Our day in Quebec began when we were transferred to Pac de la Chute Montorency train station to begin our Le Massif de Charlevoix train day tour to the little town of Baie Saint Paul. we travelled in style with breakfast being served on the journey and iPads available with relevant information as we passed through the countryside.We travelled northeast into the spectacular countryside of Charlevoix. Hugging
the shoreline of St Lawrence River, The root took in some of eastern
Canada’s most breathtaking landscapes, with romantic mountains to one side of
you and serene riverside vistas on the other .
Baie-Saint-Paul (2011 Population 7,332; UA population
4,535) is a city in the Province of Quebec, Canada, on the
northern shore of the Saint Lawrence River.
Baie-Saint-Paul is the seat of Charlevoix Regional County Municipality. The city
is situated at the mouth of the Gouffre River. It is known
for its art galleries, shops and restaurants. The city centre is about a seven minute walk from the station.
The place gained some
prominence in the 1770s when Doctor Philippe-Louis-François Badelard named
a disease he was researching the "Baie-Saint-Paul maladie". This
illness was the subject of one of the first medical publications done in Lower Canada. It is also
where Cirque
du Soleil originated back in the early 1980s and the location of the first
show using the name Cirque du Soleil during "La Fete Foraine de
Baie-Saint-Paul" in 1984.
A visitor in the early 1800s
noticed mineral springs and mineral resources in the area.
It was Harvest Festival time so many of the shops and galleries were beautifully decorated. We enjoyed our time browsing the shops and galleries and enjoying a drink at one of the local bars.
Our return journey was enjoyable and we were served some delicious tapas on the way.
Montmorency Falls
The Montmorency Falls (French: Chute
Montmorency) is a large waterfall on the
Montmorency River in Quebec, Canada. The falls
are located on the boundary between the borough of Beauport, Quebec City, and Boischatel, about 12 km from the heart of
old Quebec
City. The area surrounding the falls is protected within the Montmorency
Falls Park (French: Parc de la
Chute-Montmorency).
The falls, at 84 meters (275
ft) high and 46 meters (150 ft) wide, are the highest in the province of Quebec
and 30 meters (98 ft) higher than Niagara Falls. The basin
at the foot of the falls is 17 meters (56 ft) deep. The falls are at the mouth
of the Montmorency River where it drops over the cliff shore
into the Saint Lawrence River, opposite
the western end of the Ile d'Orleans. The falls were given this
name in 1613 by Samuel de Champlain He named
them in honour of Henri II, duc de Montmorency, who served as viceroy
of New
France from 1620 until 1625.
There are staircases that
allow visitors to view the falls from several different perspectives. A suspension bridge over
the crest of the falls provides access to both sides of the park as well as a
spectacular view. There is also an aerial tram (Funitel) that carries passengers between the base and the top of the falls. In the
summer the park hosts an international fireworks competition
with the falls as a backdrop.
The remnants of earthen forts
built by General
Wolfe are located in the eastern portion of the park. They were
constructed in 1759. The landings below Quebec City were repulsed by General Montcalm at
Montmorency Falls, costing the British 440 soldiers. Ultimately a successful
assault was launched when Wolfe made a surprise attack by climbing the cliffs
below the Plains of Abraham.
The Falls were the site of a
key scene between the lead actors in the 1947 film Whispering City, which was
filmed on location. The Ice Hotel was located at
Montmorency Falls for its first year.
In his poem "Sleep and Poetry"
(1816), John
Keats says that human life is "a poor Indian's sleep / While his
boat hastens to the monstrous steep / Of Montmorenci."
In the evening we went to one of the many restaurants in the new town and then took the funicular down to explore the old town by night. We also took the opportunity to explore the wonderful Chateau Frontenac.
The Château
Frontenac is a grand hotel in Quebec
City, Quebec, Canada, which is operated as Fairmont
Le Château Frontenac. It was designated a National Historic Site of
Canada in 1980. Prior
to the building of the hotel, the site was occupied by the Chateau Haldimand,
residence of the British colonial governors of Lower Canada and Quebec. The
hotel is generally recognized as the most photographed hotel in the world, in
large part because of how it dominates the skyline of Quebec City.
The Château Frontenac was designed by
American architect Bruce
Price, as one of a series of
"château" style hotels built for the Canadian Pacific Railway company (aka CPR) during the late 19th and early 20th
centuries; the newer portions of the hotel—including the central tower—were
designed by William Sutherland Maxwell. CPR's policy was to promote luxury tourism by appealing to
wealthy travellers. The Château Frontenac opened in 1893, six years after the Banff Springs Hotel,
which was owned by the same company and similar in style. Another reason for
the construction of the Chateau Frontenac was to accommodate tourists for the
1893 Chicago World's Fair, however, the hotel was never finished in time.
The Château Frontenac was named after Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac, who was governor of
the colony of New
France from 1672 to 1682 and 1689 to 1698.
The Château was built near the historic Citadelle, the construction of which
Frontenac had begun at the end of the 17th century. The Quebec Conference of 1943, at which Winston
Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Mackenzie
King discussed strategy for World
War II,
was held at the Château Frontenac while much of the staff stayed nearby at the
Citadel.
Although several of Quebec City's buildings
are taller, the landmark hotel is perched atop a tall cape overlooking the Saint Lawrence River, affording a spectacular view for several
kilometres. The building is the most prominent feature of the Quebec City
skyline as seen from across the St. Lawrence.
In 1944, Château became the action centre of
the Quebec Conferences of World War II. In 1953, this hotel was used as the
filming location for Alfred
Hitchcock's
film,
Confess,
featuring Montgomery
Clift and Anne
Baxter.
In 2001, the hotel was sold to Legacy REIT,
which is partially owned by Fairmont, for $185 million. When Canadian Pacific Hotels was
renamed Fairmont Hotels and Resorts in 2001, the hotel
became Fairmont Le Château
Frontenac.
In 2011, the hotel was sold to Ivanhoé
Cambridge, and work began on
replacement of the main tower's copper roof, at the cost of $7.5 million. An
image of the roof was printed on polypropylene safety netting and hung from
scaffolding to hide the refurbishing project from view.
