The Gallivanter: Day 6: Walking tour of Québec and ferry to Lévis

Tuesday 23 May 2017

Day 6: Walking tour of Québec and ferry to Lévis

This morning I woke up to find myself alone. Well actually I was surrounded by five other sleeping women in my dorm - but all of them strangers to me. The rest of the band had gone - some back to Italy and some on to New York. The good thing about staying in hostels, though, is that you are never really alone. I signed up for the morning walking tour of Vieux Québec and set off to explore some more with a small group of hostel guests and our tour guide, Claude.

Walking tour of Québec

Claude speculates on how that cannonball came to be inside that tree trunk

Claude was very informative and told us a lot about the city’s four-hundred-year history. Between his history lesson and Francine’s socio-cultural analysis, I have learned a lot of things I didn’t know about this part of my own country!

The last place we visited on our tour was the French library and cultural centre, in what used to be a church, followed by a quick stop outside the English library, in what used to be a prison. Both looked like perfect places to set up my office for the afternoon, conveniently located right around the corner from the hostel! After a quick lunch of falafel I set up shop in the English library in the Morrin Centre. Comfy chair, wifi, historic setting – what more could I want! I was the only person there besides the librarian, so it was very quiet, apart from the occasional tour group coming through!

In front of the English library that served as my office for the afternoon

My temporary office in the English library

Later in the day I took the ferry across the St. Lawrence River to Lévis, essentially for the views of Québec. The sun was peeking out from behind the clouds and the sky provided a dramatic backdrop. I strolled around Lévis until it started to rain and so I hurried back to the ferry terminal just in time to see a beautiful rainbow appear over the town!