June 30, 2023
We are checking off our bucket list on this trip and Quebec City was very high on my list of places to visit.
Quebec City is located on the banks of the St. Lawrence River. It is the capital city of Canada’s Québec province. It is known for its classical architecture and distinctive European feel. The Historic District of Old Québec’s fortified city walls are the only ones of their kind left standing in northern North America.
It was a beautiful day for our drive to Quebec City. As we started out via highway 20, the sky was a smoky/smog but also sunshine. Along the way, we passed many farms and cornfields. We have learned alot about farming on this trip, since many RVers seem to be farmers or retired farmers.
Rest areas/stops are not very plentiful in Quebec. When we were Ontario, the highway had what they called an “onroute”. An onroute is a rest area that is open 24/7 with drive-thru or takeout food options and fuel. The stops have 3-4 dining choices and most always include a Tim Hortons. So, at an onroute, you can fill up on food and gas. Unfortunately, Quebec does not have onroutes. Where is an onroute when you need it? We needed a place to stop and hang out until it was close to our campground check-in time. We finally found a rest stop and a parking space but it was so crowded that many cars/trucks had to pull on through without stopping. For those who did stop, there was only one restroom for men and one for women. I’m sure glad we had our our own private restroom with us!
We arrived at the KOA at 1:00 PM…right on time for check-in. Bonjour! Immediately, I learned that French really is the language of Quebec. All of the registration employees were speaking French. At least they were able to switch to English seamlessly.
Later, we went back to registration to inquire about Quebec City tours. We left with a two day ticket and instructions on how to take the ferry across the St. Lawrence River to Quebec’s old city. We thought we should find the ferry location and parking accomodations, so, we drove into Quebec City. Once we crossed the bridge and got close to the city, there were people out all over the place….walking, running, and biking; Young, old, families, etc We discovered that it was Canada Day weekend. What does that mean? Canada Day is July 1 and most people have the weekend off plus Monday. In addition, many people only worked 1/2 day on Friday (6/30). That is why there were so many people out enjoying the beautiful sunny day. We joined them by driving along the river and getting a sneak peak fo the city.
While fixing our dinner, I noticed the air conditioner was sounding strange. Next, we didn’t have any electrcity. Ken worked on the problem for three hours without success. I finally went to the office to report the outage in case it was a problem with our electric pedestal. Two other RV’s on our row were without electricity, also. The RV Park owner arrived promptly but determined that it was not the pedestal. So…. it was our coach. Great!
After a lousy night of sleep, we decided to skip our scheduled city tour and figure out a repair plan. Easier said than done. Since it was Canada Day and a long weekend, businesses were closed. We were out of luck until July 3!
Ken continued troubleshooting and hoping to be able to figure out how to fix the problem. The good news was that we could run the generator and or engine (for a short time) to charge the batteries. That gave us enough power for lights and charging our electronics. At least Tthe weather was cool and we didn’t need air conditioning.
On July 2, we decided that we would go ahead and do the 2nd day of the city tour so that our tickets would not be wasted. But, it rained all night and was still raining when we got up. So, we scrapped the ferry boat and decided to drive into the city and try to find parking. Soon after arriving in the city, we saw one of the tour buses, and it was completely full. The tour was a hop-on hop-off tour. It didn’t appear that anyone was hopping in the rain! Also, the buses were double decker with the top level open. Since the upper level was not being used, the seating capacity was limited. So, we did another self-guided driving tour. Ken did a really good job navigating the streets. We ran into several detours/construction areas. The city is getting ready for a very large festival and several streets were blocked due to set-up. At the end of the day we felt like we saw what we wanted to see.
Below is a slideshow of photos I took throughout Quebec City. Click the arrows on either side of the photo to move through the slides. These photos were taking in the rain, therefore, the quality is not as good as I would have like.
In the afternoon, the rained slowed to a drizzle and we even saw a little sunshine. We drove out to Montmorency Falls. a huge waterfall located along the Montmorency River. At 275 feet high and 150 feet across, it is the highest of all the waterfalls in Quebec. It’s even nearly 100 feet higher than Niagra Falls! There are several different ways to enjoy views of the waterfall: from cable car, from the base of the waterfall, from several staircases beside the waterfall, and from a suspension bridge over the crest of the falls! We decided to view the falls from a boardwalk in front of the falls. They were pretty spectacular! Visiting the falls was a good choice to end the touring portion of our trip to Quebec City.
On our way back to the RV, we stopped at Mike’s, a local restaurant, for lunch. There were so many choices on the menu, but, Ken chose the breakfest buffet and I selected Pizza. Everything was very tasty! Our waitress was cute and did her best to talk with us in English. Actually, her English was excellent! She told us that English is a required subject in all grades. Now I understand how they can change from French to English so easily. Of course I think everyone should speak English, but, I do think French is a very pleasant sounding language.
On July 3, we finally go a mobile RV repair service to look at our e problem. Together, he and Ken figured out the problem and got our electricity working. Now, we just need to get a new inverter!
Next stop- Back to the USA
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