Yup, that's what the last week has been.... one big blur! Since my last entry, I've zip-lined and swung from the trees like Tarzan, seen Les Miserable in French (AMAZING – this is the first time I've seen the musical, and I'm super happy that I was able to watch it in the language it was originally written in), went on a cruise on the St Lawrence (hilarious night), watched 400 yrs of QC history flash by on a row of grain silos (Moulins à Image – they have a new show every summer, definitely worth a look), visited old battlefields at Montmorency Falls and the Plains of Abraham (where I read some really smug sounding historical narrations both in English and French – it's fun reading the blurbs, b/c if you read the English and French versions of the same text, depending on which side was victorious, one version might downplay the importance of the event – at the Montmorency Falls, I saw this blurb – "the British withdrew leaving over 400 dead, missing or wounded. On Sept 13, Wolf found a better way to take the City of Quebec" – which to me, reading between the lines, that's essentially "The French may have won the battle, but we the English won the war", I could almost hear the "Ha! In your face!"), went wine tasting in the countryside on Ile d'Orléan (where I had 5 different things of booze before lunch), explored pretty much every corner of Old Town and its surrounding areas, and of course tried more new restaurants and cafes.
In general, restaurants in Old Quebec have yet to fail me, but in terms of a nice area to spend a day, I've decided that I much prefer Basse-Ville (Lower Town) and the areas along the St Lawrence to the more popular tourist destination of Haute-Ville (Upper Town – where the Chateau Frontenac is) – other than having fewer tourists as you move west along the St Lawrence (fewer people have the time or will to walk down the staircases), there is just more variety in stores and restaurants, a more comfortable and relaxing atmosphere, and more interesting things to see and do closer to the docks. I'm a huge fan of the artisan stores in Petit Champlain, particularly the glasswork galleries – there's always nice stuff at Transperance (a glasswork store) but the best stuff I think is in the one in Petit Champlain.
Quartier St Roch is also a nice area to go to – tons of used bookstores, cafes, and restaurants –my favourite street is probably still Rue St Joseph, especially the stretch west of Chemin (?) de la Couronne. There's a nifty little coffee house across from the public library that serves really good dessert, tea (Mighty Leaf!!), and specialty coffee. Good restaurants – I tried a Moroccan tarjine for the first time there, it's essentially a meat dish which was prepared in a ceramic cone shaped container – I had lamb stewed in prunes and apricot – it was marvellous stuff. The St Roch Basilica, on east side of that street, can be worth a visit, though nothing about this church really stands out to me, other than the fact that in the wall space high above the tabernacle are 4 or 5 giant stone statues which have been dressed up as nuns and priests – I found them kind of creepy...
I finally went to the Plains of Abraham today – it's now an enormous park stretching along Grand Allée (aka night club district) all the way to the Citadels in the city walls, a popular and relaxing place to spend a nice sunny afternoon. Though there is no museum on site on the Battle itself, there are monuments and watch towers scattered throughout the park to commemorate the battle (or the Conquest as the Quebecois call it). Walking on the Plains, all I could think of was how difficult it must've been to fight on that terrain – you'd think a plain would just be a long flat stretch of land, but the Plains of Abraham is actually incredibly hilly and slopes fairly steeply towards the water. I only had a small purse with me – I can't imagine going up that hill w/ gear and ammo on my back.
And now.... to bed – must not tired myself out before the week is over!
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