JoAnne Gelowitz

Today we did a walking tour of Old Quebec. It started at the Fountaine de Tourney, which is located in of the Quebec parliament buildings. We strolled through the fort gate to learn about the fortification of Quebec. We found out that Quebec City is the only fortified city in North America.
Then we walked to the Ursuline Convent. Crazy thing about the Ursulines is that the French general who was fatally wounded at the battle at the Plains of Abraham was secretly buried in the convent. A cannon ball came through the roof and created a hole in the chapel floor. The general died from his wounds in the hospital across the street, so the Ursulines offered to secretly bury him in the hole. This was because there was a concern that his body was going to be stolen by the British. The Ursulines kept the secret of where he was buried until 2001.
Next stop was the oldest building in the province of Quebec, Maison des Jésuites-de-Sillery, which was built in 1637. Since my perspective is from a person born and raised in Saskatchewan, which comparatively is a much younger province, it always blows my mind that we have such old buildings in Canada.
Onto the Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral. What I found especially interesting is that the Basilica has a holy door. A door that when you walk through all your sins are wiped clean and you can start fresh. The door is only opened once every 25 years. The next time it will be opened is 2039. The stairs to the door are taken away and only put in when it is opened.
Then we were off to the Chateau Frontenac. A very big CP Hotel which overlooks the St. Lawrence River and has 610 rooms. Oddly enough the cheapest room is $600 a night.
Now off to Lower Town. This was a completely new section to me. The only other time we were in Quebec City we only toured in the evening and didn't see a whole lot. Didn't even know that this section existed. It felt very much like being in Europe. We walked down the winding street towards the water. I really enjoyed being in Lower Town as it brought back memories of being in Edinburgh.
After the tour was over on the way back up and out of the Lower Town we stopped in a park that overlooked the St Lawrence River. There were a lot of cannons in this park with a special one that calls for peace. It is a large vase made to look like a cannon. There is a photo that explains it's meaning.
The rest of our day was spent wandering around Old Quebec and just enjoying the warm sunny day.En savoir plus