DAY 47 : August 23/22 Tuesday. Quebec City / Vieux Quebec

 Woke up in our parking lot haven, kids had a pool noodle fight with daddy outside. The kids have been making up all kinds of games with the pool noodles. (Jonathan bought them one at Walmart and cut it into two pieces for swords). Smoothies made (still loving having the inverter so we can use the plug for the little blender!)

The weather was humid a little but not hot like Montreal. There was a chance of rain, but we decided to pack dry shirts in a ziplock instead of packing raingear that likely would not get used. 

We walked a few blocks up and into View Quebec, with Chateau Frontenac in mind as a first destination. So grand. It’s been years since I’ve been in QC, and it’s still so charming and lovely. Next we ended up at Laval Université first and and so we explored that a little. Oliver did a bit of parkour there. Soon it was time for some food (poutine) and we walked up cobblestone pedestrian Rue St-Jean and lucked out with the timing… still fairly quiet for the restaurants, so we stopped at Shaker Mixologie and had delicious poutine and some nachos on their patio. Jonathan and I had yummy drinks there too. 

With full tummies, we wandered further up Rue St-Jean to the edge of the wall that surrounds old Quebec, and happened upon a cool looking little comic shop called Librairie Premiere Issue. Ducked into the low doorway and down a few steps into a lovingly curated shop with hand built shelving and book holders, and a friendly shop owner. We looked around and when we left Ollie said that was his favourite store ever and he wished he could leave them a tip he liked it so much. 

Favourite comic store!

We walked up to the Parliament Buildings and looked at the cool fountain out front (frogs spouting water), and all the bronze statues of the various famous historical figures… pointing out those we’d talked about or read about in our travels in Quebec). 

Thanks 

From there we headed over to the Pleins des Battle de Abraham. Read about the cannons that were lined up in a display. All captured in the wars in France. 

We had decided that we’d check out the Mosaiculture exhibit across town a ways. It was recommended by a newly made friend, Virginie… sister of Cindy from Newmarket, ON. Jonathan called an Uber and were were picked up within minutes and dropped off at the Parc du Bois-de-Coulonge. We purchased tickets on my phone to avoid the $5/ticket service fee and we were soon inside the beautiful gardens. The exhibit featured topiary and huge sculptures using plants that brought attention to various animals that were nearing extinction around the world. Each had a small plaque explaining that animal’s habitat and the issues around its survival. They were incredible displays, with quite sobering information. We all enjoyed the beauty of it and it was a nice place to spend the afternoon in a quiet contemplative mood. The weather was perfect… warm but overcast and not hot. 

We caught an Uber back to the Comic shop Ollie liked so much. He wanted to pop in again, and we said he should ask the shop owner what he might recommend for a kid aged 10 who’s not yet collecting comics or graphic novels, but is interested. The guy inside was super nice and was excited to give Oliver his time and advice on a good start. He recommended the graphic novels: “Good Bye Chunky Rice” by Craig Thompson, as well as “Bones”. Ollie had borrowed Bones from his buddy Vincent but at the time he was not quite ready for it. Oliver decided to try the Craig Thompson book and happily purchased it from the store. Felt nice to buy something there and we think this book will be a special memento from the trip after such a great experience. 

Saw the announcers on the radio at CBC… they waved to us ;)

The little comic store

We walked back up Rue St-Jean to Tutto Gelato (the comic store owner recommended it) and got ourselves some yummy sorbet and gelato as a treat. (Lots of treats!) then back down again past the comic store to the bottom and over to the VIA rail station. Ollie gave us directions but we didn’t follow them and ended up having to turn back a block and follow where he originally said. Whoops! 

Got to the RV around 5:45pm for a relax (our 24hr parking would be up in an hour). We relaxed and read books and ran the generator to cool down the RV with the A/C for a bit to take the edge off the humidity. 

I got the kids into making plastercine “food” for a restaurant that I could visit later, and the really got into it. They worked together so well for ages, but then after quite a long time they got tired of it. They made amazing tiny food… would fit on your fingertip… Big Top Burger, Fun Fries, Mr. Twister Drink (and “Share with friends” version with two cup/straws), and lots of other bowls and desserts. Meanwhile, Jonathan sorted out the tires for the Versa back home… one had a fast leak and needed attention. He was communicating with Christian back home about what to do. 

