DAY 5 - Ville de Quebec - Wed. June 14, 2017

We woke up in beautiful Quebec City to another gorgeous sunny day. After breakfast and our morning briefing we were met at the ship by Parks Canada staff who took us on a walking tour of the city. ALL OF IT UP HILL. The walk was worth it though. The city is magnificent. I was in Paris last year, and my memories of The City of Lights came flooding back.

The mural on this building was really great. Lots of detail, and it covered the history of Quebec City.

Reminded me so much of Montmartre.

 The walk culminated at the top of the hill, near the imposing and beautiful Chateau Frontenac. The view was stunning.

The view of the St. Lawrence was incredible!

Sandra and Andrea

Chateau Frontenac

So much history in this place. It was hard to take it all in.

The Plains of Abraham were so much a part of how Canada and, in particular, Nova Scotia took shape, that it was a little surreal being there and seeing the place where it all unfolded. "Acadian Driftwood" by The Band kept floating in and out of my mind, telling the story of le Grand Derangement in a way only music can tell.  The day was so perfect, the place so peaceful, it was hard to imagine such a bloody battle having ever happened there, and the devastating consequences it would have on the Acadians living peacefully throughout the Maritimes.

The city is rife with art, including a beautiful statue of Samuel de Champlain right outside the Chateau Frontenac.

The tour guide pointed out that no one actually knows what Champlain looked like. There are no known surviving paintings or portraits of the founder of New France.

And maybe a hundred feet away, this striking Salvador Dali statue.

The classical style of the Champlain monument next to this very modern Dali was a really cool juxtaposition. What an unexpected delight to find myself in the presence of this piece of art, by my favourite artist, in Quebec of all places! Apparently, there is Dali artwork all over le Ville de Quebec... one of many reasons to make a return visit.

After exploring the grounds around the top of the hill, we were in for a very special treat. Lieu Historique National des Forts-et-Chateaux-Saint-Louis is the underground residence and seat of power of the Governors of Quebec between 1620 and 1834. It's under the Dufferin Terrace, and has been there for 300 years more-or-less untouched until 2002! Parks Canada has done some fantastic archaeological work in preserving and presenting the underground dwellings of the Governors and his cohorts. They found tons of artifacts, dishes, buttons, jewellery, etc. which is on display throughout the rather large Forts-et-Chateaux. I'm not sure how big the site is currently (a couple of city blocks maybe? IT'S BIG!), but I don't think they're done digging. Each successive Governor expanded it a bit more. The whole place has really cool stone work, and the "culinary complex" was especially impressive.

This was one of the "icehouses". Important that the Governor be able to serve sorbet year round! 

A few C3 folks got really in the zone while we were there, including Jean and Tara.

He feels pretty! Oh so pretty!...

Tara... or Terrance?

After our historic walking tour we headed back to the ship for lunch, and then we went to the conveniently located (very near the waterfront) Musee de la Civilisation for a special C3 event. We met a class of Grade Two's who had watched Paddle to the Sea (aka Vogue-a-la-mer) earlier that day. We brought along a very special guest... you guessed it! Paddle came with us to meet the children! So fun. We talked about watersheds, and what sorts of animals might live in the St. Lawrence River.

We were all given markers and paper, and we drew pictures of the animals, vegetation, fish, boats, and environment along the St. Lawrence. Now this, my friends, was an exceptionally anxiety-inducing task for me. I CAN'T DRAW OR COLOUR! Fortunately, the children were fairly encouraging (at least I think they were... there was a bit of a language barrier there :) ) and I managed to draw a picture of a "tortiere" (haha - shout out to Kevin!) sitting on a log with some very colourful tropical invasive species of fish. 

My "tortiere" hanging with some invasive species.

Then we had a small presentation where we each shared our artwork with the group. This was by far the most nerve-wracking part of the whole expedition for me! The kids' pictures were only a little bit better than mine, so that made me feel okay and I got through it. An artist I am not!

This kid did a great drawing and had very passionate presentation skills!

After this, the Canada C3 participants headed back to the ship where we were each presented with a gift from the Museum. A gorgeous coffee table book called "Journey to the Heart of the First Peoples Collection". It's a beautiful book full of photographs of rare and splendid indigenous artwork and clothing, and I will treasure it always.The pages are full of unequaled beauty.

That evening, we hosted a very special dinner aboard ship. The hanger was transformed into a lovely banquet hall fit for a king. Or at least a prince. We had Prince Albert II of Monaco join us for a terrific evening of dining and music. He was lovely! Very charming and easy to talk to.

Guylaine, me, Carol, and Chiatra hob-nobbing with Prince Albert II.

Joanne and Ellie were the bartenders for the evening.

None of us were told we'd be dining with royalty prior to the expedition, and one of the most fun parts of the evening was everyone trying to figure out how to dress up the clothes they had brought with them! Chiatra had her sari, which was a stroke of genius to have packed it. My outfit consisted of a black house dress with a bathing suit wrap as a scarf and a pair of rubber boots for my feet. No glass slippers for this Cinderella! I'm glad I had those rubber boots with me. The Newfoundland crew were pretty chuffed at my choice of footwear for the evening. Oh, how they laughed! I even learned a new saying from Drew, one of the engineers: What a lovely set of shores under that shithouse, which translates roughly to "Nice legs!"

Me and Lyne getting all dolled up for the Prince!

You may be wondering, why on earth was Prince Albert aboard Polar Prince in Ville de Quebec? The Prince is one of the patrons and sits on the board of directors for The Students On Ice Foundation, the umbrella organization overseeing the C3 Expedition. Why he happened to be in Quebec City? I'm not sure, but I'm sure glad he was. It meant for an amazing meal and a lovely evening. Our "celebrity chef" for Leg 2 was Matt Krizan of Mateus Bistro in Mahone Bay, NS. I'm not much a foodie, and not much for gushing over food, but holy smokes! The meal was fantastic! Here is the menu, and yes, every dish was as decadent as it sounds.

For those of you who are reading this and find yourselves on Nova Scotia's south shore, go to Mateus. You will not regret it. Chef Matt's cooking is amazing.

The evening was rounded out by performances by our participant musicians. Our expedition leader, Geoff Green, spoke, as did Captain Guy, and the Prince himself got up and said a few words.

Our beloved Captain Stephan Guy giving a toast. That's Chef Matt on the left surveying his masterpiece!

Prince Albert offering a toast of friendship.

The party splintered off after dinner, most of us going below to The Knot for our evening jam session. Prince Albert stayed aboard until late in the evening, knocking on the portholes to wave goodbye to us as he left.  It was a truly splendid evening!