August 28-30, 2015 - Quebec City

We loved Quebec City. Plain and simple. If they all did not speak French and it was not so cold in the winter - it would be a great place to live. The locals speak French and some English, but will tolerate tourists speaking English IF they try to use French first. In one restaurant where the menu was in French with English subtitles for a description of the item, Ger pointed at an item on the menu but the waiter would not write it down until Ger tried to pronounce it in French - then he was happy to help. The city is old, historic and yet blended very nicely with government buildings and modern hotels. Crime is reported to be second low in all of Canada and unemployment at 4.1%. We did drive into the neighborhoods outside of the city center and everything was well cared for.

Churches: Yes, but not as many. Somehow we missed the prosperous ones. The first church, near the hotel, was in an up-and-coming area but in need of a lot of maintenance. Beautiful golden statue of Jesus on top. They were actually leasing out areas in the basement for shops and small boutiques.

Church with a "retail" basement.

Our first small church

Bridge support painted like a church!

For sale - $1.8 million.

We called this guy "Biiiiiggg Jesus"!

"Big Jesus" church we spotted driving the neighborhoods.

Government Buildings. There were many and so big it was impossible to see them in one photo, and all well maintained and looking good. Sorry, I do not know names or function.

Old town areas: There are several areas of the city that represent old Quebec City. There are closely constructed homes and shops - about three stories high, and filled with shops and places to eat. A much more intimate area that in Montreal and it felt like you were in Europe as all locals were French speaking. We walked our legs off the second day by starting at the top of the hill, "The Plains of Abraham", and working our way down.

At one time - English housing - in the mid 1800's.

The Opera House

Lots of Statuary.

An alley of artists.

Many spots to dine!

Judie's favorite street lights in a "young people" area.

An example of varied architecture.

We started our second day with a visit to the St. Joan of Arc Gardens. A quiet area on top of a hill overlooking the St. Lawrence Seaway full of colorful flowers.

Mostly locals enjoying the morning.



Saint Joan



Gerry, Gene and Linda checking it out.



The last thing we did was to drive out to Montmorency Falls east of the city and enjoy a nice walk to a beautiful waterfall. The park has a small fee but you get your monies worth! This is the location of the very first "Ice Hotel" in North America.

Higher than Niagara Falls, but not as wide. Note the walkway bridge across the top of the falls.

You can walk to the top and hike a trail to the falls - not!

You can take a cable car.

Or you can walk to the base of the fall like we did.