World Heritage Jewel

When we arrived in sunny Quebec City yesterday afternoon we checked into our hotel the Relais Charles-Alexandre and immediately walked to the Old Town, Vieux-Quebec. It is our third visit to this historical city, that is like no other in North America, and we are already planning our next visit! We walked until our legs started screaming at us, reacquainting ourselves with precious sights and taking in the changes. Only Tylenol washed down with appropriate amounts of alcohol enabled us to sleep.
Although it is about a 10 minute walk to the walls of Old Quebec, our hotel is well located, only one block from both the Plains of Abraham Battlefields Park and the busy markets, restaurants, and shops of Avenue Cartier. We had considered staying within the walls but were worried about parking and our choice proves to be sound when we observe the signs that motorcycles are not permitted within the walls! The Relais Charles-Alexandre is a very pleasant hotel with an art gallery décor located in an earlier 20th century building on the Grande Allee. We particularly enjoy the excellent service at the continental breakfast served in a very cheerful dining room.
We awoke this morning to light rain but, grateful that we’re not riding, don our raingear and set out to further explore the city. The Fortifications and Citadel are first, as this is a city that, in our opinion, is defined by its military history. After that we simply wander the twisting, narrow streets of this unique city until once again our legs are reminding us of our age. As the rain has intensified we stop for lunch at a cosy restaurant in Place-Royale, a step back in time and Marlene’s favourite spot in this awesome city. A bottle of red wine later, we linger over coffee and dessert and reflect upon the rain which has certainly made Old Quebec much less crowded than usual.
It takes us a good hour to wander back to our hotel, arm-in-arm under a borrowed hotel umbrella, for an afternoon rest, after which we set out to buy picnic provisions for our expedition tomorrow to Grosse-Ile. We end up with two bottles of excellent French red wine because we can’t decide between them and both are well priced. We think Quebec must have some kind of wine trade agreement with France because we can’t buy French wine for these prices in BC! After supper and one bottle of the red that we have to sample, we set of for Battlefield Parks because the rain has stopped and it is too beautiful an opportunity to pass up.