Our second day in Québec City had much better weather than the first. It has been pretty warm and sunny all day. We had a walking tour booked and so wandered over to the state parliament where it would start.
We had plenty of time so found somewhere to grab a drink and snack for breakfast. We also went up to the citadel fortress to look over the Saint Lawrence River. The river is vast and used by large ships. You can walk along the citadel walls, but need to beware of big drops.
This was looking back at the city from the viewing area. A battle between British and French forces was fought there as the British tried to take over the colonies. We learnt on the tour that they let people keep their French culture to keep them on side against the rebellious Americans.
There are lots of statues around there. A large group had gathered for the tour with people from around the world. Our guide was Samuel Dubois who offers this service for free. He is a local and was very entertaining.
That is him in the hat. We walked quite a way over two hours. We went all the way down to the port.
The view up to the Hotel Frontenac must have been photographed many times. You can almost see the furnicular that we did not use, but would avoid walking back up the hill. Much of the old town had been rebuilt as it has been affected by fires and hundreds of years of wear. It has appeared in a few films standing in for French locations.
There is an art trail around that area. We saw these foil lines on some buildings and I guessed that they would align from a certain point.
There were also some tiny shop fronts to be found that were also part of the trail.
I said that the tour is free, but Sam seems to do well from tips. He suggested places to eat and drink. We went to a place where you can sit with your feet a pool. That was nice after all the walking. We actually saw the guide in there getting some lunch before his afternoon tour.
We did some more exploring after getting some lunch. There are so many places to eat around town. You just may just want to avoid the busiest tourist areas. There were a lot of people around. I am so glad the weather improved as it would have been less fun in the rain.
We are resting at the hotel before getting some dinner. We may sample the local delicacy of poutine, cheesy chips/fries with gravy.
