Day 13 - REST DAY in Quebec City!

miles today:0 total miles: 777
km today: 0 total km: 1252

Rest days are always special and we’ve been looking forward to this one for a long time! Quebec City is so rich with history and culture - I won’t even attempt to delve into any details about that. But I will just recount our day and share some photos.

We started out with logistics that we’ve been needing to handle. More lube for the bike chains, seam sealer for the tent, and the combination of the bike shop across the street from our AirBnB and a recommendation from them to check out Latulippe - finally a great outdoor store that had seam sealer and stove fuel. I took an Uber over there (no biking this rest day!) and Chandra sealed up the tent. Hopefully now, combined with the tarp, everything is waterproof.


After those morning logistics were covered, we headed down to the Old City where we planned to spend the day. We shared a massive poutine for lunch.

From there, we started wandering the gorgeous old French architecture in the Old City. People have always said about Qeubec City that “it feels like being in Europe” and I thought that was a bit of an exaggeration until I visited last year to be on a PhD examination committee. And, sure enough, I was struck by the same. As we wandered the city, we took in the streets, buildings, and the old Citadel, including a hike up to Pt. St. Denis which was recommended as a great view of the city.




We also checked out the ferry for tomorrow over to Levis.

We also check out the Musée de la Civilization where we saw an exhibit on First Nations perspectives that we both thought was reminiscent of exhibits in New Zealand at Te Papa - mixing history and artifacts with contemporary stories told in the voices of First Nations people. With Quebec feeling so rich in history regarding the French, English, and American conflicts and sortings, and seeing the super old European style buildings, it was great to inject a First Nations perspective.

There was also a great exhibit on climate and we particularly liked the immersive forest depiction (a couple snippets are here, along with a cool exhibit on food).

We ended out the day with a cocktail at Le Château Frontenac where the high price was worth it for the room and the quality of the cocktails. I had a Campari sour with Talisker and Chandra had a smoky Old Fashined type drink. The pattern in the bottom of the glass looked cool and we agree my monacle was at home in the fancy bar :).



We rounded out the day meeting René and Jean-Michel - both professors I know at the University of Laval in town. We had a great time sharing stories, enjoying some good food and wine, and then tried to get rest for the next day of resuming biking.