Quebec City, Part 3

Just a few last pictures. Another statue -- they're all over the place. I'm sorry to say that I've forgotten who this is. A closer shot:


Definitely a legislator of some sort -- perhaps one of the men involved with the early confederation talks?

The Quebec Legislature (Quebec City is the capital of the province of Quebec):


Crossing the city walls, out of the old city:


The wine and cheese reception on the second evening of the conference (which I should have taken a picture of -- the spread was astounding, and I was unable to eat most of the cheese, or drink the wine, dammit!) was in l'Observatoire, a glassed-in room in a tower. There were spectacular views, which are the last pictures I took in the city. The St. Lawrence River & the Plains of Abraham, where the battle between Wolfe & Montcalm for control of Quebec took place in 1759, resulting in the British takeover of New France (the beginnings of Canada) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Quebec_%281759%29):



The harbour:


The old citadel, nearest the river (which I wish I'd found the time to visit):



And that's all, folks! Thanks for wandering with me.

Quebec City, Part 2

Ok, as promised: back to Quebec City. Above, I'm looking up from the lower city to the ramparts, with the spring foliage of the trees making things even more colourful. Below, a statue & fountain that presumably has some symbolic importance, but I don't know who it's meant to be; she looks like she might be holding a cornucopia, maybe?


Next, a tiny, old lane, and proof that Classicists can be sexy (if not Classics...) :


A newer little corner in the old city:


And a mural, on the side of one of the newer buildings:


Ruins:


With explanation:


An historic church, Notre-Dame-des-Victoires, erected around 1658 on the site that Samuel de Champlain built his first home in 1608 when he founded the city (making it the first permanent French habitation in North America):


And then, a more modern construction, the world-renowned (ok, probably not!) Funiculaire!


It's just a way to quickly and scenically climb from the lower city to the upper city. But it has "fun" in its very name! So we had to ride on it.


Up, up, up we went...


Looking out at the view...


Until we got to the top, and the Chateau Frontenac (an old, fancy hotel, one of the CN (Canadian National) hotels that were built along the trans-national railroad):


There were more ruins:


I think of fortifications, or maybe another house -- I didn't look for the sign this time. And then, of course, the statue of Champlain:


Just a wee bit triumphal!

After all that wandering, we ended up here for dinner:


Not very quebecois, though it is in a building built in 1797 (I think) that used to be an armoury or some such thing. And it had some nice amenities, of which I sadly couldn't partake:


I still have more pictures, so I think I'll wait until tomorrow for part 3. One last shot from the ramparts as I walked home that evening:

Quebec City, Part 1

I attended a conference in Quebec City last week. This was the little plane I took to Toronto, for my connection to Quebec.

Now, the thing about Quebec City is that it's one of the oldest cities in North America, founded (sort of) in 1535 and continuously settled since 1608. It's also the only city with a fully walled garrison in North America. My conference was held right in the heart of the old city, so while I didn't do any concentrated sight-seeing, I did get many shots of historic areas as I wandered from meetings to lunches to receptions. Above you can see a section of the old city wall, at the top of the escarpment.

Walking in the Old City involves a lot of hills. Here's a road leading up to the ramparts, which I climbed to start the morning every day. My choice of 2.5" heels for the first day was perhaps injudicious.


Cannons are set into the ramparts along various stretches, for decorative purposes only, I assume, since all you could shoot at now would be this:


The harbour on the St. Lawrence.


Almost every street is picturesque, so I took pictures of a fairly random assortment of places.




I've got too many photos for one post (and not enough patience), so I'll end this post with an evening shot, and be back with more in a day or two.