Quebec

Monday, May 15:

A pretty view of the bridge upon waking this morning. That's the covered bridge out there.

Quite a long drive today, but sticking to small highways through dozens of little towns and villages along the upper St John River. The culture became more and more French as we progressed. In the McDonalds that we stopped for coffee, the servers were speaking to each other on a sort of patois, where half the words were English and half French.

The mid day stop was the town of Grand Falls, which had a rather grand falls! Indeed, it is the third largest falls in Canada. The view was a bit marred by the power dam at the top, but who are we to begrudge them of that power opportunity!. Quite spectacular though, and a very good presentation centre. They had a zipline system right across the rapids, but I couldn't talk Pat into it, especially since they weren't open yet!

Did I mention yet how appalling the road surfaces are on the secondary roads throughout Nova Scotia and New Brunswick? I guess we have to allow for the low population density and harsh winters, but I hope the van survives!

From Grand Falls we followed the St John northward almost to the Quebec border, then met up with the St Lawrence just upriver from Riviere du Loup.

We are in a Walmart parking lot for tonight. For those not in the cognicente, some Walmarts in smaller towns allow overnight camping in their parking lots. It is just a matter of checking in advance on one of the free camping apps, and then double checking with security or customer service at the Walmart. It is very convenient for shopping, free wifi, and toilets... to say nothing of saving $50! 

May 16: to Ville du Quebec

We had a little look at the Parc de la Croix before leaving Riviere de Loup. A small park with a panoramic view of the city and out to the St Lawrence.

The rest of the day was driving westward up the south side of the River, We stayed on the old coastal highway for a leisurely drive through farmland and dozens of historic old villages, each with it's grand church and steeples. Berthier Sur Mer is the best example, with a museum of the sea, and this 18th century church.

Not only is it amazing to consider the settlement history of the region, but also the fact that all of our grandparents would have sailed up this river past these towns more than a hundred years ago!

We crossed the river into Quebec City mid afternoon, but just skirted through to find a campground up the north east side of the river. We were a bit frustrated to find the first two choices of campground to be closed, but have now settled into a friendly enough little place, but a bit messy with renovations.

We will head into the Ville du Quebec tomorrow.

Mercredi, 18 Mai:

Bonjour mes amis. Un jour délicieux aujourd'hui en Quebec! Mais tres froid! The weather here is the opposite of BC, unseasonably cold. It was near freezing last night and is supposed to go to -1 or -2 tonight. We ae managing OK with the extra sleeping bags we bought in Halifax... doubling up sleeping bags and wearing sweatshirts in bed.

We drove into Quebec City this morning by 9 am or so, and seen the morning walking the town. You'll note from the clothing that it was still bitterly cold with the wind factor. The sun was out some of the time, and it actually got warmish at times, but we also had small snow flurries, and a hailstorm through the day.

Here are some of the iconic Quebec photos, with some commentary:

Typical street scene. I am wearing my rain jacket and pants as windbreaker.

The most iconic Quebec photo: Chateau Frontenac.

The old town. Very European feel. Orange you glad I am wearing that jacket? Picked it up at a thrift store in Halifax.

Archway through the ramparts.

17th century administrative building of New France.

The St Lawrence from Chateau Frontenac.

Front side of Chateau. Of course we found a Starbucks inside to warm up.

17th C buildings in lower town.

Place Royale.

Lunch at a lovely little pub in 18th C shop.

In the late afternoon we stopped in at the Musee de la Champs du Bataille... the museum of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham... you know, the one from grade 9 history where the British defeated the French. Viewing the fi lm presentation, I was moved to realize how much of an "invasion" it was. The French were happily and productively settled in the new land for over 100 years, and had a cooperative working relationship with the First Nations, and along come the Brits to burn it all down. Plus de change, plus de même!

Along with the usual museum staples such as guns, costumes and dioramas, was an evocative art installation entitle "Aeria". It featured seven life sized sculpture settings composed with layer upon layer of corrugated cardboard. It allowed the sculptor to manipulate the figures. Of the two settings pictured here, we have first, the Generals Wolfe and Montcalm (both killed in the battle), sitting back to back, dejected and contemplative of the tragedy of battle... a scene far removed from the usual heroic depictions. the guns that you see were also created from the layered cardboard. Each of the seven scenes had the hanging flutterings to evoke the ethereal atmosphere.

This scene is of an actual historical woman who was accused to witchery in the 18th C, and ultimately executed. She is behind bars and saying farewell to her three children. You will note, especially if you enlarge the photo, that she is already beginning to disintegrate from the scene, and from their remembrance.

There was a quick little video of the process involved.... the artist took computer generated 3D patterns from live models, applied the patterns to a cutting machine which cut the thousands of approximately 3 cm thick cardboard pieces which compose each figure. The thousands of layers were then glued, one by one by hand, and then painted white and assembled into the dioramas. The hundreds of hanging pieces were strung from magnets which attached to metal panels installed above each scene. Yes, it was tempting to yank on one to see how the magnet stuck, but I managed to resist!

That's it for Quebec City, and tomorrow we will move on westward toward Montreal.