At 7pm I paid for another 24hrs on the Flowbird App for parking here again since it’s SO perfect!! We had a nice healthy salad for dinner (to counteract the poutine) and decided to tuck in for the night with a “big screen” movie on the android tablet in the back bed. Oliver and Amelia set up the “theatre” on our back bed and Ollie said excitedly, “You guys!!! This will blow your mind!!” … When we pulled back the curtain, he had mounted the tablet in the flexible tripod and hung it from the knob of Amelia’s cloths cubby up above the bed. It was perfect for viewing when laid down on the bed with our heads on the pillows. The finishing touch was the Monster speaker mounted at the foot of the bed for the “surround sound” experience. AWESOME.  We watched the downloaded Buzz Lightyear movie all tucked in back there and by 10:30pm we were all bagged and went to bed. 

DAY 46 : August 22/22 Monday. Montreal to Quebec City (Bassin-Louise)!

Last morning at the KOA Montreal. Used the Laundry facilities one more time, and the showers. Did a tidy up of the rig. We realized to our dismay and disgust that it’s been way too long since we emptied the black tank, it it was FULL. Like really full. Like, don’t use the toilet full. OMG. 

On a better note, the kids found a little frog under the RV and rescued it from getting run over!

I took the kiddos for one last swim at the pool while Jonathan did the dirty work of emptying the the RV at the Sani. He parked it around the corner and came in for a dip to refresh before the long drive. While in the pool, Oliver found a little green frog under the lip of the pool and when he went to check it out more closely, it hopped into the water and swam around under the water. Ollie had his snorkel mask on and dove to rescue it. There were two other people in the pool at this point and one guy came over to check out the frog when Ollie brought it up… two rocker dudes who it turned out were from Saskatchewan and had been out for the Ramstein concert last night. Oliver released the frog in the shrubs beside the pool. Cute little green tree frog. 

Back at the rig, in its temporary parking spot, Jonathan made some eggs for everyone and by 1pm (109736km on the odometer) we were off again on the next leg of our adventure… Québec City.

Only 25 min into the drive we pulled over in Saint Bruno to the Walmart for groceries and a new snorkel mask for Amelia to replace the one she left behind before (and a pool noodle) We looked up the KOA near Quebec City, and drove through loads of construction traffic. It felt like a super long drive (it was a long drive made longer by slow traffic).

Luckily, looking at the Quebec City map… I could see a spot that said “VR” parking (RV). I figured it we could find a place to park in the city, we would avoid the expensive Uber/Taxi combo we forked out money for to and from Montreal. What should I see, but that you can OVERNIGHT in this VR parking just a few blocks from Vieux Quebec! $70 for 24 hours parking for motorhomes. Same price basically as the KOA, but no need to drive in several kilometres to get into the city and pay again for parking. PARFAIT!! 

We drove along the waterfront into the city, with the cliff side on our left and St. Lawrence on our right. By 6pm and marked at 110,000km on the odometer, we were at Bassin-Louise by the old ports, and I’d downloaded the app for parking. It was simply a gravel parking lot backed onto the port, with a convenient bike path mere steps from the RV. 

Once settled, 45min later we were on our bikes, armed with bike lights for later, and we rode the lovely ride along the docks into Petit-Champlain. Me on Oliver’s little ghost with the seat cranked up, Amelia on her bike, Oliver standing on the pannier rack on the back of Jonathan’s bike. (Ollie is well practiced at this mode of transportation on his rides to and from judo at home)

We passed a cool looking public swimming “pool” in the St. Lawrence rive in one of the ports… all roped off, with swim lanes and a nice deck/comfy bean bag loungers. Noted we might have to check that out tomorrow for a swim! Rode along a perfect bike path into the little nestle of shops and restaurants at Petit-Champlain and the Funicular, and then a tiny bit further to see the icebreaker ships we had passed on the way in. 

First glimpse of the château 

Back to the restaurants, we locked the bikes across the road and wandered into Petit-Champlain and walked the oldest streets in North America (according to the postcard I bought). We had dinner on the patio at the Resto Le Repaire. (A veg burger/poutine/boccacini & tomato) Then biked back in the dark to our little home-on-wheels. We saw a floating canopy bed in the port, and on the way back it was lit up! Neat art installation?

The ducks liked it. 

 

When we close the blinds in the RV, we could be anywhere! We did hear a train go by around 10:30pm or so, but didn’t hear it again that night.