Day 14 (September 30th) Quebec

They won't get past this sentry!

This first day in Quebec was the coldest we had experienced in Canada (temperature about 10°C)  and it was definitely a day for jumpers and trousers.  We had some breakfast and were soon on a Great Rail Journey organised coach tour of the city.  Our guide was good and we had a good run round this the most historic of the Canadian cities.  We eventually arrived the Citadel (a garrisoned fort) and were guided round by an excellent young army lady guide.  We heard how Quebec was captured from the French by General Wolfe.  The Citadel was built to deter the Americans wanting to include Canada in the States but it has never received a shot in anger.  It was certainly worth visiting and we then carried to view other special places but not the old town as the streets were too narrow.

The Citadel

The smart Railway Station

We had free time in the afternoon and decided to explore the old part which turned out to be a good decision.  We realised that the railway station was a character building when we arrived in the dark last night, but today it was definitely worth capturing for posterity! 
 
 

The funicular

 The old part of the city at the bottom of a cliff was certainly full of character with small streets, old cottages and shops.  There were some strange sculptures made from plastic items along one street and someone had painted the gable end of their house in a rather novel way.
 

Interesting gable end

 
 
We also saw a giant soup can with similar sized pigeons!

 
Eventually we made our back to our hotel via the funicular.  In the evening we had a meal at a steakhouse and retired to the comfortable hotel after a grey, cold, overcast day but one which we were able to enjoy.