Montreal 3: Quebec City? A worthwhile impromptu trip.

Two nights ago I got to thinking.  I was running out of things to do in Montreal and started looking into my options.  Between the Canadian dollar being cheap and it being winter, I was able to find cheap hotels in Quebec City and as it is a smaller city, I thought it would be more up my alley.  I booked a train last night, along with a hotel, and left this morning.  The train was about a three hour trip.

Using Google Maps, I found a bus stop that was a four minute walk(through the snow, with luggage) away.  When I got there, I realized that Google Maps neglected to mention that the bus would not arrive for another thirty minutes!  It was only a 12 minute longer walk, albeit uphill, to my hotel, so I just went ahead and walked the rest of the way.

I stepped into the hotel, located right near the square of upper town Quebec City, and the entire floor had been ripped out.  They had a makeshift desk off to the side.  Breakfast, which is included, will be provided in another hotel down the street.  Luckily, the room itself was nice.  It has a desk, a nice bed, a beautiful bathroom, but half of the room has a slanted ceiling with cushions since people must have been hitting their heads.  I stay away from that side of the room.

I grabbed my camera and did what most tourists do when they come here, I headed to the libraries.  There were two libraries of interest.  First, I went to the Morrin Centre, a former prison.  I skipped the prison tour and asked the reception desk to see the library.  They had me take off my jacket and shoes in the coat room, and put on a pair of Crocs.  The library has been here since 1868, created by the Literary and Historical Society of Quebec.  The group gathered historical documents of Canada and reprinted rare manuscripts.  In any case, the books were mostly stored in one room.  I took out my widest lens and took some pictures on silent mode.




Right across the street is the Maison de la Litterature library, housed inside what was created as the first neogothic church in Quebec City, in 1848.

This used to be the main entrance.  The new one is around to the side and then takes you inside this main building.

Some interesting engravings outside the library.

Inside is a beautiful, modern library.

With a very unique quiet room.

Just down the road is the fortifications/walls of old Quebec.  It was entirely shut down for the winter.  Here is a picture of the "gun carriage shed."



I passed underneath the walls and discovered a small public ice skating arena, with music playing from the speakers located at the theater.

You can see the old walls in the background.

I was undecided about my next stop, but since the walls were a bust, I figured I'd give La Citadelle de Quebec a shot.  On the way, I caught a great view of the large hotel in town.  The entryway to the fort was mostly empty.



I paid the entrance fee and the woman told me that there was a tour group just outside, about to leave.  I informed her that I was content just walking around myself.  She responded that this was still an active base, so I'd only be able to go through the museum by myself.  The tour it is!

The tour guide was a young man with a pleasant sense of humor.  He explained that the inside courtyard is used as marching grounds during the summer, but is used as a parking lot in the winter.  As I had looked up the place online, I was aware that this fort was built to repel an American invasion that never happened.  I learned a little bit about French history, the beaver symbol, and the buildings of the fort.  At last he brought us to what I was hoping for, a spot with a view.  The timing was just right for light.



After a very short time, the guide announced that we should finish taking pictures.  I guess I took too long, because when I was done, no one was to be found.  I figured that I would catch them around the corner, but there was no one there either.  I went back to the entrance and explained to the receptionist that I had lost the tour guide, and he probably dipped into one of the buildings.  In any case, I was ready to go as I wanted to have time to take more pictures while there was still light.  She thanked me for being honest.

I walked back to my hotel, stopping at a grocery store along the way to pick up water and dinner.




I ended up dropping the food off at the hotel and grabbing a few lenses to get some final shots before the sun was completely down.  The large castle-like building was actually never a castle.  It was a hotel built by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company in 1893.  The hotel was expanded multiple times since and even hosted a meeting by Roosevelt, Churchill, and the Canadian Prime Minister to discuss strategy for World War II.

If you look closely, under the monument is a man with two large white dogs.

Later in the winter, a toboggan run opens up that reaches speeds of up to 70km/h.  It is currently unoccupied, but filled with snow.

The unused toboggan.

I learned another interesting Canadian tidbit while in the elevator today.  I noticed that the ground floor is always labelled as "RC."  I asked someone else, while in the elevator, and they said that it was a french word meaning ground floor.  They pronounced the word, but I was unable to register it in my brain in any capacity.  I then looked it up on google and it stands for "rez-de-chaussee."