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.
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).
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.
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.
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