Day 166: Québec City, Québec … Canada

Wednesday, 21 June 2017
At Sea — St Lawrence River

Stats @ Ship’s Time 9:40p (EDT) … UTC 1:40a (22 June)
Temp: 62.4F (16.9C)
Position: 47.33.23N / 70.07.82W

We should come home from adventures, and perils, and
discoveries every day with new experience and character.
~ Henry David Thoreau ~

I woke up really early — again.  This time, however, the sunrise didn’t have enough color to tempt me out of bed.  So I turned over and went to sleep, waking up a little before it was time to go up and have breakfast at the Terrace Café.  It was a cool morning, but not so much that one could not sit outside with a jacket.  The sky was overcast, with occasional sprinkles.  As we ate, Insignia finished docking at Wharf 22 in the heart of Québec City … in the province that shares the same name.

For those who are curious, the name of Québec is derived from an Algonquin word — kébec — and means “where the river narrows.”  Appropriate since that’s exactly what the Saint Lawrence River does right around this area.  Cliffs clad in green and topped with colorful buildings line both banks of the river, adding to the impression of a narrower channel.

The Red staircase — or l’escalier as the steps are called around here — is
one of many in the area that gives people easy access to the upper-city.

As we got ready for the day ahead, I watched the rain moving in towards the city.  By the time we were ready to go ashore around 9:00a, it was pouring.  I checked the weather on the Canadian meteorology website and it showed rain all day long.  The wet stuff was described as “a trace,” however … giving us hope that the day would not be a total washout.  Having visited Québec City back in 1986, we had no specific plans for today … just get off and wander … see how things had changed in the past 30 years.  So, we dallied in the cabin and waited for the worst of the rain to pass.

It was raining lightly when we donned our ponchos and got going at 10:00a.  By the time we had walked through the terminal the rain had dried up.  We took off the ponchos and put them away.  This was to set the routine for a good portion of the day.  Put the ponchos on … take the ponchos off … repeat the cycle.  Mostly the rain remained light, but there were a few times when it poured — so much for just a trace of rain.  Luckily, we were indoors during the worst of the downpours so we didn’t get soaked.

We see this neat window box in front of a home décor shop.

Leaving the cruise terminal, we walked along some of the quaint streets with charming, old-world buildings.  A surprise find near Place-Royale was a beautiful — and massive — mural that adorns the side of a multi-story building … La Fresque des Québécois.  This amazing mural was unveiled in 1999 and incorporates Old City architectural elements as well as some of the city’s great historic figures … men and women who explored the continent and founded the first settlements; administered and organized the territory; worked for the greater good … you get the idea.

An amazing fresco with 3-D painting effects.

The city is partially built on top of the cliffs lining the river.  From where we started out in the lower-city on the river front, we eventually climbed up by taking L’Escalier Frontenac [the Frontenac Staircase] to the upper-city to continue our meandering stroll to our first stop — Basilique-Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Québec.

Though this cathedral dates back to the 20th century, a church has stood on the site since 1647.  The previous two iterations were both gutted by fire … once during the Siege of Québec in the mid-1700s and again in 1922 by the Canadian faction of the Ku Klux Klan.  A holy door — the eighth one in the world and the only one in the Americas — was added in 2014 when the cathedral celebrated its 350th anniversary.

Left: An art installation on the outer wall of the Cathedral.  It commemorates
the 50th anniversary of Old Québec being designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Right: Topiary at the front gate of the cathedral.  We remember seeing beautiful
topiaries like this one all around the city in 1986 … we’ll keep an eye out for more.

On this long voyage we have visited numerous churches and temples and other places of worship.  What made this particular visit different was that we got to see only half of the building.  Why?  Because the church is undergoing a multi-million dollar restoration.  The back half was closed off with a screen on which the main altar was depicted as a picture … ingenious, I thought.  We were able to wander around and explore anyway.  Before leaving, we found our way behind the screen to a small plexiglas window in a plywood barrier that allowed us a look at the ongoing construction work … through which we managed to glimpse the gilded baldachin over the main altar.

Left: The restoration work is hidden behind this photo screen of the main altar.

Right: The Holy Door was sealed in 2014 after being open for a year starting in December 2013 … the date is noted on the floor in Latin numbers.  It will next open for people to pass through it in 2025.  This is the inside face of the door … the outside face is embossed with a figure of Christ.

We continued our stroll after leaving the church … partially following the recommended walking tour of the city … stopping frequently to take photos of interesting buildings and statues.  The further we got from the center of Old Québec, the less crowded the streets became, with far fewer school groups … which were numerous in the more touristy parts of the city.  We took the stairs to the top of the city walls at one point, hoping for some nice views … nothing too exciting from this particular section.  Instead of going back down the stairs, we walked down the grass embankment, ending up near a national historic site that looked interesting.  Since the place was locked up tight, we continued our stroll … our direction dictated by the lower-city restaurant where we planned to have lunch.

Hôtel de Ville de Québec [City Hall] … at one time home to the Jesuit Collage.

Left: The Monument Aux Frères Éducateurs [Teaching Brothers] salutes the contributions
of the 11 communities of religious brothers who dedicated their lives to education.

Right: view looking down the city walls toward one of the bastions.

Memorial to the Sisters of Charity … commonly known as the Grey Nuns.

