Quebec Quest!

This is a massive entry from my time in the greatest city of all - Quebec City!

The late nights there wore me down, so much so that I could not blog! But now, I am back in homely Montreal.

Quebec was really easy to get to, a simple 2 and a half hour journey by bus. I was a little wary of the bus, someone once said that it was only the dregs of society and the poorest and lowest of the lows who caught the bus. But I found that this popular belief is a myth! There were respectable people on the bus, some wore suits, others were nice families. So bus system : 1.

We arrived in our luxury hotel! This beat the crap out of our gite. King size bed, bar fridge, the anti water saver shower, which could fit about four of the gite showers inside! And a swimming pool! Which I made good use of! This hotel advertised a free shuttle bus into the old town, as it was a good 15 minute ride out of actual Quebec City. Little did we know this free shuttle bus ran only twice a day - early in the morning, and at 6:00 at night! Thanks for mentioning that one on your website. But there was another shuttle (at a cost of course). We caught that one into the paradise that is old Quebec City. It is full of narrow, cobbled streets, buskers playing the harp, and stupid tourists who have insisted on bringing their babies in prams (which are a nightmare on the cobbled streets) or their kids which are slightly too old for pushers, so instead have brought scooters (equally a nightmare on the cobbled streets). Idiot tourists! But for the most of it, it was very enjoyable! There were the most amazing stores along the streets. You could buy Polar Bear fur skins, Wolf fur, Bear fur etc, etc, then stuffed dead animals; your Raccoons and Buffalo. There were a million inuit art-galleries. Which are composed of a lot of sculptures of polar bears, or creepy faces made in jade, or marble, or hematite.

Mum and I did this city walk along the walls which surround the city. Some are in ruins, while some parts of the walls are going strong. They are built along these huge cliffs, and kept out invaders form other countries in times of war, and from the poor in times of peace. Cannons line the whole walk, so at first they were very exciting, and quickly I had seen quite enough cannons. There was one cool tree with a cannon lodged in its trunk!

The major feature of the city, is the chateau Frontenac! This is a massive castle, which has been turned into a hotel with boutique shops and bistros and bars and the like. You can see it from every angle of the town! Its quite spectacular! We went inside, and it was quite full of tourists. It smelt of rich mahogany, and had lovely chandeliers and arts along its corridors.

We took an amazing day tour from Quebec. A whale and fjord watching tour! Oh my goodness! It was so amazing. I don't think mum and I fully knew what we were getting our selves into when we booked it, as we were on an adventure boat! So exciting. It was like a bright yellow ring, with flooring in the middle with seats and a captain's post in the middle! We were exposed to the elements (of which there were many) the whales and the fjords! This was so adventurous, we got to put on huge red waterproof jackets, and waterproof pants (which were not so waterproof). It rained most of the day, but that was ok! We would have got wet whether there was rain or not! The boat was a bit splashy! There were so many glorious whales to be viewed, Humpback whales, Minke whales and Fin whales. The fin whales let off a plume about 8 meters high! They did this over and over again! Oh, whales. The fjord was everything I could of hoped for and more, it had such geologic majesty! I loved it!

On our last night in Quebec, the cirque du Soleil was in town, and put on a street show! FOR FREE! This lasted about an hour and a half! And it was just so amazing! At the start, they were all in the crowd, and doing stuff I couldn't see, as we had really good spots close to the centre stage! Then after about 20 mins of that, the cirque was all ours, they stayed where they were meant to be, on the centre stage! I can barely do it justice, but it was jaw-droppingly good! They ended on trapezes spinning and juggling fire and firework type items! They do this Wednesday to Sunday all the summer! I can't believe how lucky people in Quebec are, I would be there every night if I lived there, looking at different things each night. There is always way too much to focus on at once.

We struggled to get out of the hotel. A stupid receptionist (who didn't take room keys off us) kept telling is the bus station was just down the road. No it's not, we'd protest, it needs a taxi ride. No, no, so lazy to need taxi, so easy to walk. Finally a common person (the handyman) came and, overheard the conversation and pointed her in the right direction, of calling us a taxi! Otherwise this stupid woman would of had us walking to the train station, or miles and miles along highway to the bus station. I suppose the upper class in that hotel have never had to catch a bus in their lives. They are also willing to pay $10 for breakfast! No thanks, I had three breakfasts for under that price. Good old Fruit Loops and Frosted Flakes (eaten with a fork)! Speaking of good value, today we had lunch at Tim Horto's. We got a big sandwich (big enough for two), a doughnut and a coffee all for $5.01! That's value!

Back in the gite tonight! A big difference from the comfort of the hotel! But loveable nonetheless. Saturday morning I move into my house! I'm so excited!