Wednesday and Thursday, August 1 and 2 (part 1), 2018 (Quebec City KOA Holiday, Quebec)

We decided to have a "down" day Wednesday...after having a pretty busy few days, we find that we need one of those now and again. So Steve basically sat with the laptop most of the day, editing pictures as we get further and further behind on our blog updates. We hate being this far behind! I think we're going to have to sit and do nothing for a week or two to get totally caught up! LOL! Oh well, we'll get there eventually.

I rearranged some cupboards and did some baking...and that was pretty much our day.

Thursday morning we were up and on our way up to the office just after 8:00. We joined others waiting for the 8:30 shuttle into Quebec City.

It was a long day and we covered a lot of territory...so we have a lot of pictures. Consequently, we have decided to split up the day into 2 blog posts...here is part 1, our hop on, hop off bus tour...

We arrived downtown at the Old Quebec Tours bus terminal at 10:00, just in time for the office/information centre opening. After exchanging our vouchers and getting our wristbands (which we put on our backpack), we hopped on the double decker bus and got seats at the very back of the upper deck..

The office/information centre is inside this building. The buses all line up across from Place d'Armes, also adjacent to the Chateau Frontenac...

Chateau Frontenac....
The Château Frontenac is one of Canada's grand railway hotels, located in Quebec City, Quebec. It is operated as Fairmont Le Château Frontenac. Château Frontenac is situated at an elevation of 54 m (177 ft). It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980. Prior to the building of the hotel, the site was occupied by the Château Haldimand, residence of the British colonial governors of Lower Canada and Quebec. The hotel is generally recognized as the most photographed hotel in the world, largely for its prominence in the skyline of Quebec City. The current hotel capacity is more than 600 rooms on 18 floors.

And we're off!  This time we had earbuds that you plugged in and selected your language. Here are pictures taken along the way...

Musée de l'Amérique francophone...History and culture collections about North America's French-speaking population, plus religious art.

Pillars under the bridge Boul are covered with artwork...

 Church of Saint Roch getting a little maintenance...

Old Port area....

 Port Quebec...

The eyeball rotates...

This is the area down on the waterfront....Place Royale. Chateau Frontenac up on the hill....

The tour bus turned around and headed back the way we came, along the riverfront....

There happened to be a festival going on while we were there...I believe it was the New France Festival...

 Museum of Civilization....

Via Rail Canada building...

Via Rail Canada...

We turned at the outer wall of the fortifications wall...

Parliament Building with Observatoire de la Capitale on the right...Viewing space on the 31st floor of the Marie-Guyart Building, the city's tallest skyscraper at 132m...

Centre des Congres (Plaza Desjardins)...

Chapelle des Soeurs-du-Bon-Pasteur (Chapel of the Sisters of Good Shepherd)...The chapel of the Sisters of the Good Shepherd is a place of worship of Catholic tradition erected from 1866 to 1868 and enlarged by the facade in 1909 and 1910.

We circled around the Observatoire de la Capitale...

Église Saint-Coeur-de-Marie...

Approaching Hotel Concorde....

Patrizio and Co. Restaurant and Bar Italien...

3 Brasseurs Grande Allée...

Lots of patio bars and restaurants along this stretch of Grande Allee....

Fortification wall...

View of St. Lawrence River as we drive up to the Plains of Abraham...

We'll definitely be coming back up here for a look!

Coming down the Plains of Abraham...

Joan of Arc Garden...

The Québec Martello Towers National Historic Site of Canada, form part of the Fortifications of Québec National Historic Site of Canada, in Québec City, Québec. It comprises three Martello towers at some distance from one another -Tower No. 1 stands on the Plains of Abraham, Tower No. 2 at the corner of Laurier and Taché Streets, and Tower No. 4 on Lavigueur Street. Built between 1808 and 1812, the three, freestanding Martello Towers are two storeys high with flat roofs designed to serve as a gun platform for one to four guns. They are sited to overlook the St Lawrence and Charles River respectively. Official recognition refers to the buildings on their footprints.Martello Tower No. 1 on the far right...

Quebec Fortifications...
The Ramparts of Quebec City are the only remaining fortified city walls in North America north of Mexico. The British began refortifying the existing walls, after they took Quebec City from the French in the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.
The wall, which runs on the eastern extremity on the Promontory of Quebec, surrounds most of Old Quebec, which was declared a World Heritage site by UNESCO in 1985. The fortifications were designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1948.  (Sections of the fortification can be seen in many of our pictures)...

We'll be having lunch later at the Pub St-Patrick...

Those clouds look a little wet!

Next 3 photos Place de l'Hôtel de Ville...aka...City Hall....

About 2 hours later, we were back...good timing as it  had just started to rain a bit as we were getting off the bus.Wow, what a beautiful city!

As we were trying to decide where to go for lunch, a major downpour started. Every one was hiding under awnings. We did the same and then made our way to St. Patrick's Pub that we had seen from the bus. We enjoyed a brew and a bite to eat before we headed out on foot for the afternoon.