Montreal and Quebec City

06/25/2019 - Our friends, Trish and Bev, had already been in Brighton, Ontario for a week, visiting Bev's family (this area is where she grew up).  Trish has been having trouble with her jacks on the RV, and was hoping for better days ahead. 


06/26/2019 - We left  Brighton campground around 9:15.  Trish stopped for gas and the jack came down and would not go up.  The RV would not move with any jacks down, so she got stuck for several hours.  They helped her call for help, and a couple of hours later, a man showed up to make a temporary fix to the problem.  He told her she needed a hydraulic specialist and he happened to know someone, so he called and got her an appointment tomorrow.  Meanwhile, we went on to the Montreal campground and waited for her.  Trish and Bev finally showed up, but could not set up (put jacks down and slides out) until the hydraulic person worked on her coach.  I don't think they slept very well as it really tight without the slides out.  We already went through that when we got the windshield replaced.


06/27/2019 - Trish and Bev left early for their appointment.  He replaced the bad cylinder and filled the fluid - - all fixed!  He was also more than fair with his price, as he felt Trish needed a break.  They got back to the campground early.  We talked about what to do in Montreal, but didn't want to walk too much, as we had a long day on Friday with a planned food tour in the city.  So, we made reservations for a 2 hour walking tour in Quebec City (our next stop), and decided to male a shopping stop at Costco in Montreal instead.  Had their famous hot dog lunch and picked up some supplies.  Back to the RV for cribbage and an early night.


6/28/2019 - We left the campground around 9:30 to park at the Metro (subway) lot and take the subway (under the St. Lawrence River) to downtown Montreal.  Since neither Tom nor I have ever been in this area, we did not know that Montreal is actually an island, surrounded by water (including the St. Lawrence River on the East).  The walk through the Metro was a bit daunting, especially because all the instructions and pay stations were in French with no English translations - - up and down stairs several times; down 2 escalators, and trains very crowded.  Once we came up in the city, it was a long walk to the Café in a bank building that we were meeting our food tour group.  Both Bev and I were on walkers and both exhausted by now.  We had a bit of a reprieve at the Café, and waited for our tour guide to show up.  In the meantime, I got some great pictures of this building.  It was built originally around 1928, and modified and updated later.  Now, it housed a Café on the bottom floor and rented office space above.  Can you see the teller windows?

bank building ceiling

Teller windows are now a buffet 

Our guide was Francoises (Fran in English; Francois is Frank in English).  She was born to two French parents, but her parents divorced when she was very young.  Her father went back to France, and her mother remarried an Englishman.  She lived in a predominately English neighborhood, so she had to learn English early on.  She spoke excellent English, was a relief to us.

Our first stop was at the Café we started at.  We were served a traditionally made bagel - toasted bagel with cream cheese, sockeye salmon, more cheese, and lots of veggies on top.  The bagel was especially good, and the topping was great.  Here is a picture for you.

Bagels - Montreal style

We then walked and learned much of the Montreal history and architecture, and stopped occasionally for a taste of something new.  More on history later.

Our second stop was for carrot cake at a bakery where everything in it was made gluten free.  The owner was gluten intolerant, and learned how to back without gluten. It had the traditional cream cheese icing.  Very Good!

The third stop, after about 20 minutes of walking, was a café famous for French onion soup, accompanied by a Rosé wine.  This café had a very large wine cellar--the wine was very good, as well as the french onion soup (although I think I have had better soup). 

We then visited the center of old Montreal.  Seems that the two influences, French and English, were constantly at one another.  Montreal was actually founded in 1642 - a very old city.

Center Square in Montreal-with founders

Montreal Notre-Dame

More walking, and stopped for a bit of sweet---our fourth taste was of macaroons.  We all got a chocolate macaroon - it was very tasty!  The baker here was very famous.  Here us a beautiful sculpture of three ladies, called the 'Whisperers'.  They look like they are really enjoying their conversations.  I really liked it.

The Whisperers

NOW FOR A LITTLE HISTORY:  The French landed first in Halifax, Nova Scotia and then traveled west.  They settled in the four (4) provinces now known as New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Prince Edward Island - also known as the Acadians (the British called them Acajuns).  They founded the city of Montreal in 1642.  They learned a great deal from the Natives (Iroquois).  In 1755, the British decided they wanted the land and so invaded, and the French people gave up without a battle, as they had no army any way to fight the powerful British.  The British then deported much of the French people to France and other cities like Boston and New Orleans. When some of them went to New Orleans, the name 'Acajun" came with them, and the food they brought with them became 'cajun' food (go figure!).    In 1759, the territory officially became British.  Later, in 1867, Canada got its independence on July 1st and  came a self-governing dominion within the British Empire.  They now celebrate their independence day (called Canada Day) on July 1st every year. 

