Cruise Journal: Another Day In Quebec

 "Oh yeah," I said as I touched my knee. "It's swollen all right,"

There would be no stopping me though. As long as I could walk I was going to finish that tour route through Quebec. I pulled on my knee brace, took some ibuprofen and we were on our way after breakfast. 

There were two places I wanted to see out of the six that were left. One was Notre-Dame de Quebec. It was marked as a must see on my app. The route from the ship had us going uphill all the way. We moved slowly, Bob keeping up with my slow gimpy walk. 

Several times we stopped. I think we both needed to catch our breath as well as give my knee and leg a little rest. I always take a few pictures when we take a break like that, as if we stopped for photo opportunities rather than needed a rest.

One last steeper hill and we arrived at the church. The church has quite a history. It was the first parish in North America. Samuel de Champlain is rumored to be buried nearby. Champlain was the founder of Quebec. The church is actually a cathedral/basilica. It was build in 1647 and was the first church to be built of stone in the city. In 1664 it became the first parochial church north of Mexico and became a cathedral in 1674.

In 1759, the church was bombarded and burned and was then rebuilt according to the original plans. It burned again in 1922 and again was restored according to original plans. It is amazing that some of the old original fixtures have survived.

During the years 1654 to 1898 there were over 900 people buried in the crypt below the church and included twenty bishops and four governors. We didn't go down. 

The inside chancel lamp was donated by Louis XIV. There were lots of beautiful stained glass windows and paintings which date back to the French regime. The bishop's throne is original and a gold-plated baldaquin canopy is suspended above the altar.

Since we were close to the Hotel Frontenac we decided to walk down Front Street (a level area) and explore the terrace a little more. I wasn't feeling too bad. I think my leg nerves had gone numb so I was eager to take another look at it and the views.

On the Terrasse Dufferin we again enjoyed the views and now there was a woman beautifully singing familiar songs from several Broadway musicals. It was a wonderful atmosphere to take in and enjoy. We walked the length of the boardwalk and I felt like I was in the middle of a Renoir painting only there were no women with parasols and long gowns. 

Several places have windows built into the wooden boardwalk that show the remains of an old fort and chateau that was originally there. For a slight fee you can walk down a flight of steps and view the some of the original building and artifacts that have been uncovered. We passed because of the steps.

At one end of the boardwalk was an antique toboggan slide that dates back to 1884, 

There was one more place I wanted to visit before we returned to the ship. It was a quaint street of shops that was on our app tour. The street was below us so we took the funicular down after I declined Bob's invitation to visit the manhole cover that had caused my fall the day before.

Going down was not crowded at all. I guess most people don't mind walking down the hill or steps. 

We explored the shops along the way and soaked up the scenery and the sounds of musicians playing harps and keyboards and various other instruments. There were several seasonal displays in small little parks along the way that we enjoyed.

It was almost noon and I looked up at Bob. "We didn't get any poutine yet." Poutine is a Canadian dish of French fries and cheese curds with rich beef gravy over it. I've had it a few times, only one of which was excellent and that was in Toronto. I've never had a good one in the US.

 

We had seen a restaurant with a porch that had poutine on the posted menu not far from where the funicular was. We had about a twenty minute wait and figured we had better be there right at noon since there were only about half a dozen small tables on the porch. 

I found a spot on a bench across from the funicular and rested while Bob decided he really needed to get a bag of the caramel popcorn we had seen in the window of a popcorn shop the previous day. It was just up a huge flight of steps and around the corner. He made it up and back munching maple coated popcorn in plenty of time to get almost the last porch table for lunch. The poutine was different than that in Toronto but it was still good and satisfied my craving.

After lunch we continued slowly downhill to the cruise terminal ant the ship. It was time for more ice on my knee. We faced two sea days ahead and I hoped that I could get enough rest to be able to enjoy our tour of Halifax.