Québec City

Québec has a very beautiful Old Town that reminds of a European city. In the Quartier Petit Champlain, restaurants, souvenir shops, and other boutiques lined up. There was a lively atmosphere in the streets. Between the old buildings, you could frequently see the Château Frontenac, an imposing hotel overlooking the Old Town. 

Next to the Château Frontenac was the Citadelle of Québec. The British built these defense walls after the Americans tried to attack and seize Québec twice. However, once the Citadelle was built, there were no more attacks on the city. Since the Citadelle still serves as an active military base, it was not allowed to move around the premises without a guide. But I was just in time for the Royal 22e Régiment Parade. In the past, the three shots fired by the soldiers into the air informed the population that the gates to the Citadelle were closed. However, today the gates were not closed at 4 o'clock in the afternoon. Luckily, because I was still inside the Citadelle and participated in a guided tour. We were allowed to enter a wall equipped with defense windows through which the soldiers could shoot with their rifles in case of an attack without the enemy seeing them. Today it wouldn't work as well anymore, the trees in front of the wall had grown so high that you could only see their foliage from the windows. The Citadelle was built in the shape of a star, in the two points facing the St. Lawrence River, there were two cannons capable of shooting up to 3 kilometers. There was also a military prison, and the old gunpowder storage was converted into a chapel. All buildings were labeled with a battle that the Royal 22e Régiment had participated in. The Royal 22e Régiment was founded in World War I because the Canadian Army only spoke English, but the French-speaking Canadians also wanted to serve their country and therefore formed their own battalion. 

The next morning at 10 o'clock, I went to see the changing of the guard. Accompanied by the music of the Royal 22e Régiment, the guards, who were on duty for 24 hours, passed on the task to their colleagues. Also present was Batisse, the mascot of the regiment. To show that Batisse is royal, his horns were painted golden. 

Unfortunately, the weather wasn't very good, only on Thursday the sun was shining, otherwise it was rather gloomy and on Saturday it rained briefly from time to time. On Sunday, I went to Saguenay, although I had to switch on the windshield wipers a few times on the way, the longer I drove, the better the weather became.