When we
were leaving the Relais Nordik ferry Stef had a close encounter with
another passenger and a door, the net result of which was a big rip
in the arm of his jacket. He was not a happy chappy about this and
it took a while to persuade him that it was something that could be
repaired. The hotel had tracked down a repair shop (Les Ateliers
Forest) for us and this was our first stop of the day. It was in the
lower part of town and they looked like they could fix pretty much
anything to do with outdoor activities. We were met by a very
friendly Springer spaniel, the same colour and mad behaviour as my
sister's dog Bud. With reassurances that they could fix the rip we
left in search of breakfast.
The hotel do not have a breakfast room but gave us a voucher for a
15% discount at a nearby café. It was in an old building but inside
it had a cheap plasticy feel. The food did not taste of plastic but
it was not one of the best we have had. Outside there was a group of
Japanese tourists taking photos, each swapping in and out of the
group so that they all had a picture on their camera. Following one
of the groups were two men with professional looking video
equipment, all covered up and protected from the rain. They looked
like they could have been from a TV company but we reckon they were
probably filming the video as part of the overall holiday package.
As well as taking lots of still photos they would all also go home
with their own personal video of their holiday!
Not long after we finished breakfast Stef got a call to say his
jacket was ready to pick up, good timing because it was starting to
rain. We whizzed back out and Stef is a now a happy chappy again, he
has grown quite attached to his jacket over the last few months. The
rain stayed with us pretty much throughout the day which was a bit
of a pain as we were walking around a fair bit and got a little bit
wet.
Had us puzzled for a
little while...
We started off by walking up to the Citadel, an impressive fortress
dominating the Cap Diamant cliffs. It will have provided and
effective view point and strong hold but it was closed to visitors
unless you are on an organised tour. We stopped at the nearby
bandstand to admire the view, dry off a bit and decide where to head
for next. Not wanting to get totally soaked walking through
Battlefields Park we opted instead to go to the Parliament building
and have a look inside.
The tour in English did not run for about an hour but the friendly
security guard told us about the parliament's library just around
the corner. We took refuge from the rain there for a while and Stef
was given a lengthy introduction in French from the main librarian
who was keen to show off the library. Its origins date back to 1802
when it was the library for Lower Canada. After Confederation, the
main library transferred to Ottawa but a library was maintained here
for the Quebec parliament. Its open to politics students from the
university to use as a reference source but only members of the
Quebec parliament can take books out.
It houses a strange old collection of books including summaries of
the law in different countries, international treaties and yearbook
style information full of facts and figures. Many of the books on
the main shelves look very old so it would be interesting to see
what their archives also hold. One of their other main attractions
is a big stained glass window, which on a sunny day brings multi
coloured light into the library. It was made in 1915 and represents
the Ouiatchouane waterfall in Lac-Saint-Jean. It has a young
Canadian woman with a big water bucket in the foreground and its
motto is "I draw out without ever emptying".
At the Parliament Building we went through airport style security
and into a small waiting room where they had parliament TV showing.
As the parliament is not sitting it was a looped tape running
through all the different members of the parliament and explaining
what positions they held. There were a few very odd looking
characters and we started to play "guess the alcoholic drink they
prefer". It would be interesting to be able to check to see if we
had guessed correctly or not.
The Parliament building was built between 1877 and 1886. The motto
of Quebec, Je Me Souviens (I remember), appeared for the first time
in the plans for the building and was subsequently adopted for the
province. It is a building that makes a statement. It has
understated grandeur and throughout remembers the influences that
resulted in the establishment of Quebec. The decorations include the
fleur-de-lis of France, the golden harp of Ireland, the British
Lions, and the red lion rampant of Scotland.
In the Parliamentary
Library
The National Assembly chamber was reminiscent of the one we saw in
Charlottetown, PEI but on a much larger scale. They followed the
British Parliamentary model here too so the leading party sit to the
right of the speaker with the opposition across the room. Even TV
has influenced the chamber. Originally green it had to be
redecorated to blue as green is not a TV friendly colour. The
Legislative Council chamber is exactly the same size and layout as
the National Assembly chamber, except it is pink. The exact match of
size was to demonstrate that both chambers, one elected the other
nominated, held equal power.
