Quebec City

The first stop on our Canadian Maritimes Odyssey is the City of Quebec.

One of the oldest cities in North America, Quebec was first settled in 1535 by

Jacques Cartier who built a fort there over the winter.  He left the following spring
and returned in 1541 to build a permanent settlement but hostile natives and winter weather
chased him out in the summer of 1542

It was permanently settled by Samuel de Champlain in 1608.

Before I get too far along however, let's step back a day or two.

I made a drivelapse of our trip up the Adirondack Northway (I-87) from

the Bolton Rest Stop, thru Canadian Customs and 20km further to

a fuel stop at Flying J in Napierville, QC

You can watch it below

We are going to be making some beautiful drives this trip so I'm hoping to capture them
and do more drive lapse videos as we progress.

Now back to Quebec....

Saturday morning we drove about 7 miles to the ferry in Levis, QC,
we parked the truck and took the short

and scenic 10 minute ride across the St Lawrence River to the city.

The ferry was on time, modern, and spotless.

The crossing gives you a unique perspective on the city and our approach

heightens the anticipation of the day to come.

Towering over the city is the Château Frontenac.

Built in the late 19th century by the Canadian Pacific Railway, it is one more

in the chain of Great Hotels built by the railway during that period.

You might recall another - the Banff Springs hotel that we've visited

and blogged about previously.

Chateau Frontenac

Walking off the ferry you are transported back in time to another world.

Old City Quebec

Narrow cobblestone street and the period buildings of Old Quebec

Window decorations

Place Royal is a square in the old city and is where it all began.

One of the oldest continually inhabited places in North America.

Place Royal Quebec

 From Place Royal we marched up the hill to the upper city (my name).

Whereever we travel we always love to visits the churches and Quebec was no exception.

Here we visited the Cathedral Notre Dame.

Notre Dame Quebec

A view of the interior and the altar.

The church altar was designed on 3 tiers.

The first tier gives tributes to the saints of the church, the second, Mary,

and the third Jesus.

We visted another church, wandered thru the streets and parks, eventually

arriving at the Chateau Frontenac where we availed ourselves to a comfy chair for a few

and did some people watching in the hotel.

Outside on the promenade.    Below the boardwalk is the original

battlements that protected the city.   It is a Canadian National Park site and

can be visited.

The elevated location - about 200' above the river, and the location at a narrow point in

the river made this site a perfect place to defend Quebec and Montreal further upstream

from Colonial British ambitions.

We eventually worked our way back down the hill where Kate selected and outdoor

Bistro for a late lunch and a bottle of Rose'.

About 330 we caught the ferry back to Levis.

By this time the river was loaded with pleasure boats taking advantage of the

fantastic Saturday weather.

We are going to extend our stay here thru Monday before we head further out

onto the Gaspe' Peninsula.    We have only scratched the surface of Quebec, and 

Sunday I have a lot of work to get caught up on.  We plan a trip to the Costco

in Levis to see what different products might be had in French Quebec.

Oh and yes...   we need to find a Bakery.