Quebec City and South to the Border!

Saturday, August 31, 2013


We are sitting in the rig in Stanstead, Quebec at the Lac Frontiere Campground, two km from the United States border, listening to a band sing “Sweet Home Alabama” in a heavy French accent. The campground is having a cook-out and concert for the Labor Day weekend. The amplified music was unexpected and we are hoping it stops by 11 PM (note from Greg – actual end was 1:30 am), so we can sleep, old folks that we are!


Tomorrow morning we will cross over the border back into the United States. We had a final four days to explore Quebec. We left Sainte-Rose-Du-Nord on Wednesday morning to head to Quebec City. The road on the south side of the fjord became our route after we yet again, missed a turn in the town of Saguenay. We had planned on driving through the mountainous area south of the fjord toward Quebec City. Instead we went back out to the coast, but again, we didn't get to see much of the fjord.

The largest aluminum pyramid in the world - at la Bai de Ha Ha

This tiny town had 330 creches as its claim to fame, probably one for each resident

Mountain pass through the provincial park

Late in the afternoon we came over a hill and saw the city in the distance. Driving along the river we found the Trumel campground. Checking in, we found ourselves one of the few transients, as most of the residents were seasonal, and had put a lot of time and money into decks, woodstoves, grills, plantings, fences and whimsical decorations around their trailers. At night it looked like Christmas with all the strands of lights, especially on the artificial palm trees. It reminded us of a Canadian version of some of the parks in Florida and Texas in winter, also filled with Canadians.

The Quebec skyline

The Shrine of Ste. Anne du Beaupre

French all-terrain RV next to us. I assume they took this to Hudson's Bay, not so great for Old Quebec City

Thursday morning we checked out of the campground and drove over the bridge to Ile d'Orleans, the 20 mile long island in the St. Lawrence River just downstream from Quebec. It has been the “garden” of Quebec for centuries, and now specializes in growing potatoes, leeks and strawberries. I've wanted to go there since I was young. It was supposed to be rural, quaint, and charming with it's farms and traditional Quebec architecture. Well, the houses are there, and some farms, but it was also crowded with vacation homes. It was a bit of a disappointment. We did have lunch in a park at the far end of the island and hiked up an observation tower, which gave us a great view down the St. Lawrence.

The campground canteen

The bridge to Ile d'Orleans

Strawberry farm stand

River Pilot's houses from the early 1800's

Typical village with skill tests for RV drivers

Historic farm house

Bulk freighter heading upriver

The east end of the island

Observation tower

On the shore road on the way back towards the bridge, we stopped at a farm stand and bought produce and a homemade blueberry pie. It was all from the farm across the road. Coming off the island we had planned to visit the Montmorency Falls along the shore road, but road repairs and detours made it impossible to drive there, so we drove around the outskirts of Quebec and across the bridge over the St. Lawrence.

Farm stand

Should have bought two!

Restored farm house

Montmorency Falls- higher than Niagra

We passed the city of Levis and found the Camping de le Fort Martiniere Campground along the river. After a conversation where the owner, who knew some English, managed to assure us that we could take a bus to the ferry, we lucked into the last campsite. Canadians celebrate their Labor Day on the same day as the States. We were hoping we could find a space for us for Thursday and Friday nights.


Friday morning dawned rainy, but by the time we were ready to leave for the city, it had stopped. We walked a kilometer to the #21 bus. We knew it came on the hour and half hour. We arrived just after 10 AM and saw a bus drive away. Oh, well, guess we had a long wait for the next one. Within a few minutes another bus showed up, we got on and were on our way to the ferry dock. Arriving at ferry dock in Levis a short ride later, the ferry was waiting. We paid our fare and got on. A sign said that a TV documentary called “Rendezvous III” was being filmed on board, and by riding on the ferry, we were consenting to be filmed. Pretty loose laws. In the States everyone on board would have to sign a release.


There were several cameras filming riders, who were photographing three gymnasts, who were moving around the end of the boat and climbing on and off the railing while wrapped up in thick blue ropes. The ropes had big balls of trash wrapped in duct tape and tied to the ends of the ropes. It was only a ten minute boat ride and we were more interested in watching Quebec City draw closer as we sailed across the river.

Old Quebec

Acrobats and film crew

We disembarked in the Old Port of the city. We had visited here almost two years ago when we cruised New England and Canada. This time it wasn't as easy to access the city as when we could just walk off the ship! We walked through the Old Port and up the Breakneck Stairs, named for what happens if you are not careful! The newer, old part of the city is up on the bluff. You either walk up the steps, or take the funicular, the elevator that takes you to the front of the famous Chateau Frontenac Hotel.

The Old Port of Quebec and part of the Breakneck Stairs

In front of the hotel is the Dufferin Terrace which is a wide boardwalk along the top of the bluff, overlooking the river and the port. Here we joined a tour of the remains of the old governor's chateaus and fortifications which had been been buried under centuries of rubble and buildings. Our tour guide was part of the crew that did the archeological digs, so he had a passion and great knowledge about the area. We descended below the boardwalk and saw the old fortified wall, the foundations of the chateaus which at this level included the kitchens, pantries, wine cellars and latrines. Our guide had been part of the latrine digs, which were also used as garbage pits, so they yielded a lot of crockery, china, bottles, and other discards. A half million artifacts were recovered.

