June 5, 2013 - Part 1

We took off for Lower Town today, which we discovered is full of shops, and thus, full of people.  :)  This is Rue Sous-le-Fort, which ends at the St Lawrence River and begins at Rue Petit-Champlain, which is the main street through Lower Town.

The funiculaire is a glass-enclosed cable car which descends from the Terrasse Dufferin near the Chateau Frontenac down a steep slope to Lower Town, landing behind this building, Maison Louis Jolliet.  Built in 1683, it was home to Louis Jolliet, a Quebec-born explorer who was the first person of European parentage to explore the upper Mississippi River.  We didn't take the funiculaire down, preferring to take the steps winding through the streets, but by late afternoon we were too tired to even think about walking those steps back uphill and gladly paid our $2.25 to ride the cable car.  The view was excellent but my camera battery had died by then and I didn't get any pictures.

June 4, 2013 - Part 4

After a late dinner of French hamburgers (yes, apparently there is such a thing - mine was Le Tennessee, made with a Jack Daniels sauce and caramelized onions - woo-hoo!) and a game of chess at our table, we went back to the hotel and wandered around a bit, taking pictures of the lobby.  This is one of the chandeliers.

 

The main lobby; the revolving doors are to the right, with the concierge desk beyond them; in the foreground on the left is a hallway to a wing with shops, with the front desk further on to the left.

 A bit of art in one of the shop windows.

A letter chute beside the elevator; you drop your letter in and it goes downstairs to the postal department.  Not sure if this is still in use - the hotel dates back to the late 1800s.   We took the elevator to the 18th floor in search of windows to take some outside pictures.

 

The only window we could find that was operational opened inward and was so small I had to hold the camera outside the window and snap away without looking through the lens viewer.  Most of the pictures were too blurry to keep.  Even the ones I kept are not great, but I'm glad to have them nonetheless.

June 4, 2013 - Part 3

After leaving the Parc des Champs-de-Bataille, we wandered towards the Colline Parlementaire (Parliament Hill) area until we came across this beautiful fountain and discovered it was in front of the Hotel du Parlement (Parliament Building).

 

June 4, 2013 - Part 2

La Citadelle (the Citadel), in Upper Town, was built by the British in the 1700s and completed in the 1800s, when they ruled Quebec (1763-1867).  It is a fortress dug into the Plains of Abraham so that you don't know it's even there until you realize you're standing on the roof (they're all covered with grass).  It is home to Quebec's Royal 22e Regiment.  Once we entered the fortress, we discovered, much to our delight, that the changing of the guard ceremony was taking place.

I could not believe Tracy agreed to pose for this and the next pic - as a ram, the official mascot of the Royal 22e Regiment.  :D

"Je me souviens" (I remember) is the official motto of the province of Quebec.   In 1883, Eugène-Étienne Taché, Assistant Commissioner for Crown lands in Quebec and architect of the provincial Parliament building had the motto carved in stone below the coat of arms of Quebec which appears above the Parliament Building's main entrance door.  The motto then came into official use, the full significance of which cannot perhaps be readily expressed in English words but which may be paraphrased as conveying the meaning “We do not forget, and will never forget, our ancient lineage, traditions and memories of all the past."   from Wikipedia

I asked this guard if he would mind if Jed stood beside him so we could get a picture.  He didn't answer, of course; it was hard to tell if he even heard me, since his hat was pulled down over his eyes.  :)

June 4, 2013 - Part 1

We set out this morning walking on the Terrasse Dufferin, to the right, and after a while it turned into La Promenade Des Gouverneurs, a rambling series of 310 wooden steps that lead along a cliff wall to Upper Town. 

This is the view from Upper Town - since this is the top of the 16-story tower of La Chateau Frontenac, you can see why it's named Upper Town.  :)

View of Lower Town from Upper Town

June 3, 2013 - Part 4

After getting settled in our room, we hit the town to do some looking around and grab a bite to eat.  This sign greeted us as soon as we stepped out of the hotel courtyard on Rue Ste-Louis. 

After a dinner of crepes stuffed with chicken and mushrooms, we headed back to the end of Rue Ste-Louis, where our hotel sits on the Terrasse Dufferin, a boardwalk that overlooks the St Lawrence River.

Note the cannons along the boardwalk.  :)

That's the city of Levis across the river.

 

It was hard to get a good shot of the hotel from the boardwalk because it was so close, 

but this is La Chateau Frontenac.

June 3, 2013 - Part 3

Our first glimpse of Quebec City from our hotel.

That's the St Lawrence River to the right.

 

The Ministere des Finances building, on the other side of Rue Ste-Louis.

Looking down on Rue du Tresor, which has parking spaces for horse drawn carriages.

June 3, 2013 - Part 2

I was surprised to learn we are only a couple of hours from the Canadian border.  

The Old Canada Road is a pretty drive, and the time flew by.

Making a run for the border.  

(sorry, I couldn't resist)

 Couldn't believe they let us in.  LOL

We expected the Canadian landscape to look like Maine,

and were surprised to see so much cleared land and farms just across the border.

Then we reckoned that what seems like wilderness area to us in the US

is prime real estate for those in more northern climes.  :)

June 3, 2013 - Part 1

We began our first trip to Canada this day.  Our first stop was in Jackman, the last Maine (and US) town on the Old Canada Road before the border.  Canada is just on the other side of those mountains.  :)

 We saw lots of logging trucks on this trip.

 The Jackman train station - I think this is the most well-preserved unused station I've ever seen.

Too bad we didn't see any moose.  :)

May 19, 2013

We watched the movie White Fang on this rainy Sunday afternoon and enjoyed it very much.  

Can you guess what Jed's favorite part was?  :D

May 17, 2013

 May 4, 2013

 May 6, 2013

 May 7, 2013

 May 8, 2013

 May 9, 2013

 May 10, 2013

 May 11, 2013

May 17, 2013

I think my bud-photographing project is completed - the leaves will only grow larger and more difficult to photograph at this point.  But I'm so glad I did this!  I love looking at the pics, taken nearly every day from April 10 to May 17, in a slide show...it's almost as fun as watching a flower bloom! 

May 16, 2013

Our last regular science class!  The next class will be a Jeopardy-style test of the entire year, so we're working hard to review all we've learned about flying creatures.  Today's class experiment was designed to demonstrate the difference in pitch caused by differences in length.  Any experiment that involves tapping on glasses of water with a pencil is sure to be a hit with boys...I didn't get a shot of the ensuing mayhem when they tried to do the experiment themselves.  :)

May 12, 2013

Happy Mother's Day!

May 5, 2013 - Part 2

Playing around with the focus again.

I wonder when I'll tire of this and move on to the next thing?  :)