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Friday, 15 September: We had a big breakfast at L'Omelette, just around the corner from the hotel: eggs, choice of meats, juice and coffee. It was another wet day, but the rain was more of a drizzle.
This was our last day here and we decided we had to try to see some of the old city in
spite of the rain. The eight of us walked down Rue St. Louis to the Place
d'Armes. The
Frontenac Hotel forms one side of the square, and we went in to see that. The Frontenac is the
most prominent landmark in Old Quebec, perched on the edge of Cap Diamont, the hill
overlooking the St. Lawrence River and the lower town. It is one of the dozen or so large hotels
built by the Canadian Pacific Railroad.
It was still drizzling when we came out. We walked around the Place d'Armes and
headed back in the direction of our hotel, but on a parallel street. We walked by the Hotel de
Ville (City Hall), a very attractive building that blends well with the colonial setting.
We were back at our hotel by midmorning. At that point, Jean, Ozzie, Terry and Don decided that they'd like to take the bus to a large shopping mall we'd passed on our way into Quebec City. Lois, Casper, Jane and I decided to continue sightseeing. The rain made it hard to stay outdoors, though, so we made the best of it by going to see a historical movie in a building that also housed a gallery of shops. By the time we came out, the rain was lighter and intermittent. The four of us walked back to the funicular and rode it down. The lower station, incidentally, was once the house of Louis Joliet, the explorer who accompanied Father Marquette in the discovery of the Mississippi River. The rain finally stopped as we meandered through the quaint narrow streets.
We walked to Place Royal, site of the original French settlement in 1608 and later its marketplace. Three sides of the square are filled by 17th and 18th century houses that once belonged to wealthy merchants who lived above their ground floor shops. The Church of Notre Dame des Victoires (1688) stands on the fourth side. Of course, we had to visit the Rue du Petite-Champlain. We spent considerable time going through the shops there.
We took the funicular back to Place d'Armes. We visited the Basilica Notre Dame de
Quebec (1647) on one side of the square. The many artists who, on our previous visit, had
displayed their work along the sidewalk on the Rue du Tresor, a quaint little side street, had
multiplied greatly in the intervening three-years, and they now spilled out over that entire side of
the Place d'Armes.
It was now after 2:00 p.m. and we still hadn't eaten, so we stopped for lunch at La Petite Italie before returning to the hotel. Don and Terry were there, but not Jean and Ozzie. We were somewhat concerned because they had left the mall considerably before Don and Terry. It was another hour before they got back. They explained that they missed the bus stop nearest the hotel because the driver forgot to call it, as requested. Then they had to catch another bus back, and it was a long time in coming. That evening we all had dinner at L'Omelette because it was handy and fast. As might be expected, the dinners there were not as good as the breakfasts. Back at the hotel, we said our goodbyes and packed up for the morning's departure.
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