First port after our departure from Montreal was Quebec and what an interesting and quaint town.
Quebec sits on the Saint Lawrence River in Canada’s mostly French-speaking Quebec province and is the capital of the Canadian Provence of Quebec. Founded in 1608 by Samual de Champlain, Quebec City is one of the oldest cities in North America. The ramparts surrounding Old Quebec (Vieux Quebec) are the only remaining fortified city walls that still exist in the Americas north of Mexico, and were declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1985 as the Historic District of Old Quebec.
We spent the morning visiting the Quartier Petit Champlain in Quebec as well as seeing the iconic Fresque des Quebecois.
The Quartier Petit Champlain is a beautiful site of Old Quebec in the lower town, and is claimed to be the oldest commercial district in North America. It is located at the bottom of the cliff under the Chateau Frontenac. It also has amazing shopping streets!
The Fresque des Quebecois located in the Petit Champlain district was inaugurated in 1999. It illustrates the 400+ year history of Quebec City and its important figures, and took twelve artists from France and Canada to be created. The immense fresco features 16 prominent Quebec citizens as well as some famous local buildings with prominent individuals peeking through the windows. It also depicts the 4 seasons.
We took a tour to Montmorency Falls which are 83 metres tall, a full 30 metres higher than Niagara, but not nearly as impressive. We visited the Joan of Arc gardens, had a short walk there, and visited Place-Royale, the square that was the heart of the area’s original settlement and Dufferin Terrace, where explorer Samuel de Champlain built a fort in 1620.
And in the afternoon we went on a guided walk through the heart of Quebec City’s 400 year old town, starting at the Place-Royale, which we visited this morning, now home to Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, the continent’s oldest catholic church. Right around the corner is the pedestrian-only Petit Champlain, a boutique lined street that is featured in the first group of photos. We then took the funicular to Upper Town and strolled past Dufferin Terrace, and Place d’Armes, the main square in this part of town. We then had high tea at Chateau Frontenac, a castle-like hotel on a bluff above the St Lawrence River that has been an icon since opening in 1893. In addition we visited several other iconic buildings in Quebec. Such an architecturally interesting city immersed in a history of battles between the French and the English and the Americans.
