A tour of old Quebec

A couple of weeks ago, we decided to celebrate our fifth wedding anniversary with a road trip to Quebec City. Unbeknownst to us, the city is celebrating their 400th birthday so the city was supercharged with activities and sights. And boy, do they know how to throw a party!

I took photos of this same statue the last time I visited the city, about ten years ago.

I have never seen so many beautiful window boxes and flower arrangements in one place as I saw throughout this city. I don't think there was one place that didn't have outstanding greenery and lighting.

I think I need some of these jumbo red flower pots for my place. I'm quite certain the wind wouldn't move those.

There were several large displays made entirely out of plants like this huge flower pot. The many green spaces in the city were great places to sit down and relax or do a few exercises, like this girl.

I found this sight fascinating. Apparently, a developer tore down this church (with the exception of the front) in hopes of builidng a new hotel around this one piece. Costs soared and now the project is halted while the city and developer try to work out a compromise. In the meantime, graffitti artists have been very busy. Notice the two faces...

...and the artwork at the base of the steeple. It really is quite a sight. It reminds me a little of the Flat Iron in New York City.

There are also a number of free events this summer. There is a 600m screen (actually a group of silos) where a projection movie is shown every night. It is a picture interpretation of the city of the past 400 years. It is very well done.

If that's not enough, Paul McCartney played a free concert there Sunday night. Unfortunately we weren't able to stay for it, but we did get a glimpse of the stage while it was being set up. Celine Dion will play the same stage for a second free concert in August.

On our anniversary, we took a horse and wagon tour of the old city. The architecture is incredible. There are still sections with the cobblestone streets.

The city also hosts the international fireworks competition. Saturday night was the first night and we were able to watch the show from our bed and breakfast...a total fluke. We had no idea this was going on either. Australia preformed Saturday night but the weather didn't cooperate for them. All we saw was a lot of light behind all the smoke. It was still beautiful to watch the show but not so nice for those being judged.


The next day we went to the Montmorency falls where the fireworks were launched and took a tour. We even got a peek at the launching pad.

Here are a few photos taken at the falls the next day. It's a great place to hike and spend a morning.

One more surprise was the Louvre exhibition at the museum. France loaned several of the most famous painting from the Louvre (including the Mona Lisa) to the city of Quebec for the 400 year celebration. We didn't find this out until the last day and tickets were sold out until Monday. I was more disappointed over this than missing Paul McCartney. What's worse is that when we go to Paris in the fall, the paintings will still be in Canada and I will miss the Mona Lisa again. Now what are the odds of that happening? I guess it wasn't meant to be. At any rate, we had a wonderful time touring the city and spending some quality time together...which means a whole lot more to me than an old painting anyway.