Quebec - Citadel

Hallelujah! The sun came out today. We took the shuttle from the Aquarium into town. This is the Petit Champlain area. According to the guide book it had fallen on hard times, but the city of Quebec applied serious dollars to bring it back. It's just cuter than a bug.


We walked on up into the walled city.


Look! A Christmas store.


I want this, it's a Department 56 teeny tiny trailer with Christmas lights. Cuuuuuuuuuuute.


And look! Another Christmas store. We didn't go in this one. Jim can only take so much cute.


This is the funiculaire. It goes from the river level up to the old city level. It's quite the thing once one's feet have died.


So, there's a really cool board walk from Old Quebec up to the Citadel, which is a fort from the mid 1600s. The views from it are really spectacular.




This is the Hotel Frontenac. Construction was begun in 1867. It's just enormous.


Now we're at the Citadel. It is an active military base, the Canadian Army Royal 22 Regiment is based there. They are the only regiment in the Canadian Army who use French as their daily working language. The first parts of the Citadel were built by the French to defend their territory against the British. After the battle on the Plains of Abraham, the French ceded the territory to the British. The British then built the much larger building to defend their territory against the Americans. Apparently we invaded Canada in 1775 and again in 1812. So - there you go.


This is on the license plates of the Quebec province. For the citizens it means remember your past, remember where you came from. It is also the motto of the 22nd Regiment, for them it's a call to remember their fallen comrades.


The goat (this one is deceased and stuffed) is the regiment mascot.


Quebec from the ramparts.


You probably can't see it in the picture, but from the tall building on the left, to the roof of the Frontenac there are two wires pulled. There is going to be a high wire walking this weekend.


More of the Petit Champlain area.

It was a good day. We got to walk a bunch and take a lot of pictures. Friday we're going to go back and go to Notre Dame and other places.
People in Quebec call McDonald's McDo. Interesting, no?