Quebec

I’m late on updating because it has been an action packed couple of days.

We drove to Quebec City on the 24th from Montreal. No trouble really getting out of town or finding our hotel. I will say that it was packed with people due to the celebration of St. Jean Baptiste. Many roads were closed to car traffic but where we were staying in Old Quebec, almost all the businesses were open.

I was quite excited to see some of the things referenced in the Louise Penny novels and even had a bit of history under my belt to better understand some of the significance of the place.

In particular, I was interested to see the monuments of the Wolfe/Montcalm battle on the Plains of Abraham. This was a decisive moment in this history of Quebec and helps one understand how such a richly French culture can exist within the country of Canada.

The streets looked exactly like Europe. There were old shops and residences sitting right next to cathedrals and city walls. It was really amazing.

We had lovely crepes as we were walking through the streets and even strolled through the Hotel Frontenac. That was a highlight for sure. Found out that a room there would cost a mere $350 per night, so not for the budget minded. Glorious place though.

It was at this point that I began to feel a little…. iffy. Long story short, I was pretty much incapacitated for the evening with a stomach bug (or food poisoning I suppose, but Richard didn’t get it). I won’t go into detail. It was bad.

Thankfully, it only lasted about 12 hours and I was conscious, if not 100% for pickup the next day. I’m only now getting caught up on the blog.

Total daily miles: 218, Total engine time: 6 hours, 13 minutes (but I think this included the trip out and back to see Marie and Pierre).