Today has been one of the most interesting days on the trip so far, in terms of sight seeing. This morning at 9am we loaded a bus with Marcel, a tour guide, who showed us some of the prettiest countryside I have ever seen. We took a guided tour of Quebec!
Our first stop was “le Chute de Montmorency,” a waterfall area not far outside the city. It was absolutely beautiful! I have never seen a waterfall like that before, I don’t think, so I enjoyed it. Now I want to see Niagara Falls! We took a cable car to the top and got great shots from the top of the falls.
On the cable car on the way to the top of the waterfall
At the top!
On our way down from the top
Anna and I at the top of the mountain.
Our next stop was “l’Ile d’Orleans,” the island right off shore from Quebec City. It is a small island with a population of about 7,000 people in the summer time, and much less than that in the winter. Many people own summer homes there. A couple of decades ago construction boomed as more people wanted to move onto the island. In the 80s the government said No More of that, they would run out of water eventually since they use artesian wells. So, no more new houses could be built on l’Ile d’Orleans! As you can imagine, the houses are now worth about twice what they would be worth in the city. We drove past a very modest house that would sell for around $500,000! The island is so clean, quiet, and quaint. They are all self-sufficient and can grow or buy everything they need on the island without having to leave! That doesn’t mean they won’t drive into the city or something, but for the most part they have everything they need right there nearby.
Our first stop on the island was this chocolatier. It was so hard, but I resisted the temptation to buy anything! I have tried several times to bring chocolate back as a souvenir, and it just doesn’t work. So, I took lots of mental pictures and imagined how great everything would taste.
They had ice cream cones that put Dairy Queen to shame!
There are six communities on the island, and one of them is very agricultural. Our bus driver was kind enough to stop at a strawberry farm and brought us back these to try!
Home grown raspberries and strawberries!
After the island we stopped at a copper museum. It was part museum and part store, I guess, because this family hand crafts everything in the museum/store. It was very neat! Once again, I resisted the temptation to buy anything because I thought I could find more Quebecois souvenirs instead of copper things. It was a very neat place, though!
"Copper Art," the Grilles family
Odd picture of her, but she is the granddaughter of the man who started this copper place. She demonstrated how to shape a piece of copper.
By this point it was lunch time, so to “tide us over” until we got back to our hotel, we stopped at a place called “Chez Marie.” They make their own maple butter and other products. We all got a slice of bread with maple butter on it. Um, YUM. I finished mine before I remembered to take a picture, so this is Anna’s piece. I did buy a small jar of maple butter here for my mom! I’m going to buy some other maple products at a store here in town.
Chez Marie is on the oldest street in Quebec!
Maple butter on fresh, homemade bread!
Chez Marie! I'm pretty sure this house was built several hundred years ago, with the same stones they used to build the old wall of Quebec!
Our last stop on our lovely tour was “l’Eglise de Sante-Anne-de-Beaupre,” a cathedral originally built in the 1600s that is said to have healing powers. This building was constructed in the 1970s; our bus driver explained what happened to all of the other buildings, but suffice it to say this is like the fourth or fifth one. The first was wood and burned down, etc. etc. People would travel from far away to this church and pray to Sainte Anne (Jesus’s grandmother, I think?), and those who entered in wheelchairs and on crutches would leave them behind as they walked out of the church healed! It is a beautiful building, but I must admit I have a greater appreciation for the cathedrals I have seen in France and England. They are just so historic and majestic!
A great view of the front of the church
The canes people would leave at the church after they're healed.
The inside of the church
Our tour was fabulous, and a great way to explore Quebec. Anna and I are putting together our game plan for our trip to Montreal tomorrow, so that we can see everything we want to see in one day! Tonight we are going to the festival one last time, this time to see Metallica. No, I am not a Metallica fan, but I paid enough for my wristband to want to get a good use out of it! So, we’re just going to check it out and take a few pictures, just to say we went. It is also Candace’s birthday (a girl on the trip with us), so we are going to celebrate with her tonight, too!
By the time I post again Anna and I will have allowed ourselves to shop, because we have been holding off until this next week. Yay!
Salut!
HRC
HRC
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