We woke up at 4am and prepared ourselves for a 5:10 arrival in Quebec. The train was only 10 minutes late and a man was waiting with Malcolm Colless written on a card. He drove us in a Lincoln Limousine to our Auberge Saint Pierre in the Old Town of Quebec. We were able to go straight to our room because it had been booked for last night as well.
After settling in and eating some of the food we did not need on the train, we discovered that breakfast was included in our stay. So we decided to orient ourselves to the environs at 8am before the crowds came out and return for breakfast at 10am. A big mob of excited cyclists were in the breakfast room anyway and they were set to drive to the Island of Orleans for a 40km ride around the island.
At the waterfront we saw a few cannons and then an artist's comment by means of a set of mock cannons that end up "backfiring".
We looked up and saw the jewel in the crown of the city - Chateau Frontenac.
We found the funicular railway and paid $5 for the very short steep climb.
We think this is the fourth funicular on this trip, not counting the two ski lifts we did.
Up close, the Chateau was even more impressive. More so even than Neuschwanstein in Germany.
We climbed up further using the Promenade des Gouverneurs and came to the Citadel at 100 meters above the St Lawrence river below. The river here is up to one kilometre wide and still fresh water. It sometimes floods when the snow melts fast.
There were 350 steps. These had a squirrel on them, our first sighting of native fauna.
We came back to the Chateau and followed the ramparts past this other magnificent building which houses the University School of Architecture and the Catholic Seminary.
We stopped for a rest in a nice park next to the ramparts and watched a squirrel nibble in the grass.
The fire hydrants use the same colours as the country houses.
For breakfast (we called it brunch), Lyn had the eggs and Malcolm had two pancakes with Maple syrup, which they call La Quebecoise. After a pause for digestion we went to the ferry wharf and rejected the river ride at $40 each and walked along the river instead. We found a statue honouring the merchant seamen who died at sea.
The pleasure boats are moored in an area which is protected from the river's tides by a set of locks. We watched the road bridge open and the lock filling up as the tide fell. Water will flow back through the lock as the tide becomes high. We are over a thousand kilometres away from the Gulf but the tides are still twelve foot or more.
By 1pm it was hot again so we hibernated till 6pm. Malcolm watched a warmup game for the Rugby World Cup between Canada and USA, won by USA.
Dinner at Subway, which has signs in French only, was followed by an early night. Two bus tours tomorrow.
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