The very first thing we did yesterday was walk toward the fortified wall, at the end of our street, and stroll along for a while looking over the wharf area. We found that the tops of the walls are being replenished with new wooden slats, presumably to protect the ancient walls, but also to give them a nice looking capping. We only spent 5 hours sightseeing yesterday, as the hiking up and down slopes did us in early. Quebec is not excessively hilly, but as we left the walled city twice, once on each side, it did add considerably to our walking efforts, as the steeper ascents are all around the old city.
The first place we came across was an abandoned arsenal barracks, with huge fortress walls. It had minimal signage, and has fallen prey to disaffected youth and punk graffiti artists. It was an interesting site to check out. With a bit of TLC it could be converted into a historic site that more people visit, even if still of an unrestored nature. Having a cafe or small cultural centre at its heart, would enable greater maintenance of the general area. We've noticed that anything off the official tourist route here seems to be quite neglected, particularly with regard to basic weeding.
There's a cynicism here that is palpable. The older generation of Quebecois really loathe the tourists, and I sense that the Quebecois youth hold them in disdain too. It's understandable, I guess, as the poor city has had to prostitute its soul for this ongoing influx of people to bring in the cash. There are many mature age and retired Americans here, doing the predictable tourism type things, as well as Canadians, Italians, Japanese, and all cultures, with loads of money to spend on silly trinkets. The tourism model applied here seems very old-fashioned. It's twee. The vested interests that have grown up in support of that, particularly with regard to large luxury hotel chains, are powerful and pervasive. More on that in some other forum... I think that's a whole feature article or academic paper in this. The point is there's a conspicuous gap in connection between the traditional residents of Old Quebec and the avalanche of tourists. I'm told this is not even tourist season, so I hate to think what it's like come July and August.
What we did mostly was walk all around the place, simply looking at things, admiring and photographing the local architecture and engaging in a bit of window-shopping. The only official tourism activity of note that we undertook was to visit the Observatoire de la Capitale. You go up to the 31st floor and enjoy a panoramic view of the beautiful cityscape of Montreal. The fire engine red rooftops are delightful, as are the shiny silver rooftops on the traditional bonnet style roof-tops. There's also a distinctive mid green. We walked past Parliament to get there, and some pleasant parks and gardens. Evertyhing is so green, and the trees are lovely. We took the advice of our host and had lunch at Chez Ashton, which he claims does the best poutine in town. It was delicious, but it's an extremely daggy fast food place full of teenagers, so not our normal style of eatery. The poutine is served in alfoil tins! I mean really...
For dinner we went to the other extreme, which was my preference, and that was to enjoy a fine dining experience at a foodie mecca. This will probably be the highest moment of our eating experiences for the whole trip. I'd booked us a table at Chez Boulay which specialises in Nordic influenced cuisine. It was extraordinary. Everything about it was top notch. This is an anniversary holiday after-all, so some special treats are justified.
The weather is incredibly changeable here; even more so than Montreal. Coming from Melbourne, Australia, we are used to having to prepare for most possibilities when leaving the house, but here it's out of control. Warm sunshine in the morning, then overcast, cloudy and pelting with rain, then clear again, then warm almost hot, then not, etcetera. And checking the official weather guides seems futile, as the forecasts change constantly, and I mean several times a day.
I've found it fascinating to note how many redheads there are here. In Montreal we only saw one other redhead in our entire week in the city. Here, they are everywhere and it's quite striking. I asked a redhead about it yesterday and she says its the Irish lineage here which is strong. At dinner last night we counted four or five other redheads in the restaurant, which for us in Australia is so uncommon. We're used to being a rarity. The redheads here even smile at us, or at least look upon us with interest. In Montreal we looked conspicuously foreign, and I sincerely felt that Montreallers thought us somehow uncouth. I admit this disapproving outlook was mostly directed toward me, because I dare to colour my hair. I know the French prefer the natural look. I also suspect they think mature women should not draw attention to themselves, by using 'enhancing' colours. Oh well... As much as I love the French, the fact is I'm not French!
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