Quebec City

Bonjour
Early start today to catch the train back to Montreal. Temperature is around -11 dropping to -25 tonight. Everyone is tired after a big day of skiing yesterday, so it will probably be an early night I suggest.
First day in QC we checked out the neighborhood we were staying in which is only a few houses up from the main street with all the shops and restaurants which heads into the old city about 10-15 mins away.
Our accommodation is very nice. The owner met us there when we arrived.
After some lunch Lisa and I went grocery shopping down the street at the oldest store in town called JA Moisan Epicier. Its overpriced but was actually a pleasant way to shop as opposed to the big supermarkets we are used to. The male attendants all wore bowler hats and aprons like the old days.
The kids went exploring.
There is an old church at the bottom of the street from us and a pub across the road called Sacrilege!
Went for an early morning run the next day through the "Plains de Abraham" which was the site of the battle between the French and British in the 1700s which the British ultimately won. It is a big public park with lots of events being staged over xmas and winter. The sun does not come up until around 7ish and sets very early around 4:30pm. So I enjoy getting out at 6am to take some pictures while running. There are no crowds - in fact I am usually the only one out except for the workers who clear the streets of snow.
I took everyone back to the park after breakfast which is only 10mins walk up the hill from our digs. They had a skating rink which was a large circular track so Herb and Lol went skating and the lady hiring the skates talked me into trying it. I have never been on ice skates before. I kept thinking about the time Trish and Jen took the kids skating at Macquarie Center in Sydney when they were younger and they couldn't watch Herb who was all arms and legs everywhere and falling over, so I was trying not to laugh as I skated around. Didn't look too graceful but managed to stay upright until the very end when I fell leaving the ice. It is very slippery and nothing like roller skating. Anyway everyone had a good laugh and I'm sure the pictures will look funny.
I took everyone to the citadel next. Quebec City is the only walled city in North America. Then we went into the old city to look around and have some lunch. Its very quaint but set up for tourists, so it was very crowded. We caught the funicular ("funiculee funicular" - the kids didn't know this song. They must not have listened to Grumps singing it) and Herb, Lol and I had an ice slide which is a big slide you ride on a sled.
We booked a bus trip for the next day to Le Massif to ski. Its about 45mins from QC. Lisa was feeling off color so she booked a smaller bus tour of the countryside which was leaving early afternoon so she could rest up in the morning.
Up early again the next day to catch the bus to the mountains to ski. Walked to the bus stop - very cold and snowing, so it was going to be a different ski experience from the sunny day we had at Mont Avila outside Montreal on xmas day.
The mountain is a bit bigger than Kosioscko and has many ski runs. You can ski all the way down to the St Lawrence river and it has nice views from the top but there was no view the day we were there because of the weather and it was too cold to remove my gloves to take photos. We had a good time but were split up for most of the day. The chairlifts and gondalas finished at 3pm which was just as well because it was completely dark by 4 o'clock. I think the temperature on the mountain was about -27 to -30. The usher at the ticket office was laughing when I told him it was 36 deg back home! Our ski goggles kept icing over and we had to scratch it off each time we ascended the mountain in the enclosed gondala after skiing down the runs as you could not see out of them. I think Davo got frostbite on his nose - not really but the kids tell me it went completely white on the tip. He suffers the same as me with his hands and feet in the cold, so he visits the bathroom during the day to run hot water on them to thaw them out.
Trish - your kidneys would not survive!
Lisa enjoyed her tour and it was definitely a good decision not to come skiing in those conditions. I will let her tell you about her sightseeing.
We shouted ourselves a restaurant dinner together back in QC that night. Tried out our francais - the waitress was kind but I'm sure she had a laugh in private. Anyway we all got our correct orders so it can't have been too bad!
Early start again this morning to get back to the train station to catch the train back to Montreal and we decided to arrange a cab in case the weather was worse. As it turns out the day is quite nice and dry at present. The driver was nice and he showed us his koala bear which he attaches to his rear view mirror. Everyone wants to come to Australia - we are doing our bit for the tourist industry!
Au devoir.
Mike