Eventually we picked up the city tour trail again on Rue Saint-Joseph Est.  Here we wandered into another church — Église Saint-Roch.  I think the church was actually closing for its noon break, but no one said anything when we walked through the door, so we explored a bit inside.  Founded in the early 1800s, this is the fourth church built on the site.  It was constructed during WWI.  When it opened in 1920 the interior was still unfinished due to inadequate funding.  That has obviously changed since.  Beautiful stained glass windows and mosaic murals vied for my attention … as well some lovely wood and stone carvings.

The main altar features a lovely wood-carved altar table, pulpit, and other furnishings.

A beautiful mosaic tableau in one of the side chapels.

Stained glass window with a medallion featuring Saint Peter.

It was 1:00p when we finally walked through the door of the Bureau de Poste … sister restaurant to the one where we had lunch in Trois-Rivières (post here).  In both cases, the establishments are housed in an old post office building — hence the name.  The place was hopping … again with a fairly young crowd.  The menu was the same, so it was easier to make our selections this time.  The bill was a bit more than the $4.95 per dish because we both opted for the add-ons.  Mui ordered an Asian noodle dish made with fat noodles and added the suggested chicken for protein.  I ordered the grilled cheese sandwich and added the maple-sweetened bacon to balance the taste of the goat cheese, which I don’t particularly care for.  Nonetheless, the sandwich was exceptionally yummy and the black pepper French fries were even better than they were at the T-R establishment.  As a heavy downpour washed the streets outside, we washed down our food with sips of delicious peach ice tea.

It was still raining when we were ready to leave the restaurant, but at least the deluge seemed to be over.  We donned our ponchos and headed out.  Following Rue Dorchester, we found the closest staircase — L’Escalier du Faubourg — to take us to the upper-city where we continued along Rue Saint-Jean for a while.  We stopped at Tutto Gelato to get out of the rain for a bit ;-)  OK — you caught us … we just wanted a sweet treat.  By the time we came out, the rain was over and the sun was out … hallelujah!

Local color on the streets of Québec City.

As we walked along Rue Saint-Jean, we came upon what looked like a church with an adjacent cemetery — L’Eglise Saint-Matthew.  Mui peeked inside and said it was a public library.  How quaint.  We went in to wander around the short stacks of books and check out the beautiful stained glass windows and the altar.  The bonus of this stop — free wi-fi.

book stacks stand where pews once stood.

Left: Looking out to the library from what was once the main altar of the church.
Right: A beautiful carved pulpit is one of the interesting elements of the library.

It is estimated that some 6,000-10,000 people were buried in the cemetery between 1722-1860.  In keeping with the traditions of those times, there are far fewer headstones on the grounds.

After wandering around the cemetery a bit, we continued on with our exploration.  Walking by way of the Parliament, we finally made our way to Terrasse Dufferin, the upper boardwalk that fronts the city’s iconic hotel — Château-Frontenac.  Built in the late 19th century, with additions in the early 20th century, the property is one of the “château” style hotels favored by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company back in the day.  Today it is operated as a Fairmont property.

We didn’t go inside the Frontenac this time since we had done that previously.  But we did stop to check out the pachyderm-on-stilts on the boardwalk in front of the hotel.  Turns out the sculpture of an elephant with a pyramid on its back is a Salvador Dalí creation … a mere $3.6 million dollar surrealistic depiction that was installed in June.  If I interpreted the sign correctly, it will remain in Québec City until the end of October before it finds another temporary home elsewhere in the country.  I’m sure there’s some symbolism behind what to me looked just plain odd.

Leaving l’éléphant behind, we walked the length of the promenade, stopping to enjoy the river scenery on the opposite bank of the Saint Lawrence.  By the time we reached the end of the boardwalk and turned back, gray clouds were starting to gather … though the skies had largely blue patches in the opposite direction.  Time to make our way back to Insignia … slowly.

It was almost 4:00p when we took the Escalier Frontenac back down to the lower-city.  We eventually found ourselves in Place-Royale [Royal Square], which is dominated by L’Église Notre-Dame-des-Victoires [Church of Our Lady of Victories].  The current church stands on part of the original foundations of the church that was built in 1688.  A banner inside described it as a “small church with a rich past.”  We were followed inside by several large school groups, so we stayed just long enough to take a photo or two before we escaped.  A photo-op at the fresco we saw at the beginning of our day was similarly frustrated by a number of school groups arriving at the same time as we did.  Definitely time to return to the ship.

Panoramic look at Place-Royale and Our Lady of Victories.

It was 4:30p when we arrived back at the cruise terminal.  We dallied about 30 minutes to use the free — and very fast — wi-fi … a good time to share photos of Montréal and Québec City with the family.  We were on the ship well before the 5:30p all aboard.  Though the sun went into hiding pretty quickly, the temp was comfortable, so Mui opened a bottle of wine and we enjoyed a glass on the veranda while we waited for the 6:00p sailaway.  A shame the light wasn’t good as the sailaway was very scenic.  I took a few photos anyway, but I’m not happy with any of them.

We have the morning on the ship tomorrow as Insignia heads east on the river to its inaugural call on the Canadian city of Sept-Îles.  Looking forward to a morning on the river to rest up after our 19,585-step day in Québec City.

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