Historical Archaeology tour

Artifacts from the dig

Kitchen improvements added by the British

We learned the history of the French, then English governors starting with Champlain in the 1600's. We saw cannonballs from the battles and sieges for control of New France. Quebec was a strategic city desired by the French, English, and Americans to enlarge their claims in North America.


After our tour, we walked and climbed along the governor's walk from the end of the Dufferin Terrace, past the Citadel and over to The Plains of Abraham. We rose higher and higher up above the St. Lawrence. We watched a vessel sail past, probably carrying grain out to the North Atlantic. At the top we walked through The Plains of Abraham park. The sun had come out by now and the city residents were enjoying the park; picnicking, sunning, biking and jogging.

Looking down on Old Port

The Boardwalk in front of the Chateau Frontenac- Dufferin Terrace

The Plains of Abraham

We walked two blocks off the park to the Grand Allee' to find a restaurant for lunch. Walking past lots of sidewalk cafe's, we couldn't find a menu to suit us, too many choices! We decided to walk back into the old walled part of the city and return to the creperie where we ate two years ago. The Rue St. Jean is a street lined with shops and cafes. The creperie is very popular, especially with the cruise ship crowd, so we had to wait awhile. When the hostess took us in to the adjoining dining room, we saw that the table we had before was open. Then she showed us to a small table squeezed in between two others. I told her we had been there two years before and sat at the window, and could we have that table again? She said it need to be cleaned up, but she said we could have it. Then I asked her if we could open the window again, too. The big three paneled window swings in and open, and you find yourself sitting along the sidewalk with all the air, sounds, and colorful parade of Quebec's residents and tourists striding by. It was a great place to people watch!

Sidewalk cafes on the Grande Alle

Gate to the Old City

Rue de Ste. Jean

We had wonderful crepes, beer and cider, and thoroughly enjoyed our respite. After lunch we went on a search for a replacement French press for Greg's coffee making. We had no luck until we walked back down the stairs into the Old Port and found a store specializing in kitchenware. Not only did we find what we wanted, we had a young woman who spoke great English and went out of her way to find the press and a new cutting board that I needed. We visited a chocolate shop and then decided to go back to the ferry. The sun was gone, the overcast was back, and it looked like rain was moving in.

Yummy crepes!

Artists set up in an alley

New open top tour buses

Artisan shop chocolate molds

Looking all the way up the cliff from the Old Port to the Chateau Frontenac

Looking back from the ferry

We walked right back on the ferry again and made the quick trip back across the river to Levis. Then we needed to find the #21 bus. The signage was confusing, but finally, as it started to sprinkle, a bus displaying #21 showed up. I wanted to be sure we were on the right bus, so I engaged the driver and showed him the brochure from the campground. No English. I wasn't getting through, so I got out a map of Levis that had the campground marked on it. He recognized the bus stop, since it was at the farthest reach of the line, and I walked my fingers across the map from there to the campground, to show him where we walked. The lightbulb went on. “Yes sir! Yes sir! Yes sir!” We put our money in the till and sat down.


As we drove to the outskirts of the city, everyone got off the bus and we were the only ones left. We finally saw the parking lot where got on in the morning. Good. The driver didn't turn in, and we hadn't pulled the cord because we thought it was the end of the line and he had to turn around. Instead he turned onto another road. I went up front, and when he saw me he said, “Oh, no!” He said something in French, went a little further down the road, turned around in an industrial area and then drove on past the parking lot again. This time he pulled off on the side of the road a little closer to the campground, and let us out before he made a U-turn and headed back to town. He shouted “Merci! Au revoir! Bon soiree'!” We thanked him back and walked back to the campground in a light rain.

This morning, Saturday, it rained during the night, but was clearing a bit at breakfast. We took our time before heading out. Greg took a wrong turn and wound up by Tim Horton's (Greg – not such a “wrong” turn, eh?), so he decided to have his last Tim Horton's coffee before we leave Canada. We drove south towards the US. This part of Quebec is rural and has lots of farms. It was peaceful and green, and dotted with little villages dominated by huge Catholic churches. We decided to stay at the campground a short distance from the border with Vermont. On our way we drove past Bishop's University. It was a pretty campus with a wedding party being photographed on the green lawn near the chapel. We drove to the edge of campus and were greeted on both sides of the road by masses of college students dressed in purple outfits and looking rather inebriated. I guess they were celebrating being back in school.

Heading south along the Chaudier River valley

We found the campground and checked in. We were trying to use up all our Canadian currency. Greg had put $30 of diesel in the rig, and we added $2 American to the Canadian to pay for the site. All gone! We were informed that we could pay to come to the cookout, but we declined, and retreated to the rig.


It is now 12:35 AM and the musician that started singing at 8 PM is still going. He is still amplified and hasn't taken a break. If we had known this music was going to go on so late, we wouldn't have stayed here! We should have been told and given a choice. Obviously, everyone else here came for the food and entertainment.


Tomorrow we cross back to the States! Vermont here we come!