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Big City!

8/23/2012

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Driving the highway into Quebec City, I could feel my stress level rising.

To a city dweller, QC may not seem like such a large urban centre, and in absolute terms, perhaps it truly isn’t.  However, after nearly 6 weeks immersed in the peaceful tranquiltity of one of PEI’s more rural settings, Quebec City seemed like an almost impenetrable maze of noisy people, busy roads, and general hustle and bustle.

Happily, we soon found our hotel, Fairmont’s famous and historical Chateau Frontenac, and retreated into the relative serenity of our room for the evening.


During our stay, the boys enjoyed several visits to the hotel pool (which was conveniently located on the same floor as our room) and I enjoyed a visit to the spa! 

We also visited our favourite Croissant shop in the upper town, before we set out for Montreal, a city which makes Quebec City look like a sleepy little village by comparison!

Stationed for the night in a converted horse stable in Old Montreal, we made like real tourists, and enjoyed a horse-drawn carriage ride and tour after dinner at on of the old city’s many restaurants.

Alex polishes off a croissant at le Paillard in Quebec City
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The next morning, the boys were up bright and early, and we let Tats sleep in while we enjoyed a breakfast for fresh fruit and made-to-order omelets and french toast.  Then it was off to the cathedral (Notre Dame) to light some candles for our many departed (the boys chose their great grandpa and Spencer to commemorate, and I lit a candle for my mother). 


Notre Dame Quebec twins


The now infamous “penis shop”, a Bali folk art store so named by Alex and Simon during previous trips to the Montreal Jazz Festival for the shop window's impressive display of wooden penises in an array of shapes and sizes, was still closed, so we went back to the hotel to chase our Tatsy out for breakfast.

After she had a relaxing tea and croissant, the good woman took the kids off to the Old Port to check out a maze which the Frommer’s Guide had promised was well worth the visit.  (As it turned out, the Maze was not longer in operation, so they rented a quadracycle instead and toured Old Montreal instead!)

I, meanwhile, packed up our belongings which had in one short night become strewn far and wide across our room somehow, and checked out.

After lunch with a friend from McGill, and an educational visit to the Insectorium, we were on our way to Ottawa, where we planned to stay in the world’s largest log cabin for several days before finally heading back to Toronto.
The crammed-in 48 hours in the province of Quebec were great fun, but stood in stark contrast to the apparently gentle farmlands dotted only by the occasional house or town here and there in PEI, and the endless wilderness of New Brunswick, where our only stop enroute the previous day had been to a magnificent by very quiet botanical garden and butterfly conservatory.

I suppose, though, that QC and Montreal provided a good “warm-up” for the insanity of Toronto, in which we’ll soon find ourselves re-engulfed!!!
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    About Vera...

    Vera & her Sons, April 2021
    After writing for several teacher and multiple birth publications, including ETFO's Voice Magazine, Multiple Moments, and the Bulletwin, Vera turned her written attention to prolific blogging for some years, including BiB,  "Learn to Fly with Vera!"  and SMARTbansho .  Homeschooling 4 was her travel blog in Argentina.  She now spends more time on her Instagram (@schalgzeug_usw)  than her blog (pictures are worth a thousand words?!) 
    DISCLAIMER
    The views expressed on this blog are the views of the author, and do not necessarily represent the perspectives of her family members or the position of her employer on the the issues she blogs about.  These posts are intended to share resources, document family life, and encourage critical thought on a variety of subjects.  They are not intended to cause harm to any individual or member of any group. By reading this blog and viewing this site, you agree to not hold Vera liable for any harm done by views expressed in this blog.
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Vera C. Teschow, OCT, M.Ed., MOT
Toronto, ON & St Peter's Harbour, PE
www.verateschow.ca 2021
Photos used under Creative Commons from Sean MacEntee, Studio Paars, Bengt Nyman, zeevveez, GoodNCrazy, CJS*64, Accretion Disc, CharlesLam, Courtney Dirks, CJS*64 "Man with a camera", Accretion Disc, Bobolink, Ian Muttoo, BioDivLibrary, Alaskan Dude, IsabelleAcatauassu, runran, Transformer18, jglsongs, Create For Animal Rights, david_shankbone, Paul J Coles, foilman, Newport Geographic, Photo Everywhere, kevin dooley, Claudio , Alex Guibord, Tscherno, f_mafra, Terry Madeley, musee de l'horlogerie, BobMacInnes, wwarby, jonathangarcia, amboo who?, chimothy27, Elin B, cliff1066™, Grzegorz Łobiński, Rennett Stowe, Farhill, Phil Manker, Guitarfool5931, airguy1988, dierk schaefer, Rob Stemple, katerha, StockMonkeys.com, Ramotionblog, andrewk3715, charlywkarl, AJC1, rachel_titiriga