seeing in Quebec City.
Following breakfast our first line of business was to fine Jerusalem a car doctor. We have had amazing success with NAPA AutoPro lately so we figured why not start there. We used our GPS and the phone book to find the closest NAPA to our hotel. 1.7km away? Sweet.
“Bonjour”
“Parlez-vous Anglais”
“Yes”
“Great!”
We explained our situation, told them we could leave our car for a couple days while we were in Quebec City and they said that sounded fine.
We got ourselves sorted efficiently for the day ahead and dropped Jerusalem at the doctor. We explained our situation to the mechanic and also asked him to give the car an oil change and then we walked a few metres down the road to catch the bus which took us straight into Old Quebec. (Our hotel, actually is on the same road (Ste. Foy) which goes directly into the centre of Old Quebec.
We walked through the Saint Jean entrance the Old City Wall and there we were. W were standing in the entrance of Old Quebec…a place that has more history and beauty than I could ever imagine.
We winded our way through part of the area, on our search for an information centre that would be able to help us figure out a plan of attack. When we walked into the building there was an influx of tourists from absolutely everywhere, but within a few minutes we were able to get some information regarding Quebec City and Montreal, and were able to figure out (roughly) what we wanted to see for the next two days.
When we left the information place we were right near the boardwalk, so we wandered there to get an impressive view of the large St. Lawrence River. It also gave us an almost aerial view of the new parts of the city, which have been developed as touristy areas near the water, but outside the old city wall.
The Chateau Frontenac was quite the building to see and we had been told that we could walk around inside so off we went. After that we walked through part of the Old City, looking into boutique ships, admiring art work and stores of gems and stones an watching and listening to the people who bustled around doing the same as us.
I enjoyed watching the horse and carriages—I often saw them hauling tourists around so that they could sit, but still admire the sites of Old Quebec. I love horses, and seeing and bizzarly, being able to smell the horses made me miss the horses that I grew up around very much.
Alexander’s dad had told us about a very good restaurant called “Ancien Canadien“ and offered to buys us lunch there so that we could enjoy the hospitality, cuisine environment of a true Quebecois restaurant. The building itself was definitely as old as Quebec and the inside of the building had amazing art and interesting wall features.
When we arrived at “Ancien Canadien” it was the lunch rush, so we had to wait half an hour. But we got in. The Daily Special was complete with beer and wine, a bowl of soup, the main dish and a dessert. Alexander’s father had also recommended the French Onion Soup so we tried that out as well. The main dish was Old-Style Turkey Dinner, so we enjoyed our Thanksgiving Dinner. A day late, I know, I know…but it was definitely better than missing it all together. Thank you Mr. Cook for recommending such a fine restaurant and treating us to lunch. It was truly delicious!
After lunch we decided to head down by the water, to enjoy the sites and sounds of the touristy areas outside the city wall. We walked around, listened to street music, admired the murals, peaked into galleries, and touristy boutiques and soaked in the Quebec lifestyle. We had also been told to check out the city market, and so we swerved our way through the old buildings and headed out to that building.
We walked around and our arm was twisted to buy some apples and garden carrots..mmmmm!
After the market we got a call from our car doctor. They had a diagnosis regarding Jerusalem’s sickness..es.
$900?! What?!
That was the total estimated cost of fixing everything in Jerusalem, but we decided it best to figure out what was essential.
The essential parts were to clean out the inch of sand that had somehow accumulated in the passenger tire, fix a tire bearing and give Jerusalem and oil change. It worked out to 300 dollars, and Jerusalem is supposed to be ready to go by tomorrow.
From the market we decided to walk back to the hotel. It was a 45min walk or so, but we got to see a few more areas, buildings and people as we kept trekking back to the hotel.
At the hotel we decided we had better get in touch with the lovely people who had offered to take us in along the way, and so we phoned or emailed them to confirm our stays in those locales.
We have also decided to stay an extra night in Thunder Bay, Ontario, so our trip has extended one day more from that point on.
We werent’ very hungry, but we decided we had better head out for a small bite to eat and we had noticed a few cafés down the street. Once we got there, we sat down trying desperately to read French.
Our server started speaking to us in French and we looked at her blankly. Saying wee and Bonjoir, but after that she was on her own.
She somehow figured out maybe we didn’t know French as asked Anglais only?
And we said yes. From then on she spoke to us in English and she was able to explain what some of the phrases/meals were.
By the end of it we decided maybe only pizza would do, so we ordered that and a coke/tea.
We have had incredible luck talking to French Quebecois who know English. Pizza check! Mechanic check! Lunch and dinner Server check!
Maybe we will have the same luck tomorrow J
One more day in Quebec City then we are off to Lambton, QC to visit with old family friend’s of Alexander’s and then we are headint to the much talked about Montreal!
No comments:
Post a Comment