Little taste of Europe in Canada

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So we literally just arrived to Quebec City after a gruelling 8 hour drive from Toronto... and guess what, our hotel had to deliver us a bad news... we can't check in before 2pm... so there we were.... no sleep since we left Toronto at 1200am right after my shift in the hospital and we're dead tired and we can't even get a shower or even a little shut eye... But we're a trooper... and definetely won't let a little bad news ruin our trip so we head straight down to Quebec City's 'lower town' or what they call 'Basse Ville'....

It's my second visit to Quebec city and I vaguely remember the place... again because I used to not appreciate what we have in our own backyard... with the thought of 'hey it's just there and we can always come back' kind of mentality... it's not really good.... so this 2nd trip I dedicated myself in appreciating the beauty beyond our backyard (country that is)....

I don't know any french at all and while working last night I've been practicing some important basic words that I need to get buy... since I was told by several people that Quebec people does not like Torontonians... especially when you can't speak french at all they prepared me for the worst... they said through their experience that they had been rude to them and of course was giving them attitude... so far... today I haven';t encountered any rudeness or attitude... maybe I don't strike as someone from Toronto or they just don't care...

There are surprisingly a lot of tourists from the US and through all sorts of countries... a lot of tours are being held while we were walking around Vieux Quebec or 'the old Quebec'...

Anyways... first stop was Quartier du Petit Champlain... this is a street full of life... and what I would call a preview of what Europe might be... (since I haven;t been to europe yet)... I did some research and I found that this street or neighborhood dates all the way back to the mid 17th century, it is in fact the oldest commercial district in North America... It is conveniently located across Vieux-Port or 'Old Port'... walking distance and it's filled with small private stores and gift shops, city walk sightseeing, and of course being French-Canadiens a lot of dinning area.... In the city, the Chateau Frontenac is seen by the distance... Basically, it's made of stone walls... and it's a lovely city that immediately striked me as traditional and unique....

At the street where Quartier du Petit Champlain ends, we turned to another plaza sort of place called 'Place Royal' and there we found the Notre-Dame Des Victoires... the interesting part of this church is that this is the first parish in North America. And due to the English conquest the church was ravaged by the bombardments of the English and was rebuild just to be destroyed again for the second time. It was basically rebuilt twice... It's a small church but thus carry a long history with it... I immediately noticed a ship which I think looks british floating in the middle of the church.... I'm not too sure of its significance but I just traced back to the church's history... anyways... this is definetely a place to see.... Again this is a very historic place... We found a wall painted... while standing by the painting I eavesdropped to one of the tour guides in the vicinity and found out that the painting was done by a lot or artists with a small brush... I just can't imagine how long it took them to finish all that....

As we were ascending the street towards Chateu Frontenac we felt really tired and hungry and just beat up and those are never a good combinations so we decided to head back to Vieux-Port towards Dalhousie where I had some reservations to one of their best resto 'Laurie Raphael"... it's definetely a affordable meal with a touch of sophisticated cuisine the food were great and presented very well... I definetely recommend this resto for those who are deciding to visit Quebec anytime soon....

And so after our lunch here I am finally checked in in the hotel... so far so good... I've enjoyed the scenery and the food.... just need to catch up on my sleep at least for 2 hours... more like a power nap... to get some energy for more walking and touring of the lower town and hopfully the upper town of Old Quebec....

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