Quebec 2

WOW! Our time in Quebec the last couple of days has been all action-packed. The first day, after Paul got up from his nap, we went out to explore the area around our B&B, which is located in an area called Old Quebec. We ended up walking down a few streets that took us to the wharf area. As we followed it around, we found a walkway that (stupidly) we decided to take, despite reading that it has 310 stairs, all apparently going in the direction of UP. It wasn't all 310 at one time--there were stretches of straight walking, and even one small set of stairs that went down, but for the most part, we were going up. It was quite beautiful--it was along a mountain side, outside the walls of the area of Old Quebec, but by the time we reached the top, we were both exhausted and a wee sore. We ended up walking back towards our B&B along the wall of the Old Quebec area, which was kind of cool! And a little dangerous--there were no barriers, and I kept hoping no one passing in the other direction would suddenly get the urge to be homicidal and give me a little push. Finally, at the end of it all, we arrived back at the B&B safe and sound. Despite being exhausted, we decided to venture out again to forage for food. We ended up at a neat little restaurant where we drank ourselves silly, had deep conversations, and ate really good food. We spent a lot of $$, too, but that's irrelevant when you're on vacation (or so I keep telling myself).

Yesterday, we got up and had a great breakfast downstairs. This B&B is really nice! We met another couple from Boston who were getting ready to leave. The woman making breakfast gave all of us free tickets to the fine arts museum in town where they have an exhibit of art from the Louvre (in Paris). Paul and I decided to part ways in the morning and do our own thing, then meet up around lunchtime and head to the museum. I ended up spending the morning at Walmart. Yes, as odd as that sounds, I wanted to check out a Canadian Walmart. All in all, pretty much the same stuff, and with the dollar where it is now, the prices weren't too far off, but the biggest difference was that all of the signs and announcements were in French. It was so cool! I wish I'd taken my camera (left it at the B&B because it was raining, and who thought I'd need it in a Walmart??). I got a few things we needed (including a travel clock), and came upon a rack selling books for kids. A lot of them were French grammar-related, so I spent a good 40 minutes or so going through them, picking out ones that I liked and that I thought might be good for classes and/or future children. That was the best part! I ended up spending a bundle, but it was Walmart so it could have been worse elsewhere.

While I was off doing my thing, Paul went to a historical museum, then walked around another area near the old part of the city. We met up around noon at the B&B, and I ended up laying down and taking a nap while he played games on the computer. Afterwards, we went to the art museum to see the much-touted exhibit called Le Louvre à Québec (the Louvre in Quebec). I think we both expected greatness, but were a little disappointed. It was like they went to the Louvre and picked out a few hundred of the most boring things you could see there and brought those over. There were a few good paintings, but nothing really famous. It was disappointing but we were glad the tickets had been free. At least we hadn't paid a ton to get in and see nothing. After the museum, we went to the part of town where Paul had been in the morning. It was an area of street after street of little shops. I loved it there, which he figured, and we spent a couple hours walking around and having lunch. We drove back and spent the evening...you guessed it...playing Yahtzee. Thank goodness for those little dice! I think Paul went and watched TV in another part of the B&B for a while before our tournament.

One note about the French here: I wondered what it would be like since the Canadian accent is so different from the French one (which I'm used to). There are a lot of little differences, but for the most part, I understand it and I think they understand me. I don't get everything that's said to me, but as long as I know the context in which something is said, I can pick it up. There are times, though, where it's not so easy.

Right now, I'm sitting on the balcony of our room at the B&B. There are 3 floors--we're on the top floor with 3 other rooms, and we're the only one with a private bathroom and a balcony (which I LOVE!!). There's a shared one in the hallway of this floor. The second floor has a large common room with a TV, couches, and an old piano, along with bedrooms that I think belong to the owner of the B&B (but I'm not sure). The first floor has a kitchen and dining area where we have breakfast. The breakfasts here are at a HUGE round table with other guests, and the meal is simple but quite good! There's a lazy susan in the middle of the table with condiments, cereal, fruit, and other small things, but the woman that works here (I don't think she owns the place) is young, maybe in her early 30's, and she does the cooking and checking people in and out. She's VERY nice and a pretty good cook! The B&B is on a street with a bunch of other B&B's, and some smaller hotels. It's very quaint and quiet, for the most part.

I went off for a while on my own this morning, shopping and trying to find an outfit for tonight--we walked a few blocks to a large theater this morning and got tickets to see Les Misérables! I've seen this 3 times now--twice in English (Chicago and Spfld) and once in Japanese (Toyko), so this will be my first time seeing it in French. I'm so excited!! It's my all-time favorite musical and I know the French soundtrack by heart (thanks to typing up all the words back in college for Dr. Ryan), so I'm looking VERY forward to this! Paul is, too--he's seen it twice, I think. This is why we go so well together!

It's been a fantastic vacation so far! We've had so much fun and we're ok with being together or doing stuff apart. But most of what we do is together. I think he's in a park reading right now, so I'm going to go try to find him. Our internet connection is bad, so there may not be another update while we're here, but we'll be back late Monday. We're leaving here on Sunday and driving to Niagara Falls. I'll miss this place but I have no doubt we'll be back! It's been good to practive my French, though I think I prefer going to Paris ot do that. ☺ Should be no surprise to anyone.

More later (I hope!)!!