Quebec – Geeky Girl Engineer

Old Quebec City

Posted on May 28, 2023 by geek

I have been in old Quebec City for three full days, and it has been a lovely visit. Old Quebec is compact and walkable with the exception of the fact that old Quebec is really just a series of stairs and slopes. Thus something may be just four blocks away, but it is also the equivalent of eight stories higher, so plan accordingly. The old town is surrounded by its original fortification walls, with a citadel at the highest point. Many of the streets are cobblestone, and most of the buildings are clearly original.

: St. Louis Gate

: St. John Gate

: Governor’s Promenade

: Dufferin Terrace and Fairmont Le Château Frontenac

: Rue des Remparts

: Place Royale and Notre Dame Des Victoires

: Place Royal, the first column of windows on the second building are just openings, as there is a staircase hidden in that section of the building connecting to the street behind

: Quebec City Mural

: Breakneck Steps

: Umbrella Alley

: Côte de la Montagne, view from Prescott Gate

: Residential buildings

: La Chasse-Galerie Boutique

: Parc Couillard

: Residential buildings

: Restaurant with decorated windows

: Residential buildings (possibly B&B) on Rle des Ursulines

: Rue Sous-le-Fort

Montmorency Falls

Posted on May 27, 2023 by geek

Just outside of Old Quebec City, (as in 15 minutes by car or 40 minutes by public bus), is Montmorency Falls, or Chute Montmorency, which I prefer. The falls are beautiful, and there is a park around it. There is a pedestrian bridge across the top of the falls, and a cable car from the top to the bottom. There are boardwalks at the bottom, and they appear to be building more or possibly renovating the old ones, as currently you can only access one side plus a boardwalk across the river at the base of the falls.

View of the falls from the boardwalk across the river flowing from the falls

View of falls from boardwalk near base of falls

Rainbow formed in mist at base of falls, photo taken from observation walk near top of the falls

Closeup of east side of falls showing geological layers and folding

Crossing pedestrian bridge above falls

Crossing pedestrian bridge above falls; downstream and outflow into St. Lawrence River

Québec City Sightseeing Cruise

Posted on May 26, 2023 by geek

Québec City (Ville de Québec) sits on the St. Lawrence River, which is (surprisingly to me) a huge river. A company offers short sightseeing cruises along the river that go as far as the bridge to Orleans Island (l’Ile d’Orleans). Right where the boat turns around, you can get pretty good views of Montmorency Falls (la chute Montmorency). [My knowledge of French is pretty much limited to words from ballet and Louisiana and words that are similar to my rudimentary Spanish and Latin knowledge. I am starting to enjoy specific French words like “chute.”] The cruise also provided lovely views of the port of Québec City (Port de Québec), l’Ile d’Orleans, and Lévis, which is across the river from Québec.

Royal Battery and old Quebec

Canada Coast Guard ice breakers

old Quebec City

Montmorency Falls

Orleans Island bridge

Orleans Island

Large ships headed west on the St. Lawrence River

Port of Quebec

Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History

Posted on May 23, 2023 by geek

I am currently in Montreal for the second time. The first trip was short, but I visited the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History, and I really liked it. This trip is also short, but I had time to visit the museum again. Most of the museum is underground in an archeological site of old Montreal. You can walk around the stone walls of buildings that used to stand on the site. The museum does a really nice job of projecting onto the ruins lines and text, so you can understand at what you are looking. They also have stairs, so you can climb on top of ruins and look down onto them without damaging them. Further, in some areas, they have lights hanging from the ceiling that light up during an audio explanation of what is at the site, so the lights emphasize what the used to be at the site based on the ruins.