Large Marge in La Belle Province!

Since our NL trip two years ago, we’ve been wanting to get back to Québec.  The charm of the Bas St Laurent and the south shore of the St Lawrence River captivated us but we didn’t want to slow down getting to our destination in order to enjoy it.  This summer, with renovations going on in our house, we decided to revisit Québec and do it nicely this time!

We started out with a long drive all the way to Lévis where we booked a spot outside town at the fantastic Camping Transit campground.  Run by Roch and his family, this place is a nice blend of seasonal and short-term camping.  The staff offers a warm welcome, the shop is well stocked, even carrying local craft beer brewed especially for the campground, and the best of all:  they offer a twice-daily free shuttle to the ferry terminal so we could easily cross the St Lawrence and access old Québec City on foot!

We boarded the very nice Mercedes Sprinter passenger van at 8:45 AM with a plan to return on the 4:45 shuttle back to the campground.   The short commute was enjoyable as we chatted with the other campers whose homes were across Canada and even California! The ferry ride is only 15 minutes and we stood outside on deck, watching the Château Frontenac and other charming buildings coming closer as we crossed. With the VoiceMap (http://voicemap.me) downloaded on our phones, we headed into the lower town, ready to explore! VoiceMap uses GPS locating and provided touristic information about buildings, sites, and other attractions – simply pay attention to the notifications and listen on your phone’s speaker or earphones to get expert guide services without being part of a tour group!

Our first stop was the Funiculaire du Vieux-Québec, an inclined elevator that lifted us 194 ft from Basse Ville to Haute Ville, right at the Dufferin Terrace, a beautiful boardwalk lining the cliff in front of the beautiful Château Frontenac! Pausing to admire the views of the lower town and the river itself is spectacular, and there are plenty of benches for relaxing while taking it all in!  Using our app, we discovered things about a variety of landmarks and buildings as we leisurely strolled the charming streets of the upper city.  Many historic and religious sites are open to the public and we popped in and out of museums and churches, guided by the VoiceMap speaker (whose name was Stéphane, I think)!  He pointed out former commercial and industrial locations, explained various artistic installations, and suggested a route that was both engaging and efficient. Because we travelled in May, the city was not yet overrun by tourists and we were even able to walk right into a beautiful sidewalk café for a delicious and civilized lunch, followed by another stop for pastry and coffee in a beautiful square dating from the 1600s. Our last stop in the upper city was Rue du Trésor where local artists set up stalls featuring their works, both in original and print forms.  The variety and quality of the artists’ offerings were both impressive, and while we didn’t select a souvenir there, we quite enjoyed browsing aimlessly!

The afternoon found us walking down the steps to the lower city, and strolling the narrow streets, still under the guidance of VoiceMap, where throngs of people were coming and going the artisans’ shops which sell clothing, more works of art, wooden carvings and other products, and food items all made in Québec (think maple everything and sooooo much cheese!) Quite tired from a day of exploring, we took a rest at the Royal Battery, a platform financed and named for King Louis XIV of France, where ten French canons sit as they did 370 years earlier, ready to defend the city and its fort. Today, the plaza is a gathering place with a lovely river view, and a good shady spot to wait until ferry-boarding time!

The ferry itself runs like clockwork, and with a very reasonable round-trip price of $8.10 (16-64) or $6.90 (65+), makes a terrific introductory and farewell cruise across the river, with the beautiful Bass Ville and impressive Château Frontenac up top!  I loved looking back at that skyline as we headed back towards Lévis and a simple supper back at Large Marge, ready to rest up for the next leg of her adventure in La Belle Province!!!!!

Safe Travels

Lynn Abbey

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