Pootling around the QC

Hello!

This is the next instalment in the Katy Chronicles.

After Annie posted on Facebook about meeting up in Quebec for a long weekend, the colocs (French for house mates) and I drove up on the 21st September to meet up with various people and to do some sightseeing. This was our second time up to the QC. The first time was to buy mobiles and to have a look at the Mall Laurier. On this trip, we met the Canadian assistants through Daisy. Their names are Caitlyn, Jim, Rebecca (dark hair), Rebecca (Hipster) and Quin. Since this first RDV (French for a meet up), we have met up a few times. These people are so sweet and generous. It’s interesting to find out more about Canada from them. More on these fine fellows later!

I had my induction for the gym that morning. Feeling incredibly optimistic and ready to embrace fitness, I cycled down to the gym. This part was fine as it was all downhill and faster than walking! However, the problem occurred after a 90 minute work out and about a thousand squats! In that British way, I decided that wearing jeans over the top of my sports trousers would eradicate that awkward moment where you have to strip off in the changing rooms in front of all the other gymmers, whose eyes you would subsequently try not to meet whilst on the treadmill. The mission back to the house in the same attire, pushing a bike, was an unwelcome one in itself, without the added burden of 20 degrees and 2 pairs of trousers. When I turned up at the house, I was more than slightly out of puff and worried Anna, who wondered what I had been up to!

About an hour later, we all squeezed into the car and headed off to Quebec City. The route to QC is fairly simple as all the main roads here are straight. We got into a spot of bother when a signalled detour became more of a venture into the housing estates of Quebec. This trip was supposed to take 1hr 30 mins. It ended up taking us 3 hours. We ended up driving in a circle in rush hour traffic around the old part of Quebec trying in vain to find a right turn. However, we did have some great entertainment in the form of a male model, whose weekend job was evidently to stand on the balcony of a shop in underpants and do an awkward dance. This provided much amusement, as did the tramp who wondered down the middle of the road directing traffic!

Once we found a right turn, we headed immediately to Starbucks  This was my first time using my newly acquired debit card and even though I knew my pin, the card wouldn't work. This was incredibly worrying as I had no idea how I was going to finance my weekend in Quebec without this card. In the end, it turned out that on this super-efficient and technologically modern touch screen card reader, when I pressed ‘Ok’, it hit the ‘9’ key at the same time…useful.
After a hot choc and a muffin, we all headed our separate ways: Anna to Daisy’s flat, Beth and Eilidh to Caitlyn and Jim’s and Jen and I to a Hostel. Yes, I Katy Wareham, stayed in a Hostel. I even have evidence to prove it! Jen and I were going to meet Annie there as she was joining us after she finished work. 

The hostel was called La Belle Planete Backpacker Hostel on Rue du pont. It was very colourful and possibly the least secure building in Quebec with the doors straight up to the bedrooms being left wide open for anyone to walk in! Luckily Jen had brought a padlock with her. 

 *Note to self – If you ever stay in a Hostel again, don’t forget a padlock!*

We were in a dorm (do you call it a dorm in a hostel or just at boarding school?!), with the potential for 8 people. There were bunk beds with metal frames and plastic mattresses. I was a bit confused when I saw that the sheets weren’t on the beds, you only got one pillow and no cushions, and a blanket rather than a duvet. Literally thought I was in Africaaaahhhhhh (Joke for anyone that has seen Gap Yah!).

Once Jen and I had made our beds, we went into the living room that was there. There was also a kitchen, which I refused to use on the basis of not wanting to catch Hep C and after watching the owner brush his teeth there, over all the dishes left in the sink. In the living room, there were flags that had been painted from various countries. While Jen and I were debating why on a map on the wall, someone had painted a massive lake in the middle of China, an Aussie guy called Matt joined our 
conversation. We got on well and he told us about the travelling that he had been doing. He was in Quebec for a week, which he found too long as the city isn’t huge and without friends there, he was pretty bored. He had been working at Camp America in Michigan and then travelled around the States and Montreal. He was also very grateful to meet people that spoke English! He joined our group for the rest of the weekend.