Overall, the tour was good, but too much walking.  On the way back to the campground, the rain came.  Thankfully, it did not rain all day.  We all need a rest.  Tomorrow we drive again, this time to Quebec City. 


06/29/2019 -  Drove to Juneau Chalet campground in Quebec City - a really nice campground.  Lots of trees--I felt like I was back in the mountains where I grew up, except no pine trees, just lots of trees, period.  We shared dinner with Trish and Bev and called it a day.


06/30/2019 -   Bev decided to stay back and rest.  Trish and Tom and I went on to Quebec City - a very old city, in fact older than Montreal.  We parked our car downtown and walked a couple of blocks.  We found a lot of very quaint small shops selling all different types of goods.  We especially enjoyed the Christmas store.  I bought a nice Christmas pin, Trish bought a Tinkerbell ornament for a friend of hers.  The topography here is very hilly.

The city sits on a cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence River. 

The city was founded at one of the narrowest point of the river, with high cliffs on the city side, making it a great defensive location.  They also needed to be close enough to attacking enemies for the canons to reach their ships (the canons could only reach about 1 km).    All of that made this the perfect place for their new settlement - they called it 'New France'.

Upper Quebec City on the St Lawrence - to the Atlantic

At the top of the hill sits the Chateau Frontenac, a hotel built in 1800 by the Canadian Railroad to bring visitors to the area.

The Frontenac 

The back of the Frontenac

It was never a chateau, but it looks like a palace.  I got some great pictures of the building.  At the far hill sits the citadel (a military post and home to the governing dignitaries). All was decked out with flags commemorating Canada Day tomorrow.

Flags for Canada Day on City Hall

The streets are very walkable, with music by locals on almost every street.  The children had a great time dancing to the music.

kids dancing to the music on the street

The founder of Quebec City was Champlain, and his statue (or at least a likeness of him) is everywhere.

About Champlain

Statue of Champlain with us at the upper city

 Flowers abound everywhere. and musicians on almost every street.  It was just like in a storybook.   What a beautiful little city!

Our guide, Geniveve (we called her Jen), was fluent in English and French and was born and grew up in Old Quebec City.  She had many stories about the founding settlors, that I cannot think of right now, but she was very entertaining.  She explained that the french community liked to build steeply-pitched roofs on their houses and they often painted them red, to be able to identify them easily.  Here is a picture of the oldest house in Quebec City, built in 1677. 

Built in 1677

Then we stopped at a covent founded by a nun, Marie De l'incarnation, who founded many schools throughout Canada.  The chapel was lovely and was called the New Notre-Dame.

Chapel of the convent

Her burial site in the church

Our next stop was the Catholic Church, built by the French, and rebuilt after it burned.  The alter and statues inside were beautiful.

Catholic Church

Altar at the Catholic Church

The Pieta in the church

The Anglican Church, built by the British was built after the Catholic Church in 1688, and the British made sure that the steeple was at least 1 foot high than the Catholic Church, but the building is not nearly as ornate.  It is the oldest standing church in North America.

The Anglican Church

The tour took a little more than 2 hours covering the upper and loser parts of the city.  They are connected by steep roads and a funicular (a 45 degree tram) built in 1879 and run by steam.  Today it is run by electricity, but it is still operational.  We too it from the lower city to the upper city at the end of the tour. 

The original Funicular built in 1879

How it looks today

We stopped and had lunch at a sidewalk café.  Trish and I split a Caesar Salad and had onion soup.  Tom had a seafood linguini with scallops.  It was good.  We headed back to the RV.  Our car wasn't too far.  A great touring day, and much easier than the trip through Montreal.  Tomorrow will be a day of rest.


07/01/2019 (Canada Day) - We stayed in the RV, did some bookwork, and I worked on my printer, which will NOT connect to the computer for one reason or another!  Tom worked on some projects inside the coach.  Trish, Bev, and I played cards - it was a good day.

07/02/2019 - Today we drove to a small town, Palmyra, and camped on a plot of land with a golfcourse.  It is just an overnight stop (no touring), but a very beautiful campground.  Tomorrow, we drive through the border and back into the USA in Maine.  We will be camping in Bar Harbor, Maine for 6 days awaiting the tour to begin.  Stay tuned!