Québec City, the capital of the province of Quebec, is probably the most French-inspired place outside France. Unlike Montreal, which is truly bilingual with language seamlessly slipping from French to English, French is the predominant language in Québec City and English is spoken with an almost Parisian accent. Many people do not speak English at all.
Just an aside, Québec City is written with an acute accent over the é, whilst the province is spelled without the accent. So, it is all very confusing, and I hope that you are as confused as I am! Also, although we pronounce Quebec with ‘qu’ sound as we do with ‘queen’, the Canadians pronounce it as it was by the indigenous with a ‘k’ sound.
Old Québec, a UNESCO World Heritage Site within fortified walls, is one of the oldest European settlements outside Europe. North of Mexico, it is the only remaining fortified city in North America. In 1608, Samuel de Champlain founded a French settlement and adopted the local indigenous name, Kébec, which means ‘where the river narrows.’ It was ceded to Britain in 1763 during the Seven-Years War.
We collect our local guide on the corner of a street, and she launches into the vibrant history of the city as our bus negotiates the narrow roads. She does not only speak French and English with a French accent but also speaks Spanish. I should ask one of the Texan teachers whether she speaks Spanish with a French accent as well. Of course, I forget to do that.
Our first stop is at the Plains of Abraham, the Battlefields Park, which is filled with bright blooming seasonal flowers. Managed by the National Battlefields Commission, the gardens are unique as they are the first to use mosaiculture, the art of using carpet bedding of plants to make raised drawings or lettering, in Quebec. Today’s sunny day draws out the best of the gardens and they are a delight to look at whilst we learn about the history of the Plains of Abraham. We only have time to visit the Joan of Arc Garden, but there are many other areas that provide information on the many battles that had taken place here in Québec City. Stopping briefly at the current Parliament buildings, I learn that after the old parliament burnt down, the government acquired (possibly by force) a Jesuit college, which it promptly demolished (c’est la vie!), and built this eight-storey structure in three parts. There are two side wings, each with a small tower, one dedicated to Samuel de Champlain, the other to Paul Chomedey de Maisonneuve, founder of Montréal. Between the two wings is a 52-metre tower. Like the Capitol buildings in the United States, I hold little interest, and I wander away to enjoy the views.
We are dropped off at the designated parking area in Old Québec and our walking tour of the old city begins. Sitting on top of Cap Diamont, the Haute-Ville, the Upper Town, is dominated by Château Frontenac, the fairytale castle-like hotel opened by the Canadian-Pacific Railway Company in 1893. Looking at it from a distance is one thing but being up close I feel dwarfed by the sheer magnificence of it. It is expensive to stay here and in no way compares with our modest accommodation way out in the outskirts of the city. From here we wind down narrow cobbled streets, learning about the history of Upper Town, its municipal buildings, and its Catholic foundations as the Jesuit seminary, Augustinian monastery, and Ursuline convent are pointed out. In the 1880s, there was a push to demolish the imposing fortifications to better utilise the space and fortunately, this was quashed. I can now enjoy not only immersing myself in its history, but in the beautifully preserved buildings. We find ourselves at the old square in Basse-Ville, the Lower Town. Here the buildings are modest and obviously where day-to-day living takes place even today. The square in which we stand is like many in France, indeed most of Europe, its cobbled surface surrounded by shops and a Church. Tiny pedestrian laneways wind up the cliff connecting the Upper and Lower towns.
We are given time to explore on our own and to have lunch before the next part of the tour, and I decide to go back to the Upper Town by funicular and slowly walk down along the rough cobbles to the Lower Town taking in the views and to revisit some places I thought were interesting. I have lunch in a restaurant about halfway between the Upper and Lower towns. The flat platform used as a dining area juts out from the cliff and I feel as though I am hovering like a hummingbird, suspended in the air. A lunchtime margarita might be responsible for that!
A little later, I rejoin the bus and although some of our group had opted to stay in this old part of Québec City for the afternoon, I am looking forward to the next part of our day’s activities.
It takes only forty minutes to travel to Le Relais des Pins, a sugar shack located in île d’Orléans, near the banks of the St Lawrence River. This small region is synonymous with maple syrup and the staff of the sugar shack provide a rundown on how this family business makes maple syrup. If I look carefully at the closely-planted maple trees just outside the building, I can see small, galvanised buckets hanging from the trees. I’m told that plastic tubing and spouts are used to collect sap each February and March. It reminds me of the latex collection in Malaysia, and the methods used to collect sap are the same as those used for latex.
I did not know that the colour of the maple syrup defines the time of the season that the sap had been collected. The light-coloured syrup is collected early in the season, whilst the dark-coloured syrup is collected at the end of the harvest. Syrup is brought to us in tiny cups, and I savour the light, amber, dark, and very dark samples, noting the difference in flavour. Although it is summer, ‘snow’ or shaved ice is spread into a shallow galvanised tray and slurps of heated syrup are poured into the snow. Using a paddle-pop stick, I quickly roll the hardening syrup onto the stick and taste the delicate flavour of maple taffy. A quick visit to the store to buy myself some maple syrup to bring home… yeah, yeah, I know I can buy it in Woollies for about the same price, and before long we are back on the bus.
A short distance away, about halfway between the sugar shack of île d’Orleans and Old Québec, is the Montmorency Falls Park. This is the point where the mouth of the Montmorency River tumbles over an eight-three metre cliff to meet the St Lawrence River. An extensive boardwalk at the lower point of the park allows me to walk on water, providing me a view of the falls from different perspectives. A drive to the top of the hill and we again alight from the bus to walk along a path built on the side of the cliff, up a flight of stairs and we are at the top of the falls. A pedestrian bridge that spans the falls allows me to view the falls from a different angle, this time from the top. And what a view! From the thunderous falls just below my feet to a suspension bridge spanning the might St Lawrence River, the panorama is magnificent on this bright summer’s day.
My tour comes to an end today. This trip from New York City to Québec City is over and tomorrow I will make my way to Calgary to spend the last days before my return to Australia.
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