Quebec City

We left Forillon Saturday morning as the edge of tropical storm Lee was coming in. We had decent weather for most of our drive along the Gulf of St. Lawrence with a helpful tailwind. I took this photo as we were leaving the area. Gradually the land got less hilly and the weather got worse. We stopped overnight at Matane. I took no photos. It was in the upper fifties with rain spitting in a 24 mph wind. We set up without unhooking and just hunkered down for the night.

Sunday it gradually cleared and warmed and we drove on. We arrived at our campground just on the northern edge of Quebec City in 70 degree sunshine. This is an odd little private place. There are lots of trees and a lot of the places are seasonal sites.

It’s surrounded by woods and there are paths through them.

But it really is right on the edge of the city.

Today we drove down to Old Quebec. We parked near the Plains of Abraham. This park was the battlefield where the British under Major-General James Wolfe defeated the French under Montcalm. The French were in the Citadel of Quebec which sits atop steep cliffs and was almost impregnable. Wolfe took flat bottom boats and landed troops west of the city. While the British warships kept up a distracting bombardment Wolfe’s troops climbed the steep hill to the rear of the Citadel and overpowered the small garrison on guard there. The two armies then met here. Both generals died in this battle; the British victory led to the eventual defeat of France and her relinquishing of almost all of the land in North America to the British.

There are two things I found particularly interesting. First, the taking of Fort Louisburg (which we visited in Nova Scotia) enabled the British to launch the attack on Quebec. Secondly, the inclusion of the land between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers under the jurisdiction of the new British province of Quebec was a major factor in the rebellion of the American colonies. Plus France’s defeat in the Seven Years War led them to come to the aid of the rebels insuring the success of their fight for independence. So maybe the USA wouldn’t be the USA if it weren’t for the fishermen wanting to dry their cod on the beaches of Louisburg.

Today the city of Quebec surrounds the old battlefield.

We walked around the outside of the Citadel…

and continued around on the Governor’s Promenade, which takes you in front of the Citadel along the cliffs.

It affords a great view of the St. Lawrence River and Quebec City’s waterfront…

and leads to the historic promenade by the Chateau Frontenac. I remembered this from visiting about twenty years ago on a bus tour with my mom, my aunt and my cousin.

We stayed at this beautiful old hotel.

Today Bud, Matey and I walked past the hotel and into the streets of Old Quebec City.

We walked along streets lined with little shops…

and old, old houses.

There were a lot of churches. All these streets are inside the old walls. You can see a bit of the wall with a gate up the narrow street.

We walked up this street towards that gate, but we turned just before the gate to go back towards the Citadel.

This time we took a tunnel under the wall and back to the truck. I enjoyed the walk more than either Matey or Bud. Matey didn’t like being on a short leash and Bud didn’t like driving in and out on the rather congested and convoluted streets. I’m glad they were both willing to indulge me. Tomorrow we go back to the country!