Old Quebec City, Quebec Canada

Ann, Cathy and I left Gananoque early this morning for a five hour drive to Quebec City, one of North America’s oldest settlements.  Quebec is the only fortified city north of Mexico. It’s a very picturesque city and  Old Quebec has been designated as a UNESCO World Heritage.  We walked the cobblestone streets, with 17th- and 18th-century stone houses and soaring church spires, with the splendid Château Frontenac towering above it all. This city reminded me of the years I lived in Europe with its bistros, sidewalk cafes and manicured squares. The main focus of our visit was the Old Town, perched above the St Lawrence River on the Cap Diamant cliffs. We walked the Dufferin Terrace and sections of the city's walled  fortification. We climbed to the Citadel to see the vast Plains of Abraham, where the British defeated the French in 1759. This was my first visit to Quebec City and hopefully, not my last....

 

My Canadian adventure, sailing the St. Lawrence River

Just because  I’m not on a ship doesn’t mean that I can’t have an amazing adventure.  I decided to head to Canada to visit Ann and Cathy Scott, who live in Gananoque, Ontario, part of the 1000 Islands area.  Today, we took a boat tour of the 1000 Islands on the Sea Prince II from Rockport, Ontario.   As we sailed along we discovered exhilarating panoramic views and the rugged nature of the 1000 Islands.  It was a beautiful sunny day and my camera was clicking away as we floated past numerous islands first on the  Canadian side and then into US waters.  On our travels we were able to see the statue dedicated to St. Lawrence who is the namesake of the river, sailed under the Canadian span of the Thousand Island bridge and past numerous islands.  I learned that to be an island it must be one square meter in size, have one tree and stay above water for 365 days a year. The highlight of the tour was cruising to Alexandria Bay, NY to Heart Island where the grandest of all the Gilded Age Mansions, Boldt Castle, was built by George C. Boldt.  When George C. Boldt was building the castle for his wife, she unfortunately passed away before the castle was completed.  He stopped work on the castle never returned to the island.  Such a sad story…..  Tomorrow we are heading to Quebec City for my first visit to Quebec, may have some poutine, you never know….  Really looking forward to this visit!