Belle ville de Québec (Beautiful Quebec City)

Quebec City, Quebec (42 degrees, windy and chilly)

We are now in Quebec City for five days and enjoying this beautiful and historic walled city to the fullest. Camping Transit has been a marvelous place to stay. It is an average campground, however, the owner has been so helpful and welcoming. He has gone out of his way to help us and he even offers a free shuttle to the ferry which takes you over the city. He recommended we make reservation on the double decker red line bus to get an overview of the city with a nice hop on and off feature. It was a very cold day but the place to be is on the second level to truly see the city. Our bus driver was amazing as he circumvented this ancient city and cobblestone streets. 

The ferry takes about fifteen minutes to arrive at the base of Quebec City. We then walked a few block to a museum to get on the bus. We stayed on for the whole tour to get a sense of how the city is laid out. Our tour guide spoke in English and French and pointed out many highlights. We were all struck by the beautiful architecture. This city was established in 1608 and our guide told us how the license plates on the cars say "I remember". People in Quebec City have a reverence and respect for their past history. He showed us how even in new architecture there are some features which recreate the old...to always remember.

Crossing the river to the city

There are beautiful parks and gardens just starting to bloom this spring. Quebec City suffered their coldest winter in 105 years.

Each home has it's own unique character and we loved browsing the shops and bistros later in the day when we got off the bus. 

The key architectural feature of the city is the beautiful Chateau Frontenac Hotel.

We saw several musicans playing in the Place Royale area. This musician's dog was a big hit. 

Me, Jann, and Fran

The highlight for all of us was a hour long tour of the Citadelle of Quebec. Randy is a Citadel graduate from South Caroline and so is Fran's father and brother. It's an imposing 300 year old active military fortress where the soldiers only speak French. Our guide gave us an outstanding tour and his reverence for this place shown throughout. We'd highly recommend it. He told us about he battles which were fought here and gave us a glimpse into the life of soldier in this fortress.  

Our tour guide from Belguim

Men's barracks

There is only one entrance

Only the soldiers can walk in this area

Much of the fortress is underground

Through these windows Churchill and President Franklin Roosevelt made most of the plans for D-Day. 

The goat is the soldiers mascot. It's a Himalayan goat which is known for being fierce and will battle until it's death if required. These brave soldiers will do the same. Each hat worn during ceremonial services requires one bear skin and a day to make.

We all were moved by our guides explanation of the  memorial building which houses tablets with each soldiers name who died in battle. Each evening a solider reads two pages of names in remembrance to those who sacrificed their lives for their country. 

We enjoyed our day in this beautiful walled city. It's a treasure. Check for tomorrow's post about two spectacular waterfalls we visited too.