Sonya's Blog - Day 65 - More Québec City with Kizmet

Sonya’s Blog - Day 65 - August 26th - Québec City

Today we took Kizmet with us into Québec City as we wanted to walk around in the parks and in Old Québec City and just have a look around.

The first place we went was Le Petite Cartier, as we had discovered this quaint little street on our way out yesterday. Lots of Café’s and boutiques to explore. We gave ourselves an hour and a bit on the meter, but it wasn’t enough and we had to go and add more time. We looked at lots of shops and then stopped at a café for a snack and some drinks.

After we were done we headed over to park where we had parked yesterday because that is where all the green spaces are. We started walking and looking at all the interesting things. Right beside us was one of the Martello Towers, but you need a special tour to see that one. With our bus tour yesterday, we were allowed to view Tower 1.

In Québec City the towers do not have names, they are just numbered and were built to defend the city against an American Invasion. There were 4 of them, but only 3 are still standing. We wandered over to Tower #1 and took some pictures. Blake decided he wanted some handstand pictures too, this is the best one. He tried more than once and Tash kept telling him to keep his legs together, but then he went over too far and landed on his bum and hurt himself a little bit. It was pretty funny:)

We went inside to find out about the tours and they were interactive tours with an ipad to teach you what it was like for the soldiers who were stationed in the towers and what their duties were, as well as their living conditions. We had to take turns going in, due to Kizmet. The kids went first and did their tour in French and then Blake and I went in and did our tour in English.

As it turns out the French tour was pretty bad because the narrator was English and he kept making jokes about how his french was improving. Of course, the towers were built by the British so that would make sense. Here is a picture of Blake in the very top of the tower (the roof is removable in case they need it for battle):

We then wandered down to Old Québec and had a look around and found another café for another snack. We looked at the shops on the cobblestone street there and then wandered back towards the truck, popping in and out of shops on the way. All along the main streets the have horse watering fountains and at the bottom of these fountains is a place for dogs to drink. This is where the horse and carriage tours travel along and the fountains are at several locations so the horses can always get a drink along their routes when they are working. We tried to get a picture of a horse drinking from the top and Kizmet from the bottom, but she was scared of getting too close to the horse. You can see Kizmet drinking from the fountain below.

On our walk back we also wandered around the grounds of the Québec Parliament Buildings. They had lovely grounds with lots of statues and gardens. It was very picturesque. There were some statues of the main women in Québec who fought for equal rights. All along the front of the Parliament buildings in alcoves are important figures in Québec’s past.

We made it back to our truck and headed back to the campsite for some chillaxin time. We tried to play Ticket to Ride, but everyone was too grumpy and tired and it didn’t go well. So we stopped the game and headed to bed instead.

The Parliament Buildings:

Sonya