On The Road Again: Quebec City
By: John Kumiski
Our first stop on the way to Quebec City from Montreal was at the Musée des Abénakis, the Abenaki Museum, in Odonal, Quebec. You would never find it if you weren't looking for it! The museum was small but impeccably kept, run by Abenakis, with two floors of exhibits that explain the lives of these Indians before and after European contact. When Columbus landed, the Abenaki controlled most of what's now New England, from just south of what's now Boston all the way to the St. Lawrence River. We found this stop a good use of our time.
The Abenaki wintered in wood-frame houses covered with birch bark. This display is at the Musee d'Abenaki.
Continuing our trip east, hunger entered the equation, not for the first (or last!) time. Siri directed us to Tres Rivieres, to a restaurant called Le Grec. What an awesome lunch we had there! As it turned out, the portions were so large, we had dinner, too. But I get ahead of myself.
Siri did not work as well in Canada as it does at home. When she directed us to a residential neighborhood where our next camping place was supposed to be, we figured she had misled us again. Up and down the street we went until I spotted a small sign that read, "Camping". Up a dirt road we went, where we found Relais Camping de la Montagne. The sites were located in an old apple orchard, the ancient and unkempt trees full of wormy fruit. Wildflowers surrounded the camping area- I counted sixteen different species in bloom. One of our neighbors was a nest of paper wasps. And there was only one other camper there. We were home for the next four nights!
Morning found us on the way to Old Quebec City. We found a parking garage that, at 18$C, seemed like a bargain compared to Montreal. We made our way to the tourist information office, immediately impressed by the old, well-kept buildings, the profusion of flowers, and the street art.
A delightful young woman at tourist information gave us a map of Quebec City, and marked it with all the points of interest. She also told us of the walking tours available, conveniently reserved in the adjoining office. We thanked her, then went next door and booked a tour- for the next day. Then off we went to explore on our own.
Old Quebec City is dominated by a huge, castle-like building. It's the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, an historic structure where Roosevelt and Churchill twice met during World War 2 to discuss war strategy. A wall surrounds the town- it's the oldest walled city in North America. And inside those walls are plentiful tourist shops, restaurants, galleries, murals, flowers, street art, buskers, architecture, and other diversions to keep the annual influx of millions of visitors entertained.
Street scene dominated by the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac.
As Susan and I wandered the narrow streets, she kept ducking into shops, looking for presents for upcoming birthdays and Christmas. I couldn't help but notice the complete lack of fishing tackle stores. The odor from the popcorn vendor was maddeningly delicious, and obviously not just to me. The line at the window was much too long, and stayed that way. I would have to settle for the smell.
We found a plaza that had a sign advertising the Musee de Bad Art. And in English, free entrance! We had to go in.
A visit to the Musee de Bad Art is a must!
The museum absolutely had bad art- not mediocre art, but terribly bad art. And it also had a sense of humor- the descriptions of the art were truly hilarious. Since being in Canada we'd been to a bunch of world-class museums, but this one was the funniest and possibly the most entertaining!
At eleven the next morning we met Pierre, our tour guide. He gave a group of us a tour of more than two hours, taking us to many of the places we'd visited the previous day, but also many new ones. He gave us the history (extensive), told us about the architecture (it relates to the history, unsurprisingly), explained the most famous mural in the city, brought us to church, and truly gave us an appreciation for what we were seeing, as well as good value for our money. Highly recommended!
Pierre the tour guide.
One of Pierre's suggestions was to visit the Ile d'Orleans, an island in the St. Lawrence a short distance from Quebec City. Pierre said there were many farms, and you could drive around the island sampling produce, buying local cheese and baguettes, visiting wineries, and have a wonderful picnic. We did this the next day.
It was wonderful! Our first stop (after the tourism office) was at a farm stand, where we bought apples, and strawberries, and a bottle of blueberry liqueur. Then it got better. I bought a strawberry pie, still warm from the oven. We visited a fromagerie and bought some cheeses. At a boulangerie, Susan bought some croissants, still warm from the oven. We visited numerous galleries. We had a splendid picnic in warm sunshine, surrounded by flowers, overlooking the St. Lawrence River. We visited a winery. It was one of our nicer days in Canada, which is saying something, as we had quite a few great days there.
At a cidery, Ile d'Orleans.
We spent all of our Canadian currency, since it was also our last day in Canada, for this trip at least. The next day we were headed back to the USA.
A random few observations about Canada-
-even at $4.00 a gallon, gasoline is cheap in the US. Our average fuel cost in Canada was about 1.80$C a liter, about $7.00 a gallon.
-Canadian police aren't fooling around with speeders. Signs we saw in Ontario essentially said, "If we catch you exceeding 150 km/hour (about 90 mph), immediate 10,000$C fine, immediate license suspension, immediate impoundment of vehicle." Not surprisingly, we didn't see anyone going nearly that fast.
-private campgrounds in Canada tended to be less expensive than the provincial parks, and often had nicer restrooms. What they didn't have was beautiful lands and waters surrounding them.
Our next stop was Vermont.
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