When I last wrote we were heading to Quebec City. We absolutely loved it! We spent one day exploring the city; we did a lot of walking. Gerry really liked the citadel. We just happened to be there when they were performing a once a year parade of the guards. They were celebrating Quebec City's birthday. We couldn't have timed it better if we tried and we didn't even know about it. I really liked lower Quebec, with the cobblestone streets and colourful squares. Like I said we did a lot of walking, but it was worth it. From there we moved on to the Gaspe Pennisula. I would recommend the Gaspe to anyone, It is very scenic and beautiful. I don't know how many pictures Gerry took. Our favourite place was Perce rock. We spent 2 days exploring and did a couple of hikes in the area. The day we were leaving Quebec we decided to eat lunch out. I read about this restaurant in a park overlooking a beautiful bay that had reasonable prices. Our GPS couldn't find it by name but when I put the address in he got us close, after a detour off the highway. George, our GPS voice, took us to the middle of nowhere but down the road there appeared to be activity. We got there and there was a bay and a truck type diner that sold hot dogs and hamburgers. You ordered and then sat on picnic tables by the bay. Definitely not what we had in mind so we left. We got back on the highway and decided to stop at the next rest stop and make grilled cheese sandwiches. After 15 minutes driving I saw signs for the park we had been looking for. I figured we had turned too soon. So we followed the signs about 6 km's off the highway. We were following the sign for the fork and knife and drove past the campground, knowing we were close. All of a sudden we realized we were no longer driving on a road but on a bike path and 200 ft away was the truck stop diner that we had left 1/2 hour ago. Gerry quickly turned around and there were 2 workers at a gift store watching us with jaws open. As soon as Gerry parked ( we found the restaurant we were really looking for by the gift store) they ran and put up barriers, Good idea! Sadly the restaurant turned out to be a disappointment. No one spoke English, the bay wasn't that nice and we had mediocre grilled cheese sandwiches; white bread and one slice of processed cheese. It would have been better to let Gerry make them. I used up my eating out card for this! What a waste. We were glad to be leaving Quebec. There were some things we really liked about Quebec. The picnic / rest stops are beautiful and always clean. The houses are all well kept and colourful. Everyone has large lots 1 or 2 acres it seems but we never saw one house where there were old cars and junk piled up. We could learn from that. The scenery, as I mentioned, is breath taking and even if it is really hot there is always a nice breeze from the water; very refreshing. I also discovered Coureur de Bois, thanks to my friend Caroline in Temiscaming. It is Bailey's with maple syrup; very nice. Sadly we never worked out the courage to try poutine. What we didn't like we're the campgrounds. They are all like Parking lots and they jam you in so there is no privacy. I got tired of that. Also there are times when I feel like the Angliase are treated a bit differently than the Francophones. It is subtle, but maybe they don't tell us everything and they save the better camp spots for their francophone friends. I have no proof, just a feeling, especially from people who work in the tourist industry. But having said that the people we met hiking or biking were very friendly, Most of the time we were able to find that they all spoke a bit of English. The only exception was a 2 hour tour we booked to see the sunset over the St Lawrence and learn a bit about the nature and water system. We booked and paid $30/ each but the person who booked it for us failed to mention that it would be all in French and our guide claimed he didn't know enough English to translate. And this was in a National Park. (A Quebec National park mind you)
I also know we are both getting a bit travel weary and homesick so this could account for our slightly negative attitude. As soon as we find a nice campground we have agreed we will stay a couple of days and just rest and re-charge. All in all we are having a fantastic time but seriously, when Gerry asks if you want to see some pictures beware! He has a lot of them!
Frenchies are jerks. I miss you.
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