Day 3 Rivière du Loupe to Quebec City

Monday 6th June (Eastern Time)

We had a lovely day today despite the weather. The storm predicted for last night - high winds and heavy rain - didn't seem to be as bad as expected and we woke up to mist and drizzle but only a gentle breeze. This was just as well as we had an hour and a half ferry ride across the St. Lawrence River!

On the internet it said to arrive 2 hours before sailing but luckily we were staying a couple of minutes away and were told we only needed to be there 30 minutes before - just as well as we sailed at 8!

Neither of us have been on a ferry for ages so it was great fun and the time went quickly. We were rewarded at the other end (St Simion) by a lovely (if damp) walk across a beach to get our first geocache of the day.

I love Quebec - it's just so French! as in France French! It's just not like being in Canada. The houses have a different style, the shops sell different things and the drivers drive like maniacs! Just like France! They speak French funny though - weird accent and unusual words. And Quebec City feels just like being in Europe. 

We weren't expecting many big things today - and indeed the Smurf houses were no longer there (disappointingly!) however on a whim we pulled into Canyon Sainte Anne and had a pleasant surprise! http://www.canyonsa.qc.ca/en

We are staying in a small room above an old epicerie in Quebec City. It's beautiful! The store is the oldest grocery store in North America and sells some wonderful looking food. We shall be getting things for a picnic in the morning.

Interesting directions on our car GPS this morning!

Our ferry awaits.

The view as we arrive in Sainte Simion

Gary finds our first geocache of the day.

And a brisk 1km walk across a beach to get us energised!

We took the River route along the St Lawrence. Unfortunately drizzle and mist stopped us appreciating some of the scenery.

We stopped at Baie Sainte Paul to find some caches and to look around. Circe de Soleil started here apparently! We found some unexpected 'big things'!
This was a big sun dial, unfortunately is was raining so we couldn't tell the time.

We find this giant thanks to a geocache called 'Le Suppository'!!!!!!
He was a very big, anatomically correct metal man (hahaha, it was difficult to take the photo!) - we couldn't find the cache either!

We stopped in Joe's to try a smoked meat sandwich. 
It appears Justin Trudeau had been there before us!

It was very meaty - in fact too much meat for me. I sort of liked it but I don't think I will be rushing to have another one.

We were looking forward to visiting this place. Not only a large cow but also a geocache AND an artisan cheese shop!!!! What more could anyone want?

Lots of newly made cheeses. We bought some for a picnic tomorrow.

And then we discovered the Canyon St Anne which had hundreds 
of Big Things - but no geocaches.
This one is a giant partridge!

A moose.

A woodpecker

A bear - maybe it's life sized?

And the canyon was amazing. 
There has been a lot of rain and the water was thundering down.

At this point we were getting wet as the wind blew the spray over us. Then the sun came out.... there were so many rainbows, one seemed to be making a complete circle around my legs. it was awesome in the true sense of the word!

To add to the fun there were 3 scary suspension bridges. I didn't do this one, it was metal and wobbling all over the place. Terrifying!

but I did walk over that one up there - clinging onto Gary as it bounced all over the place! 

Quebec City appears in the distance.

Where we stayed in Quebec City. Our room was the window in the roof on the left. A beautiful place to stay. The grocery store was underneath.

Time to geocache before dinner - spot the cannonball embedded in the tree!

Chateau Fronenac - now a Fairmount Hotel!

One of the gates in the city walls 
- there's a geocache up there but we couldn't find it!