---

After the Ice hotel visit, I headed downtown to see Vieux (Old) Quebec City. It is located on the St. Lawrence River. Old Quebec is a walled in fortress city built on a high bluff overlooking the river. It was founded by Samuel de Champlain in 1608 and this part of the world was then called New France. Many of the buildings in Old Quebec were built in the early and mid 1600's and are still there. It is like stepping into a small European village with narrow streets and many quaint shops.

My fist stop on my walking tour was the Terrace Dufferin which offers a beautiful view of the river. Unfortunately the viewing area was under constructtion and I couldn't get close to get the best view. It is located right next to the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac, a magnificent huge hotel there.

There is a large statue of Samuel de Champlain, the founder of Quebec right there. I then walked down the "breakneck stairs" to the old port area of town. Again more quiant shops and restaurants. From the port area you can get a view of the wall of the city above. After taking an elevator back up the 200' to the main part of town I noticed an odd construction project. They are building an ice track all down the hill of this part of town. It will be for an ice skating race sponsored by Red Bull called Red Bull Crashed Ice. It's pretty nutty. you can see video of it at their website: http://www.redbull.com/cs/Satellite/en_INT/World-Series/Red-Bull-Crashed-Ice-2011/001242785030624
The track will go downhill about 1800 feet and the races will be at the end of March.

It was a very interesting afternoon of sightseeing. It truly was like visiting a town in France. Hard to believe that this is in North America. Where I'm from in Chicago, something is old if it's 100 yrs old or so. Here 400 years. Amazing. Although there is a language problem for me and very few people speak English here, all the people I did manage to communicate with were very friendly and helpful.

---