Quebec, etc.

Monday morning, June 30th - We pulled out of the RV park and headed for the border and Quebec. We only had one small problem on the route when one of our guests plugged a fuel filter after getting a fill-up. A quick filter change fixed the problem and we continued on our way. We soon arrived at the US-Canada border and awaited our turn. I was rehearsing the correct answers to anticipated questions as we approached the customs window. All went fine until the inspector asked if we had any pets. Being perfectly honest, I replied “Yes, a fish”. Now the questions came rapid-fire! What kind of fish? A red fish? I told her it was just a little fish…a beta…a Siamese Fighter. I was having very uneasy thoughts of having to give up “Valentino” to an unknown fate. I have really become attached to the little guy. He has really developed a personality. After an uneasy minute, she cleared us and we continued on into Canada. Following our printed directions and “Karen”, we soon arrived at the park. Reading signs was difficult as everything was in French and I don’t do French!

Our first day in Quebec started with a city tour. We split the guests into two groups and ushered them into two small 22-passenger busses. We soon found out why. July 1st is Canada Day, the equivalent of our Fourth of July, and July 3rd was the 400th anniversary of the founding of the city of Quebec. The city was packed, streets were closed off and getting around was difficult, at best. We first went to Old Quebec, a beautiful and quaint section down by the water. The streets were very narrow and could only be covered by walking, so walk we did. We walked up to an old church, saw a beautiful fresco painting on the side of a building, retraced our steps somewhat and went down another street. One junction had a funicular that went up a steep slope to a restaurant.





There were shops all along the streets that reminded me of what I think an old medieval city would look like. Anyway, my point is that it was cute!

We then went to the Citadel, an old fort, and saw a Canadian Army marching band and guard regiment marching in for the Canada Day festivities.





Moving right along, we went to the oldest hotel in Quebec for a tour. Our tour guide was a cute little “chambermaid”

who took us around the 620-room hotel, giving us all its history and pointing out all the historical spots and idiosyncrasies, such as the third floor of the hotel. When a major addition was done, the third floor didn’t line up. The new addition was about five feet lower than the original third floor so there is a short section of stairs where the two different third floors join. That had to be a real “awsh-t”! We then returned to the park and prepared for tomorrow’s breakfast.

Wednesday dawned bright and sunny…a beautiful day! We loaded the car with breakfast equipment and supplies and drove to the central meeting room. We then set up for a “Breakfast-in-a-Bag” omelet breakfast. Simply described, this is where guests crack eggs into ziplock freezer bags, add condiments of their choice and cook the sealed bags in boiling water until done. The result is an omelet that is ceremoniously dumped out onto a paper plate for them to add salsa and sour cream and enjoy. We cooked up 42 omelets in less than a half an hour. We were strokin’! It really went well and was a great success. After cleaning up, we went back to the rig where I took a shower before leaving on a Coast Tour at 12:30.

This time, we all loaded up into one bus and headed north. Our first stop was a beautiful waterfall

followed by a tour of a copper gallery and factory. The owner demonstrated how copper art is made by making a flower out of a small square of copper in less than five minutes. We then got a tour of the gallery and visited the showroom. Claudia bought a small copper crab (her zodiac sign) necklace. We saw a beautiful two-fish art display but, at $350, we passed.

After the copper gallery, we moved on and visited a famous church. It was totally spectacular.

First of all, it was huge. Second of all, it was beautiful. The inside was super-spacious. It went on and on. The fresco’s on the ceiling were beautiful as was the stained glass.

I’m not a big church fan, but this one was one I would go back and see again. We toured the obligatory shops around the square surrounding the church, passing on all the tacky tee shirts and religious objects for sale and settled on a vanilla soft-serve ice cream cone at a small deli. Claudia didn’t want one and stayed outside. My server was a newbie…her first day on the job, and in training. Mine was her first soft-serve cone. The manager was showing her how to do it but apparently forgot to show her how to turn the machine off. The result was that I got an extra-large, double-huge cone for $2.85…my lucky day! I was smiling big-time as I walked out the door.

Claudia’s first question was to ask how much I had paid for the cone. When I told her, she suddenly decided that the cone was far too big for me to eat by myself and proceeded to snatch it from me. It was reluctantly returned to me a minute later. I noted (quietly) that it was severely lighter in weight now than when she first grabbed it from me. I remembered that it’s a woman’s prerogative to change her mind. She went into a store. I stayed outside and finished the cone. I was severely chastised for finishing the cone without saving the last few bites for her. My (faulty) reasoning was that I had to do it. I couldn’t enter the store to help her shop with the cone in my hand because there was a “No food allowed” sign posted at the door. My timing was off as I just finished the cone when she walked out so I didn’t have a chance to help her shop. Let’s just say I heard about it!

Our next stop was a tour of the Island D’orleans that sits in the Saint Lawrence River northeast of the city. What a cute spot. There were several homes with their French-influenced upturned roofs and lots of strawberry farms and vineyards.

We stopped at a fruit stand and bought a strawberry pie to finish off tonight’s dinner. (We split it with Barry and Terry) The time was approaching 5:30 and we reluctantly headed for home to prepare the rig for tomorrow’s journey to Metis-sur-Mer on the Gaspé peninsula.