Day 4: We drive from Montreal to Quebec
City
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An early start for the 3 hour drive.
After lunching near Quebec City, we do an orientation
tour of the city before driving to the port.
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Our programme
for today meant getting up rather early for breakfast,
but we weren't complaining, because the earlier
we started, the more time we would have to see Quebec
City before boarding our ship and sailing in the
evening. |
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Everybody co-operated
by being ready on time for a prompt departure just before
9:00am. |
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This was the route we
took from our hotel in Montreal to the place we had lunch
on the far side of Quebec City. |
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Roughly half way between
the two cities, we stopped at the motorway services (labelled
as Madrid 2.0 on the route map) for a short break. |
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Back on the road, our
guide for the day continued his running commentary. As with
many guides we have encountered on our travels, he certainly
knew his stuff and was keen to impart it! |
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Approaching the city,
we crossed the St. Lawrence once again via the Quebec
Bridge (Pont de Québec). |
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We did not go directly
into the city. Instead, we stayed on the motorway heading
towards our lunch venue... |
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...arriving about 30
minutes later at the beautiful setting of the Lac-Beauport
Maple Grove (Erabliere
du Lac-Beauport) where there is a restaurant and a "Sugar
Shack" (cabane à sucre). |
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Once all three coaches
in our party had arrived and we were all seated in the restaurant,
a set lunch was served. It looked a bit rustic, but it was
traditional and delicious. |
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It came as no surprise
that maple syrup featured strongly! |
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We were treated to entertainment
by a local artist. |
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After lunch we were encouraged
to visit the museum and shop in the "cabana à
sucre"... |
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...and to sample the
maple
taffy, which was quite pleasant. |
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Autumn appeared to be
well underway here. The colours were beautiful. |
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It was time to leave
and head for the city centre. We were very much looking
forward to seeing it for the first time. |
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Our route into Quebec
City after lunch. The journey took around 30 minutes. |
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Arriving in Quebec
City, a local guide was there to meet us. We began our
city tour in the Upper Town (Haute-Ville) of Old
Quebec. |
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We quickly spotted our
ship, Exploris One, on the opposite bank of the river. (We
later discovered that it would take more than 40 minutes
to drive to the ship from here... Perhaps it was cheaper
for them to dock there, rather than pay extra to dock on
this side of the river.) |
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A monument to Samuel
de Champlain (1574-1635) who was a French explorer,
navigator, cartographer, draftsman, soldier, geographer,
ethnologist, diplomat, and chronicler. He made many trips
across the Atlantic Ocean and founded Quebec City, and New
France, on 3rd July 1608. |
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Getting back on the coach,
we set off to see some more of the city's best bits. |
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The Plains of Abraham
Museum. |
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Driving down to the
Lower Town (Basse-Ville) of Old
Quebec, we got some good views of the surrounding countryside. |
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The lower town lies
directly below the upper town, where we had started our
tour this afternoon. Château Frontenac looks even
more impressive from down here. |
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We didn't have a lot
of time to spare, but we were able to take a short walk
into Place
Royale. |
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The tour was over and
we said goodbye to the local guide. We still had a 40 minute
drive to get to the other side of the river where our ship
was ready and waiting for us. |
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The guide who had accompanied
us from Montreal resumed talking as we made slow progress
in heavy traffic. We were all feeling quite tired by now
and looking forward to getting to the ship. At some point
in his chat, he suggested that we might like to show our
appreciation for his services "in the North American
way". Our tour manager, Elaine, quickly intervened
to tell him that she would be taking care of his tip. His
face dropped slightly, presumably because he knew that the
tip made on behalf of all of us would not be as generous
as he might have got from us individually. |
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The traffic eased once
we got across the bridge and it wasn't long before we approached
the place where our ship was docked.... see next page. |
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