Canada Day 3

Before I day 3 happens and observation.

I've never been in a foreign country.  Oh, I've visited St. John USVI and Illinois is pretty weird but nothing compares to this.  You go through life sort of not paying attention and doing things that come naturally but YIKES.  Here you really have to pay attention to  . . . everything.  Even shopping at a super market is a little taxing at the check out where 0% of everybody speaks English.

A waiter in Quebec yesterday was explaining something to us and Stacy politely says 'English please"? and the waiter says " Oh, I am trying"  and slows it down a little so we understand 3 of the 10 words. 

So moving forward to yesterday.

Looking at the weather which looks like things will get MUCH cooler, it was decided the best day to visit Quebec City would be Sunday.  The plan was to go to drive to Quebec, park and wander around.  Seemed simple enough right?  Yea - parking might be a problem but it would work itself out. Nobody has died looking for a parking spot . . . right?

We had our GPS and my brother had a big map. What could go wrong.  So far the GPS was proving to be better then a big map, we would lead the way.

So off we went. Destination was somewhere near the Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, address 1 Rue des Carrières.  The route is running smoothly until the GPS has us turn onto to tiny little alley and then onto a different tiny yet busy alley and onto a tiny little street which now has 4 HUGE buses at a stand JUST as this huge church is letting out. Who new the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec would be letting out at the EXACT instant were were coming up to it.

Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec - in a quieter time

packed street

There are people EVERYWHERE and buses and cars and it was chaos.  Zero parking that we could see.  We stop in a bus area and are told where the underground parking is.  It was like 50,000 people as a Badger game just let out ,if the stadium was on the Square and the only signs were in French.

We park giving a machine a credit card but not really knowing what will happen but we cross fingers.  It's an ADVENTURE!

We are out and rubber necking with the throngs of tours guides. At one point I could see six different tours guides with 25 ducklings in tow. Our first inclination is to get a beer which was a lot easier then we thought it would be.

Why did I ever take LATIN in High school.  Big help that was.  I should have gone to Latin America (joking).

SADLY - I left my reading glasses in the car so my French reading was even poorer then normal.

So, I have my first beer (first of many) out of the country.

Of course we had to have poutine. Poutine scares the crap out of me (not literally).  It's French Fries, with cheese curds and gravy.  WHAT COULD GO WRONG! 

Nothing - it was amazingly good.  The gravy is not a thick roast beef gravy but lighter and I tell ya, I have had fries 3 times now, called pommes frites, and every time there are really good.  Sort of like 5 Guys.  A little over done and mushy and excellent.

And for Rich the Ref, the gravy to pommes frites ratio was very good.

We walk around the upper city and try to take photos. The big issue is there are a few of these in the harbor which seem to carry an entire city with them.

To get a scope of size - below the 5th orange lifeboat from the right you can see a line to passengers going back on the ship.

This is the last weekend of summer and it seems everybody is out one last time.

Some cool signs in the Upper City

I mean this seriously.  Since Columbus has a business killing unenforceable sign ordnance. Columbus should  make all the sign downtown the same. Like the above.  People tell me they have no idea what is downtown and it's because the signage is a jigsaw puzzle that nobody can focus on more then one at a time.

Then we stumble  across a small ally full of artist.

And vendors

  And blocks and blocks or outdoor restaurants and pubs

Anti trump caricatures. are all over

Street musicians everywhere.

DJ and I decide to go to the lower city or old Quebec which was built around 1608.

To get there you can take a small tram for $3.50 or stairs down 5? stories 6?

 Here there is no vehicle travel and twice as many tours going on.  Very touriststy but on a good way.

Everyone is very very friendly and polite, not like America at all.  In fact so far on this trip America comes off backward and conservative.  America is the 3rd world country.

This basically what every street looks like.

And everything is clean, no litter, no garbage. Trash cans everywhere, flowers everywhere.  I think that woman on the left is taking a photo of an ugly American I think.  If only I had a shirt made out of a flag.

DJ is in a shop and I take a look around and spot this.  What's this?

I investigate.

I'm not sure what my favorite one is - all I know is they must have rain problems.

It was about this time where I saw the Packers were pretty much had the game wrapped up.

A 5 story tall mural - hard to tell what is real and what is not.

Well, maybe not THAT hard.

DJ took this show of a street and the thingy that you can ride up to the upper city.

That's it. I'm worn out.  Can't type any more.

Talk at ya tomorrow.