Ile d'Orleans, Quebec
Ned here again. Debi thought I should have the honors of writing the blog tonight, on account of it being Father's Day. We were thrilled when we woke this morning to see blue skies and bright sunshine. We totally lazed around and enjoyed the warmer weather before taking off exploring the island. We drove slowly around the island, admiring all the sweet little houses and businesses along the way.
One of our first stops was at an apple cider farm, where we tasted their wares and purchased a bottle. I liked it, while I think Debi thought it was a bit on the sweet side, but she deferred to me, being Father's Day and all. Next stop was at the other end of the island where we got a few great photos of Quebec from an advantageous spot along the water, and checked out the Chocolaterie where I purchased 3 of their bars, which were quite good, although they use chocolate imported from Belgium. (Hey, not everybody can go to the trouble of making bean to bar chocolate, right?)
Very near the chocolate place we drove past some amazing houses in a heavily wooded area that reminded us both of Sag Harbor and the Hamptons on Long Island. These are beautifully crafted old houses with gorgeous views across the water of Quebec. Further along the other side of the island we admired the perfectly displayed produce stands, and stopped for lunch at a roadside place. The food here was OK, but the view was unbelievable. We hung out there quite a while just soaking it in.
By now, we decided we had seen enough of the island, and we wanted to drive into Quebec and see the part of the old city which we had loved walking around 5 years ago on our Great Northern Fall Tour. We were bowled over with how different the place looks in the summer, especially the number of people just hanging out. It seemed that we weren't the only ones inspired by the sunny weather. In fact, as we walked towards downtown, across several expansive park lawn areas, many couples were enjoying the sun, and, let's just say that clearly love was in the air.
We had parked in a residential area (illegally, as it turned out, but we assume they took pity on these stupid Californians who couldn't read parking signs) and followed our noses toward the old downtown area. In the process we found the promanade, which is a massive set of wooden stairs which leads down to the boardwalk surrounding the old fort and chateau. The people watching here was great, as everyone from young to old wandered around, soaking in the sun. We explored lots of the streets, lined with shops, which we had wandered past 5 years ago. We kept loving how different it all seemed, fully populated with tourists, compared to our pervious Fall visit where we hurried about trying to keep warm, with very few other tourists to compete with. The place abounded with street musicians and performers of all sorts, including a pair of gymnasts performing jumps over a large open flame. During all this, we realized that it must have also been the equivalent of "Fleet Week", as we saw many uniformed Canadian Navy personnel walking around, and witnessed a deafening fly-by as a Canadian fighter jet streaked overhead.
At one point we found an "Opening Day of the Season" Festival, which featured a number of classic collectible cars displayed along the street, which had been closed off for pedestrians only. While most of the cars would have competed well with our Roamin' Angel events in Grass Valley, we were slightly amused that a couple of entries seemed to have squeeked into the competition which seemed less than "classic": The 1986 Chrysler Avanti K car, and the (unknown year) Plymouth Javilin both fell into this category. They both are old in 2014, but neither one struck me as particularly "collectible". I decided the K car was included as a rarity because it was still operating, as I recall most of those breaking down within a year or two after purchase.
We rested our legs for a while at one of our favorite squares across from the Auberge Tressor. This provided lots more entertainment with people watching, and listening to all the different musicians. My Father's Day dinner was at a local outdoor cafe which was great fun, including the pitcher of Sangria.
After dinner we returned to our campground on Ile d' Orleans, after doing a final lap of the picturesque island as the sun dropped below the horizon. We're now settled in for the night after a really wonderful Father's Day.
