Quebec

---

We spent nearly three weeks in Quebec in the end while we were trying to sell the Westfalia. This was one of the longer stretches we had stayed in one province and despite the language barrier we loved it.

We came into Quebec this time from the east coast and headed for a provincial park called Parc du Bic on the arm of Quebec that reaches up between the St Lawerence river and New Brunswick. It was a lovely spot on the coast and we just enjoyed pottering along the coastal and forest trails.

From here we decided to head further up the coast to Firillion National Park near Gaspe on the Gulf of St Lawerence. It was a very beautiful drive up the coast with lots of little towns scattered along the way. The day after we arrived it was very stormy. We went down to the water and watched seals playing in the surf while bracing ourselves against the wind. The sea was very rough and the boats moored at one of the wharves were being tossed about in the swell.

The next day dawned beautiful and still and we returned to the same stretch of coast as the day before and could not believe the difference - it was so calm. We wandered along the coastline just enjoying the sunshine and got to spot a pod of whales in the gulf. It was mostly just water spouts but we did eventually get to see a whale tail even though our poor camera could not cope with taking a picture of it.

Our next stop was Quebec City where we stayed for a week with Jacques and Isabelle Gagnon, a couple we had met in Newfoundland and fellow Westfalia owners. They kindly opened their home to us and it was just fantastic to have a proper bed for a while. Jacques took us into Quebec City for a tour on the Saturday when we arrived and then we returned by ourselves during the week. It is a beautiful city, the small cobbled streets of the old city really make you feel like you are in Europe rather than Canada. We enjoyed much good food and wine while here too and discovered a fantastic fudge shop with every flavour you could imagine.

Eventually we had to leave Quebec City and we headed to Montreal as this was were the majority of the interest in our van was coming from. We arrived on a Saturday and effectively sold the van on the Sunday but did not realise the effort it would take to get the sale finalised. As the van was registered in British Columbia it had to be tested which is a farce as they do not have a annual testing system for their own cars. We learnt that due to the harsh winters and the ice mixture they put on the roads, cars only have a life span of about 9 years before they are too rusty to use anymore. The van failed on two very minor points so we had to wait until the following Thursday for these to be remedied and the van rechecked and signed off. Luckily we had stipulated that the buyer had to cover all these costs. It took a full day to complete everything but we finally got it signed across to the new owner and off our hands. We then grabbed a cheap hotel in the city for two nights. We got to wander around Montreal for a day - we had been camping on the outskirts of the city prior to this. We decided we didn't like Montreal so much. We found it quite dirty and a lot of people smoke heavily. On the Saturday we headed for the train station and caught the train to New York.

---

Comments

[anonymous]

Chateau Frontenac
I was going to ask you if you saw Chateau Frontenac, Edward and I stayed there, I think so did Sallie, or was she not on that leg of the journey. We use to walk down the back steps to the cobbled yard, where there was lots of boutique shops. We bought our bread knife/saw there. No we did not like Montreal and Toronto. Not as interesting as Quebec. I remembered there was a lake in front of the hotel and it was frozen. All lit up night, looks like fairy land. Anyway looking forward to seeing your photo's of Quebec.