Chutes and Bridges

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Today we left Moncton, New Brunswick for Quebec. We were so sad to leave the Maritimes, our adopted home for the last 23 days. Words cannot express how much we loved our time there.

Once in Quebec, we passed the municipality of St.-Louis-du-Ha!-Ha!, the only town in the world with two exclamation points in its name. Ha-ha is an archaic French word for an unexpected obstacle or abruptly ending path. We loved the name almost as much as we loved Hill O' Chips Road in St. John's.

We stopped at the Chutes de la Chaudière waterfalls in Lévis, just a couple of minutes from Quebec City. The 115 foot high falls are breathtaking, falling into a basin of undulating red, veined granite, the water emptying into the mighty St. Lawrence River. Chaudiere means "boiler", an apt name as the falls generate a frothy mist at the base.

We walked the trails all around the falls, crossing the 370 foot long suspension footbridge standing 75 feet over the river, and stopped at many viewpoints to witness their spectacular beauty. I was able to go off the trail and scramble over the striated rocks down to the water to watch two young men fishing not far from the roiling water at the base of the falls near the "no fishing" sign. A young lady had climbed along the rocks as well and was sitting there nonchalantly, talking on her cell phone. Brave or crazy, these people?

Looking downstream from the bridge, we had a view of the two bridges spanning the St. Lawrence River between the City of Lévis and Quebec City.

We drove into Lévis and dropped into a liquor store to pick up some red wine. A woman working there approached us and asked us in French if we needed help. As my French was a bit rusty, she offered to get someone who spoke better English than she. The second lady was amazingly helpful and cheerfully went over their wine selections with us, engaging us with her easy manner and quick wit. Once we'd picked our wine, I asked her for a recommendation for a nearby restaurant and she and the first lady spent another 15 minutes helping us, going online to find eateries, and writing out directions. We were so thankful for their time and help and wondered where all the stories about the Quebecois being rude and unhelpful came from. For the rest of our time in Quebec, we experienced the same warmth and helpfulness from everyone we encountered.

After having dinner at a fantastic Thai restaurant, we started off for our last Couchsurfing host's house. The Google Maps lady foiled us yet again. Failing to give us enough notice to get over three lanes to make our turn, we ended up on the bridge to Quebec City. Twice! Doh! Tim was frustrated, I was flustered, huffiness and tears ensued. We soon recovered and pointed the car in the right direction.

Our host Caroline and her 10 year old daughter Felixane were waiting outside to greet us. Her daughter was so excited at our arrival as we were their first Couchsurfing guests ever. The first thing I noticed when we entered the house was a hand-drawn sign on the wall which read, "Welcome, Eileen and Tim. We are very excited about hosting you." We were touched. We put our things in our bedroom, which was actually Caroline's bedroom as she had given it up for us and was sleeping on the couch. So generous!

We sat and talked, loving Caroline's zest for life and sense of fun. She had decided to take us in as, besides being so giving, she wanted to practise her English and expose her kids to it as well. Her English was great and we gabbed until bedtime.

Tomorrow we explore old Quebec City.

(Scroll to bottom of page for more photos.)

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Comments

[Suzanna van Galen]

Journey's end
You are getting close to home now and It has been a wonderful journey. It is kind of like watching Coronation street...knowing the characters and looking forward to what each new day brings with the twists and unexpected turns. Please come home safe, we all look forward to having you back in the fold.

[Eileen and Tim Crossing Canada]

Almost there
We have had a wonderful trip but it will be nice to get home and sleep in our own bed again and see family and friends. We are spending Thanksgiving with my kids and then home sweet home on Tuesday. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving!