JULY 22, 2011 – QUEBEC CITY

Well, they really don’t call it Quebec City any more, it’s just QUEBEC. Not sure when or why that happened, but it did. They also don’t call Hull – Hull any more, it’s GATINEAU. Don’t know why, don’t know when but that’s the way it is.

The drive to Quebec from Montreal is pretty uneventful. 2 ½ hours of freeway and you’re there. Good old GPS directed us straight to hour hotel, Best Western City Centre. Once we got settled in & freshened up we jumped on board a city bus tour. It’s the only way to see a city & find out what you do & don’t want to do. We stopped at the Chateau Frontinac, Plains of Abraham, The Citadel and numerous statues & fountains. The temperature was only +30 so by the time we got back to the hotel at 6:30pm we opted for a quick shower, dinner at the hotel & early to bed.

Saturday morning we headed out early with instructions from Friday nights waiter on how to walk to Old Town Quebec while staying on a fairly flat surface. He said it was only a couple of kilometers. I was a little skeptical, but John was adamant that he could do it, so off we went.

First stop, a little sidewalk bistro for breakfast. Beautiful fresh bread toasted with cretons (very French Canadian, a course, pate like, spiced pork,) served cold on the toast. Also coffee & fresh fruit for $6.00 each. Much better than McDonalds!! We continued along into a district with numerous antiques shops, art galleries, boutiques, & more sidewalk bistros & cafes. I found a fabulous antique silver condiment server. A very popular wedding gift in Quebec in the early 1900’s. I couldn’t resist, so bought it & had to carry it around all day! I just hope I can get it home all in one piece.

We finally found our way to the Funicular in Old Town Quebec. It’s like a gondola that gets you from old town up to the Chateau Frontinac Hotel without having to climb a couple of hundred stairs. From the lookout at the top you can see where the French watched the English sail up the St. Laurence, march up the hill & defeat them. As our friend Guy always says, “stupid Frenchmen, how could they lose a battle like that”.

We continued along the route our waiter outlined, down the famous Rue Saint Jean, with its boutiques, galleries, restaurants, street performers, street artists & more sidewalk bistros. We were starting to get a little nervous about the route we had been directed to, we were still climbing, oh so gently, but our directions said we would reach the street our hotel was on, on it would be down hill. Well, when we turned the corner to start our descent to the hotel, we stopped, looked at each other and laughed that laugh you laugh when you’re not sure whether or not you should be crying. The hill went straight down!! And yes, we could see the hotel way down at the bottom. We knew we couldn’t go back so we forged ahead. We found the halfway point & thank god, a public elevator down to street level. If it wasn’t for the elevator, I would still be standing at the top of the street because there were another two hundred steps & there was not way I could go down them. They were far too steep for this girl with her fear of heights!

We left the hotel at 9:30 am & returned at 4:30 pm, stoppdc for breakfast, lunch & three “beer breaks”. John walked the whole way and I’m sure it was a total of 5klm by the time we got back to the hotel. I’m not sure who was more tired, but after a nap & shower, we were ready to head out again for dinner.

If you ever get to Quebec, the place for dinner is aux Anciens Canadiens restaurant. The cuisine is traditional old Quebec, served in a house built in 1685 by exceptionally professional waiters. John had traditional onion soup & “trappers fare”, a Quebec meat pie (tortiere) and a stew of pheasant & caribou. I had escargot (not sure whether the old homesteaders had that on a regular basis though) & then breast of pheasant with smoked bison. Both our meals were outstanding & left very little room for dessert. However, when in Quebec you must have something made with maple. We opted for the low cal, maple sugar served on a slice of French bread doused in heavy cream. We only had one & shared it so that’s only half the calories & carbs. A good bottle of wine, cappuccino and a complimentary vodka & cranberry shooter topped off the night. I know the pioneers didn’t eat or drink like we did, but boy it was fabulous.

JULY 24, 2011 – OFF TO NEWBRUNSWICK

It was a beautiful drive from Quebec to Edmunston, NB. The rolling hills & St. Lawrence Valley are a wonderful sight. You can tell where all the little towns & villages are from the hiway – each one has a church with a steeple that glistens in the sun light. Almost reminds you of driving through Utah and seeing all the Mormon temples from the freeway!

After a quick lunch & drive through in Edmunston, we decided to head a little farther down the road to Grand Falls. The “Falls” are the largest east of Niagara & we found a lovely motel right at the top of the falls. There was a great little restaurant, with authentic “New Brunswick” French cuisine and a terrific view of the falls. 5 Minutes from Grand Falls is the village of Drummond – home to the legendary Ron Turcotte, who rode Secretariat in all 3 races of the Triple Crown in 1973. He still lives in Drummond however, we weren’t invited for coffee.

Our room was very clean & well maintained, just a little small. I can’t remember the last time we slept in a ¾ size bed with one side up against the wall (my side, of course). We slept close & were ready for adventure on Monday morning.

Our first stop was the pontoon river boat ride. A lazy ride on the St. John River, which is the natural border between New Brunswick & Maine. The boat had us & one other couple from Quebec on board for the 2 hour tour. Our guide was very informative & the temperature couldn’t have been better (+25). A wonderful way to start the day.









We then decided to head farther down the hi way to Hartland, the location of the “Longest Covered Bridge” in the world. It opened in 1901 & was considered a modern engineering feat for its time. They say that in the early 1900’s farmers would train their horses to stop half way across the bridge & not start again until the farmer got a kiss from his sweetheart.

As we drove to Hartland, we noticed acres & acres & acres of potatoes. How where we to know we were in the potato capital of Canada. And what was the next sign we saw on the hi way – The French Fry Capital of Canada. Well, of course we had to stop!! The “Potato Museum” has a great little café where they serve potatoes a hundred different ways - potato soup, potato bread, French fries, poutine, sweet potato fries, & on & on & on. It is also where we learned that we were in McCain country!!! The largest employer & the reason for the acres & acres & acres of potatoes.

One last stop before heading back to Grand Falls, the Covered Bridge Potato Chip Factory tour. Unfortunately, the production was closed for maintenance, but we did have a walk through the plant & of course had to buy some of there famous kettle-fried potato chips. Boy, are they good!!!

The only thing we did not do in Grand Falls was the Zip Line over the gorge. We sat watching people zip across the gorge as we had dinner, but neither of us could push the other one enough to Zip. There is another zip line at the Bay of Fundy, so we may do that one. I would hate to be that close to doing a zip line and not doing it.

Tomorrow, we are off to Campbellton and the northern coast of New Brunswick. The roads here are wonderful to drive and the rolling Appalachians very beautiful & different from our Rockies.