Annie eventually arrived at around 7pm and we headed to a restaurant called Le Cercle on Saint-Joseph East Street. We enjoyed a bottle of Argentinian red and caught up over dinner. After this, we walked to Sacrilege which is a Hipster bar that Annie recommended. On the way there we had to walk up lots of stairs as apparently Quebec is the city of stairs! Annie also mentioned a tower which has a restaurant at the top of it, so you can eat and have a view over the whole city as the tower rotates. We eventually found Matt at the bar. I had only seen him earlier in the day wearing different clothes and with a cap on. I knew that he was meant to be meeting us at this bar but couldn’t really remember what he looked like. Luckily I realised that the guy smiling at us from the bar wasn't a complete randomer so we all got a drink together. Caitlyn and Jim came to join us, along with Beth and Eilidh. Eilidh caught the attention of a man at the bar, but he was weird. We moved onto another bar/club for some dancing. The music started with a melange of 90’s music and moved on to Gangnam Style. At this point, my head hadn’t quite got itself around this fine array of polyphony and so we called it a night and went to St Hubert so that Matt and Jen could get some Poutine.

That night at the hostel there were some people from Paris staying in our room that woke us up in the morning as they had early flights. This is the down side to staying in a hostel, as I now know. It was actually really refreshing to hear the Parisian accent after becoming used to the Beauce accent. 

Once awake, Jen and I headed to Brulerie St Roche, which has become our meeting point whenever we go to Quebec. We waited for everyone to gather and Annie went off climbing with James.

Jam at the market

Daisy showed us down to the Port and to a fresh food market. I was looking at some interesting sauces and I asked the lady what they were. Not really understanding, she passed me a paper cup of liquid, which I presumed I should drink. It was the most disgusting taste and it turned out that you were meant to put it with bread and Paté…Nothing quite like a pre-lunch aperitif!

Me, Daisy, Anna and Jen by the port

We all headed to the café and sat by the water to have our lunch. It was the most beautiful day! I was very pleased to be back beside the water! There were some lovely boats there that we observed as we walked along the water. During this walk, one of the birds that Anna had been feeding came and left a little parcel on her jacket. Oh the irony!

After we had done damage control on Anna’s jacket, we walked up a long and winding path which followed the city wall. The wall was lined with cannons, which we of course jumped on! 

There was a great view over the St Laurence River 
from up there. 








At the top of this hill was the Chateau Frontenac.

This Chateau was originally built for wealthy travellers and pretty much has remained so! It was here that in 1942, Churchill and Roosevelt stayed at the hotel for the Quebec Conference before WW2. 

Jen and I outside the Chateau

The horses for the horse and carriage rides

Jen, Isabel, Anna and Daisy

When we entered the extensive decking around the Chateau, there were some people playing and singing jazz which created a lovely atmosphere. We took lots of photos and looked out at the view. We saw some amazing sights, such as a man wearing very tall socks and a baby in a push chair wearing a helmet! Maybe the helmet is the new beret and no one told me…? We then walked around the back of the Chateau through a park and saw where the horses that do the carriage rides around the city were kept during the day. After this, we met up with Caitlyn, Jim, Eilidh and Beth (they decided to different things that day) and we went for dinner at Chez Victor which was very pleasant.

These pictures are of the main tent and stage of a film festival that had been going on in Quebec that week


When we got back to the hostel, we found Matt in the living room and we watched The 5 Year Engagement on his laptop. When we finally went to bed, I assumed that it was only Jen in the room as everyone else staying in our dorm was in the kitchen. So, I unconcernedly undressed, only to hear some movement from the bed next to Jen’s. It turned out that there was a guy there. I only hope that he was asleep and that he didn’t witness the Full Monty.

Day three of the trip began with Jen, Matt and I sat in the Brulerie having breakfast in the art gallery upstairs, as there was an advert being shot downstairs. The girls working in the café didn’t seem to know what the advert was for. It was interesting to watch the filming though! 

We met everyone there again and all headed off on the bus to the Chute Montmorency, which is a waterfall that is taller than Niagara Falls.

There was There was a suspension bridge built across the top that we walked over and then we went on a bit of a walk where we found a playground with swings! We continued to march on down about 500 stairs to the bottom of the waterfall. 

There was a little rainbow to one side of the waterfall, but no pot of gold unfortunately! You could feel the water from the waterfall splashing your face! After we had observed the waterfall from all angles, we walked back up said stairs.

Eilidh and I went together and took the stairs 2 flights at a time. Matt, Daisy and Jen zoomed on up but Anna and Isabel took it easy too!









After this we caught the bus back to the city centre and found an English pub where we all grabbed a bite and some beer. Then we went to the hostel and picked up our bags. We said goodbye to Matt and headed on back to St George, singing along to a cassette of the Backstreet Boys!

So that concludes my second trip to Quebec City. It was over a month ago now, so I hope I haven’t skimped on any important details/funny stories! If I remember, I’ll be sure to add them!

I will leave you with a few photos of the street art I found. One particularly reminds me of Paris! I wonder if you can guess which!

xx