Quebec

   In September 2000 we journeyed to Quebec Canada, flying first to Montreal the commercial capital of the French speaking province.  Montreal is a big city noteworthy for the large underground shopping centers in the downtown area.  We left Montreal by train and in three hours we were in Quebec City.  Our hotel was the 100 year old Chateau Frontenac which dominates the city skyline.  The hotel was the site of an historic meeting of Churchill and Roosevelt in the 1940's.   

Street in Quebec city	River view from Chateau Frontenac

Chateau Frontenac

      The next three days we traveled by bus, at first up the west side of the St. Laurence, and later crossing over by ferry to it's eastern shore.  We stopped to view two beautiful parks with splendid waterfalls and devoted one morning to a trip by small rubber boat to the river center in quest of beluga white whales, seals, and finback whales which enter the river to feed where the fresh meets the salt water.  

Ernestine at St. Anne's Falls	Whalewatcher

                The ferry across the St. Laurence took 90 minutes and we spent the time trying to converse with French only speakers while searching the waves for plentiful life.  Then it was northward again to Rimouski for the night.  The next day we drove on good roads along the river bank while the river widened first into a bay and then finally into the Gulf of Newfoundland.  This was the Gaspe Peninsula, a green fertile shore.  Our goal was the small village of Perce [per-say] which is on the shore across from Split Rock and Bonaventure Island.  The Rock is only a unique landmark, but the island is the summer home for the gannet, a large sea bird that comes ashore only to reproduce and spends the winter months offshore in the Caribbean.  There on the cliffs of Bonaventure they fill the nooks and crannies and raise their young in time to fly south before the harsh winters.

At the top of the Gaspe	Split Rock  Night Picture

The Cliffs	Birds  Birds!

         It was time to start back.   We boarded the train in the late afternoon and dined in style and slept soundly in a bedroom suite while the train rolled towards Montreal.  

Here she comes!	Observation car

It was a great and memorable trip.  Lots of super meals with an accent on lobster and fish with a French touch.  The hotels were excellent and we came home rested and fresh.  The tour was conducted by Maupintour and they gave us and the 22 others along, the very best of everything

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