Friday, July 3, 2015 - Quebec City, Canada

We're staying at Hotel Clarendon in  the heart of Old Quebec.  It's a lovely, old, creaky place right across from the central square.  Quebec City celebrated its 407th birthday today so we woke up to bands playing, soldiers marching, fiddlers fiddling, etc etc all day long--most of it happening in front of our hotel.  Cool.  

Old Quebec (Vieux Quebec to the 95% here who speak French) is fun to explore.  It's a walking city with cobblestone streets, colorful old buildings and lots of restaurants.  Feels like you are in Paris, especially since most signs are in French.  My 50 year old French has dried up so we struggle a bit.  We entered the wrong door of the Monastery of the Ursalines (dang French signs) -- but a kind old nun sat us down and gave us a 400 year history of the place.  It was much more interesting than the public museum.

We found out that the French settled Quebec in 1607 but then the British, under James Wolfe, came down the St Lawrence River in the mid 1700's, had a 15 minute battle with the French and took Quebec.  Seriously, 15 minutes.  So it has been British (and Canadian) ever since.  But has it really?  It sure sounds French to me.

The building with the flags is our hotel.

 Paul, here's a charming library in a building that was once a prison.