Tuesday 5 September - Quebec (Day Two)

Many years ago there used to be a popular comedy series on TV called "Up Pompeii" which took the mickey out of ancient Rome.  Every week the soothsayer (played by the inimitable Rita Webb in the feature film version, I think) would come out and start her predictions of doom and gloom with "Woe, woe and thrice woe!"

Well this is our second day here and for us once again, it's "Wow, wow and thrice wow!"  For us Quebec is right up there with the top places we've ever visited.  What a fab couple of days we've had.

We had had a really comprehensive introduction to the city yesterday so we knew exactly what we wanted to do today.

We had an early breakfast and then, along with many of our fellow passengers, caught the shuttle bus which dropped us just outside the port area. We hadn't anticipated being held up as the swing bridge was open to let a small vessel through but we were soon stepping it out to the lower old town. It was early and the old town was lovely and quiet giving G time to take photos and E to visit the shops.

We wanted to go to the upper town particularly to visit the impressive Chateau Frontenac which towers over the city and which we previously knew from Epcot!  The funicular railway was cash only and we had no Canadian dollars so we decided to get our steps in and walk up. It wasn't as bad as we feared and we enjoyed a sit down at the top watching the world go by before we went into the hotel.

Once again, wow, wow, wow what a magnificent hotel! We had a lovely wander round. We were amazed to find a Starbucks in there which saved us a lot of wandering about Quebec later on - if you know why, you know 😂.

On the St Lawrence River side of the hotel was a lovely walkway which we realised was the route to the Citadel. We must have climbed around 1000 steps to get to the Citadel but the views made it worthwhile. It was very hot and humid by this time so we kept resting and drinking water.

It was then time to slowly make our descent to the lower old town again shopping and taking even more photos of this wonderful city.

It was then back to the ship. We were again held up by the swing bridge, this time for what seemed an eternity, but we were back in good time for lunch and a beer.

It was then time to leave Québec to the strains of 'Time to Say Goodbye' and we were on our way at quite a pace along the St Lawrence River. 

View from our balcony

We realised on the way back that the footbridge has a default setting of being closed and only opening every 15 minutes. With us going back were some members of the ship's crew who were desperate to get back by the time they were supposed to be back on board.

Here's the square they used in the film of "Catch Me If You Can" - but this time without hordes of tourists!

Arrrgh!  No Canadian dollars means we have to use the stairs - see below

The reason why there are street barriers everywhere

No, not at Epcot!

How much??!! One Canadian dollar is worth 58p

Winter's not all bad in Quebec. Although they may get 12 feet of snow during a typical winter and the river freezes over, they do have this great toboggan run

Do people really need to be told not to cycle down the stairs?!

In 1759, General Wolfe led an army of 4,500 men up and unguarded track from the riverside on to this plateau where, once again, we whacked those Frenchies!

The washing on the line is a permanent symbol of a time when people were forced to live on the plateau here during one of the many conflicts in this area

Elizabeth is the sort of person who makes friends easily