On the ground floor, one of the corridors has portraits of the
Presiding Officers of the Assembly. It was interesting to see the
change in style of the portraits. The older ones were very
traditional portrait poses but they became more modern as time
progressed through the twentieth century. Some of the paintings were
quite entertaining and you could imagine what type of a person they
were. The most recent one was a bit more abstract being a mix of
images of the building and the head of the Presiding Officer
repeated several times in a montage style picture.
Walking back to the Place D'Armes we then took the funicular down to
the other part of the old town. It was a tiny little funicular and
we did it more for the novelty factor than because it was a long
downhill walk. The views were worth it though as it gave us a birds
eye perspective on this part of town. Here the historic streets have
unfortunately been turned into a little quarter packed full of shops
selling tourist tat. We had thought in the upper part of the old
town that there were not many people around and that was because
they were all down here. Now there was more of an international mix
of tour groups balancing out the Japanese domination we had seen
earlier.
The Petit Rue de Champlain and the surrounding streets are like a
step back in time. They are well preserved and very picturesque and
quaint. Some of the buildings look like they are still private
houses but I think the residents must get frustrated with so many
people peering in through their windows. The Place Royale was the
site where Champlain first settled when he founded Quebec. It is a small
square with the site of the original building marked in coloured
stones on the floor. Where Notre Dame meets the Cote de la Montagne there
is a huge
mural painted onto the side of the building depicting life in
Quebec through the years. It was a great collage with scenes from the founding of Quebec through to the modern day. As we did, many people
were taking pictures of themselves assimilated into the collage. Can
you spot Stef on our photos?
From here we went to do a quick check on Morty to make sure that he
had not been vandalised or broken into overnight. As expected he was
OK. Our next stop was then the Museum of Civilisation. Its a fairly
modern building on the waterfront with several different exhibition
rooms. Because we got there within an hour of closing, our tickets
allow us to have a return visit any time within the next six months.
This probably worked in our favour because there is so much to see
here we would get brain overload if we tried to do it in one day.
One of their special exhibitions, God, the Csar and the
Revolution, was a history of Russia through to the present day.
As you walked into the exhibition there was a huge screen overhead
playing a performance of a Russian ballet. The accompanying music
was riveting in its own right but the performance of the dancers on
screen was incredible. I was tempted just to stand and watch without
going any further but curiosity got the better of me and I went
in.
The information panels at the start of the exhibition focused on
Russian religion and how it developed from Byzantium. There were
religious icons and some pieces of silverware and other artifacts
which got my taste buds going wanting to know and see more of
Russia. In a small corner they had an exhibit about Russian folk
tales. One of the Tsars liked to have a bedtime story told to him
each night. Whether this prompted new tales or whether he was just
told existing ones is not clear but they had some audio tapes that
you could listen to. The first story was about a Tsar and his three
sons. The Tsar has an orchard with trees that grew golden apples. A
golden bird kept coming and stealing the apples and the father was
understandably not happy. He sent his sons out to find the bird and
bring it back. As it unfolded the story was one of brave heroic
deeds and nasty goings on between the siblings but true love reigned
supreme in the end. Part way through the second story the guards
came round and kicked us out as the museum was closing so I will
have to listen to that one when we go back.
After the museum we headed back to our room to rest our weary feet.
Tonight's room was all wood paneled and spacious compared to last
night. There were still signs that it was an old house that had been
converted into a hotel, the sink was just behind the door in and
separate from the tiny bathroom with the shower and toilet. Here
though there were no signs of the original tiles on the walls which
had been present in this morning's bathroom. That was a funny
affair. It looked like an original bathroom with access at the back
via servants quarters as well as in the main part of the house. To
maximise on rooms for rent though the doorways had been opened up
and a simple wooden partition had been put up, not all the way to
the ceiling. In effect we had a shower in a corridor between the
front and back of the house!
We went out for another tasty meal at the Conti Cafe, opposite where
we had been last night. It had looked full then so knowing it was a
busy weekend we had booked a table earlier in the day. It paid off,
As we strolled in, others were being turned away as there were no
more tables available. Stef enjoyed his meal more than I did but it
was good al the same and the restaurant ha d a great ambience to it.
It was in an old building but was decorated in a fairly modern
bistro style. At the table next to us was a young couple and I
reckon that they were early on in their relationship and were out to
impress each other. We had a standard bottle of vino, they must have
gone for an expensive one as it had been decanted into the biggest
decanter I have seen in my life - very swanky.
