Monday 22nd August 2022.
A very relaxed start to the day as the youngest of the part slept through until what felt like lunchtime (actually 07:45). The plan is to have a walk through the citadel and then around part of the city’s walls before descending again into the centre of the old town in front of chateau Frontenac for … crepes with maple syrup.
We walk past the National Assembly building, seeing a groundhog on the way (sorry no photos of that), but there were some rather striking statues representing pioneering Women in Politics.
We also pass some of the types of large flower planters you often see in cities, but perhaps not always with some Cavalo Nero as part of the planting design. There were also large decorative cabbages in their flower beds.
Walking along the walls of The Citadel we (that is one of the oldies whose not too steady on their feet, and one little one who would happily walk along the edge) have to stay in the middle of the path as there are some big drops off the side.
Some good cannons though.
Also an area where there appeared to be a whole load of washing randomly hanging along a large line just behind the car park.
Turns out that the area is for re-enactments and showing how the soldiers would have lived in the barracks, and the washing formed part of the story of their lives.
Some lovely views over Quebec City and the St Lawrence river from the circular walk around the walls.
A rather steep path down brings us to the far end of the Dufferin Terrace. This is a wooden promenade running along the top of the cliff and at the other end the Frontenac Chateau sits at the back. There are often street performers in front of the hotel and today is no exception- a fire eating circus act. When we reach the other end of the promenade we decide to go down to the old town via the steps rather than the incline train. The restaurant that was chosen was called The Dingy Pig (only this was of course in French not English). We order a selection of breakfast dishes (this is brunch after all), the meat eater was very sensible and had the Healthy Platter, the vegetarian had crepes with seasonal fruit and raspberry sauce (hopefully it will come with maple syrup), as did one of the other adults. The little one had French Toast with strawberries. The Healthy Platter turned out to be a bucketload of fruit, with cheese, English Muffin and poached egg (partly eaten below).
The crepes and fruit were delicious, especially covered with raspberry coulis and maple syrup.
The last adult had scrambled eggs, parmentier potatoes, and a waffle with fruit. Things were generally shared around and thoroughly enjoyed. A super delicious brunch. Time to make our way back now and we decide to risk using the steps back up to the promenade, which may not have been a good choice after a large brunch, but we made it, only stopping as a artisan jewellery booth caught our eye half way up. Actually manage not to buy any earrings - yes you did read that right -surprising but true.
We now need to make our way back to the other side of the Citadel and decide to use the Governer’s Walkway, which starts at some steps back at the far end of the promenade. Ten steps go onward and upward, but do allow for stopping along the way as there are viewpoints, and more importantly, seats at various landing stages along the way.
The end of the promenade is below us
We are quite surprised both at how far we have walked and how many steps have been climbed. Don’t feel too guilty about the brunch excesses now.
It’s back to base for that afternoon siesta again, followed by a late afternoon visit to the local play park. This is almost our final call as we will be on our way home tomorrow.