Quebec City ~ Romantic Destination in Nouvelle France and a ghost or two, too

Day 3

June 24, 2015

After yesterday’s rain, we were thrilled to wake to blue skies and sunshine. It would be a great day for trekking around the city and even better for our ghost walk tonight.

Our first stop was on rue d’Auteuil in front of number 91 BIS.

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The text on the plaque translates to:

Rene Levesque
1922-1987

Prime Minister of Quebec
(1976-1985)

I remember

In this house lived Prime Minister Mr Rene Levesque of Quebec from 1977 to 1985

Rene-Levesque Foundation
December 1995

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91 BIS – Rene Levesque’s house with the plaque beside the door

When we were here in November the white frame house on the right was undergoing restoration.  I do believe it’s all done now. At least the destructive part of the process. I say that because the dumpster is gone.

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Avenue St Denis

When we got down to the promenade by the Chateau Frontenac there were hardly any people out at all. The lighting was just right to capture the bridge to Île d’Orléans. Even with the picture at this smaller size (original dimensions were 5184×3456) you can see it.

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Early morning on the promenade. The bridge shows up really well this morning.

On our first day here we saw people (mostly younger ones) ‘riding’ the cannons. So when in Quebec… do as the others do and have a ride. You’ve got to be silly once in a while.

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Don ‘riding’ the cannon
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Me ‘riding’ the cannon

I’m not sure if it was just my imagination but to say it’s summer, I didn’t think there were a lot of freighters going up or down river. Maybe we weren’t in the right place at the right time on this trip?

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Freighter going down river with the pilot boat alongside

We made our way down into Vieux-Quebec where we stopped in at Geomania (unfortunately, they don’t have their own website that I could find) where I got some gorgeous “bling” – a Lapis-Lazuli pendant and an Ammolite one. Pictures to follow on another blog post.

Before the end of our trip, the Funiculaire in the background would become our best friend.

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rue Sous-le-Fort with the funiculaire in the background

Passage de la Batterie leads to a courtyard in behind. It looked somewhat like a restaurant patio but there was a way back to the street from there if you turned right at the other end of the tunnel.

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Passage de la Batterie

The streets down here are lined with shops and sidewalk patios with plenty of things to see.

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rue du Cul de Sac

Like this beaver outside Queues de Castor.

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Beaver at Queues de Castor

We stopped in at the Ghost Walk office to ensure we were booked on the tour for that night and to find out exactly where we were to meet. While there chatting with the young lady who was working, through the course of our conversation she suggested we take the shuttle bus out to Montmorency Falls. It sounded like a great idea to us so we headed back to “upper town” and the tourist information office.

But there was one place I had to go first. I love this place!Yesterday, I posted a photo of the rooftops taken from rue des Remparts. Well, here’s the real deal.

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rue Sous-le-Cap

I believe the house in the photo below is the one with the rooftop terrace in yesterday’s photo. Not that it’s a huge deal. But can you see why I love this little, narrow street so much?

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rue Sous-le-Cap

When we arrived at the tourist information office to purchase our tickets to the falls, we discovered the bus would be there in about ten minutes. I’d say our little ‘detour’ paid huge dividends.

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Bridge to Île d’Orléans from Montmorency Falls

We could have climbed up all 487 steps to the stop but having been there, done that in 1998 we opted for the round trip cable car ride. I mean we had to save some of legs for the ghost walk.

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The 487 steps to the top of Montmorency Falls
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Footbridge over Montmorency Falls

At the left of the cliff in the distance is La Citadelle. The first bump in the horizon to the right of it is the Chateau Frontenac and the next little nub (almost in the middle of the picture) is the Price Building. Sorry but I had to get that in there.

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Quebec City from Montmorency Falls
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Montmorency Falls from the top of the steps
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Montmorency Falls from the boardwalk

On our return to the city, we took our purchases back to the hotel and relaxed with a beer and a bit of telly before going to the Pub St-Patrick. We sat downstairs again but not in the fireplace room.

There were a few ‘new to us’ streets that I wanted to take a wander on, especially since our bus ride out to the falls, so we set out again.

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Celtic Cross and house on rue McMahon
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Cannon in Parc de l’Artillerie
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Centre building is very similar to one mentioned in Tim’s Magic Christmas
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Fountain at Place de la Gare in front of the VIA train station
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Hotel le Saint-Paul

We had to save our legs for the ghost tour so we walked to the meeting place and plopped our behinds in the lovely adirondack chairs to wait.

Ghost walk time!

We met our guide near where rue de la Petit Champlain and Boulevard Champlain meet.

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Our ghost walk guide

Remember the red door and courtyard? That was one of our stops. We heard the story of Jean Rattier and his unfortunate wife Marie Rivière, the sinking of the Empress of Ireland, the chilling story of la Corriveau among others. The tour ended at The Cathedral of the Holy Trinity which is haunted by one or two ghosts, one being the mother of an illegitimate child she murdered and buried near the organ. Even the Queen has seen something ‘ghostly’ inside the church from the royal pew in the balcony which faces the organ.

By the time we got back to our hotel room, we were completely done in.