October 20 - Saquenay, Québec and a Sunday day of rest

I made an executive decision this morning to take the day off. I have lots of excuses – it’s rainy, it’s chilly and most of the things to do here involve walking in the woods, which really sounds unappealing in the rain and cold, plus I was tired and slept late.

I’ve been unable to write for the last two days because it’s been too busy.  On Friday I boarded the ship around 1 PM and by the time I’d unpacked we were sailing away.  There was a solo travelers' cocktail party where I met several nice ladies and then we dined with the Assistant Cruise Director who Seabourn has decided should be called the Entertainment Manager. In my mind she’ll always be the Asst CD.  There was a show with a very good Canadian singer and then I went to the Club.  A lady I met on a cruise back in 2022 named Hazel was there.  She was the first person, even before Helga, who told me that I should get up and dance if I felt like it.  We listened to the Trio playing for a while.  We agreed that while they play well, they don’t play music to dance to.  Somehow that’s going to have to change because I think they’re here the whole time I am and easy listening music late night just won’t do.

Yesterday was a beautiful, sunny day and we were docked right in downtown Québec City.  What a beautiful city!  I don’t often say that it’s a place I might like to come back to for a few days, but this city is one of those.  I took an all-day tour that showed me both the countryside and the city and had the most marvelous guide, Neal from Minnesota.  Sounds funny doesn’t it?  Neal was a professor of French History who moved to Québec  with his wife who is also a professor at Lavalle University.  He retired from teaching and now guides part-time.  Québec, the city, was founded in 1608 (ha, ha we beat  them by a year at Jamestown!) by Samuel de Champlain from France.  The city is sited on the St. Lawrence River and has  upper and lower  parts.  It's a World Heritage City in part because of the star-shaped wall and fortifications of the upper city, which were built in the 1770's when the British feared that the rebels (that's us!) might try to take the city. We began our tour with a drive through that part past the iconic hotel, the Château Frontenac, and we stopped at a lookout point on the Plain of Abraham.   

That's the Chateau Frontenac.  I stole the photo because I couldn't possibly take one this good.

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A piece of the Plain of Abraham

A bit of that wall around upper Québec

Here I have to write about some of the history because I found it fascinating.  The French originally settled the area but in the ensuing years there were disputes with the British.  In 1632 British King Charles I ceded the province to the French in exchange for the French king paying his wife’s dowry.  During the period we call the French-Indian War, but in Europe was the Seven-Years War, the British in the colonies down south (our future US) launched an attack on Québec.  It culminated in the battle at the Plain of Abraham in 1759 when the British General Wolfe defeated French General Montcalm.  Both generals were killed during the battle but the British prevailed and so began Britain’s rule of this part of Canada.  

I won’t go into all the history but the eastern provinces continued to be part of Britain until July 1, 1867 when they were granted independence and became loosely tied to Britain as a member of the Commonwealth.  Interestingly, our Civil War played a part in the decision to grant independence.  I won't go into that but I think it's worth reading more about.  Additionally, the western provinces of Canada didn’t join the Canadian Confederation until later in the 1870’s.  I find it fascinating because I love history.  I think it’s also so interesting that despite being an independent country, the head of state of Canada is King Charles III.  We fought a revolution to get rid of George III, but Canada still has a king with a III after his name as a head of state.

After leaving  Upper Québec we drove out of the city to the falls at Montmorency, or as they are called here the "Chute de Montmorency."  The falls are at the mouth of the river of the same name as it falls over a cliff into the St. Lawrence River.  They are impressive! They are 272 feet tall, 99 feet higher than Niagara Falls, but not quite as wide.  There is a walkway at the base of the cascade and for the more energetic people there are steps one can climb.  We didn’t have time to do that (nor would I have anyway).  There’s a park around and because it was a lovely day there were plenty of families  enjoying the sunshine.

The Montmorency Falls

The house at the top overlooks the falls and has an interesting story.  A Duke of Kent lived there in the 19th century with his French mistress.  His family insisted that he come back to Britain and marry a princess.  He unwillingly did and sired a pretty famous person, Queen Victoria!

We reboarded our bus and continued  to a village whose name I don’t know to a charming country restaurant in an old timbered and brick house.  I find it noteworthy  that here in Québec and its surroundings something like 50% of the population speaks only French.  All teaching in schools is in French.  If a Canadian couple has one parent who was from an English-speaking family, the couple can opt to send their children to one of only two high schools in Québec that teach in English.  Anyway, we had a delightful lunch served by French speaking servers who knew a little English, but not much.

The little restaurant all decked out for Halloween where  lunch was served

The restaurant was as charming inside as it was outside

Following lunch we drove to the little town of Beaupré for our visit to the Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré.  This magnificent edifice looks like a cathedral built in the Gothic or Renaissance era in Europe but was actually constructed in the 20th century.  It is one of eight national shrines in Canada and honors St. Anne, the mother of the Virgin Mary.  The site has had a shrine or chapel since the mid-17th century when reportedly a man suffering from rheumatism placed three stones to help build the foundation for a chapel and was subsequently cured of his ailments.  Over the centuries a number of miracles have been credited  by the Catholic Church to occur as a result of visits to the place.  It is an exquisite building with many beautiful stained glass windows and mosaics,  and its location at the foot of a hill sporting full autumn colors made for a lovely vista.

One of several sets of massive copper doors entering the basilica

The nave of the basilica

Just a small piece of the ceiling which is all mosaics

The statue of St. Anne

The façade of the basilica

Our small group of only 15 reboarded our full-size bus and we were off to Île d’Orléans, an island in the St. Lawrence River just east of Québec.  This island was one of the first places settled by the French and some call it the birthplace of North American francophones.  Our guide Neal told us that many people from all over the US with French surnames have come here searching for their roots because the island evidently has kept excellent records of the earliest settlers and even some of their descendants as they  moved on to other places.  It’s still a place with lots of farms where people come to take a dégustation tour, a tasting tour.  Our destination was a maple tasting room.  Québec, the province, produces 70% of the world’s maple syrup and the place we stopped has more than 2500 maple trees.  We saw a short video on how the syrup is created followed by a tasting.  We had some delicious maple butter, a shot of amber syrup, and a maple ice pop which we created ourselves by twirling a stick over a line of syrup on packed snow.  It was tasty, but definitely a sugar high.

The Maple Farm

Making maple ice pops

After a scenic drive around the island we crossed back over the river and made our last stop in the lower city of Québec.  This part reminded me of any number of European towns with cobblestoned narrow streets and lots of cafés.  My photos weren’t very good so I’ve stolen one from the net to remember the place.  After a little walk we went back to the ship and said our farewells to Neal and our driver André.  

Lower Québec.  Doesn't it look like you've transported to a town in Provence?

It was a wonderful day but I was exhausted.  I skipped the welcome aboard cocktail party and hosted table and instead dined with some new friends from Miami in the Colonnade restaurant.  We had a good time and laughed a lot.  Ada left Cuba in 1960, Margaret is from Krakow, Poland and is married to Peter who is from Wisconsin originally.  They were a fun group.  We made it to the show which involved a wonderful singer from New York.  She’s Christine who has been nominated for Tony awards several times and whom I’ve had the pleasure of dining with and being entertained by before.  After the show I have to confess I crashed.  I slept for 10 hours!

And so I come to the end of today’s saga.  I feel rested, recharged and hopefully ready to go tomorrow, especially if it’s sunny.  Á bientot for now.