Another Day in Quebec City

I may not have mentioned that we had a little bit of engine problems on our long drive from Missouri.  We kept hearing this noise that sounded like a belt slipping. We had it looked at in Bangor, got a diagnosis of the A/C compressor going bad and leaking oil on the belt. They could get the parts the next day but could not schedule the repair for 16 days. So John bought the parts and hoped we wouldn’t need them until we got back & scheduled the service for early September. Unfortunately the noise got worse as we drove to Quebec so John spent this morning making phone calls trying to find someone to do the work.  He found a Ford dealer in Moncton, New Brunswick for next week.  What a relief, assuming we can make it that far.

Late morning, the traffic is not too bad but we decided we did not want to drive to downtown Quebec City so we drove to the ferry terminal in Levis and took the 5 minute ride to the city.  Chateau Frontenac is on top of the hill with a steep climb up stairs, steep street and more stairs.  We wondered through the lobby which is nice but not impressive, walked through the inner courtyard and exited at the foot of the Citadel where 200 men are quartered to guard the governor of the provence. A huge festival is going on all week so we skipped walking inside or anywhere else near the Plains of Abraham. But the views of the city and the St. Laurence River are wonderful.

We wandered down hill, through a city gate and found a lovely place for lunch.  More wandering after lunch took us through the art district where we found a painting to buy, explored a few more art galleries, enjoyed the squares outside of a couple of churches and then I had to go inside them.  We were not disappointed by the beauty inside these buildings.  The Basilique Notre-Dame De Quebec was spectacular and the pipe organ inside the Holy Trinity Cathedral was stunning. I made John take a picture of one of the really tall buildings as it was a replica of the Empire State Building.

As the day wore on, we wandered less and drank more - a gin and tonic here, a beer there, and a glass of wine with some steak tartare for dinner.  So many people all over the place.  Must be one of the many cruise ships that stop here.