8/10/11 – Got a pretty good start this morning – we’d hoped to make the changing of the guard at the Citadel at 10 am, but didn’t get to the parking lot to catch the bus until 9:30, and then found out the first bus arrives at 10:15 on weekends, and not at all during the week. So, we decided to take just some walks around the old city – more extensive than yesterday. I had downloaded maps and descriptions to my phone, but this became tiring,  so we just wandered, mostly following the planned route. A cruise ship was in town, so more throngs of visitors today, lending a festive atmosphere. Rue Saint-Jean in particular was closed to vehicles, replete with cafes, pubs, restaurants, and unique stores along its length – and people everywhere. That and most streets in town are very steeply inclined, with the Citadel on the top. This fortification still is used today by the military, and forms one section of the wall that still encircles the old town. You can walk sections of the wall and the interior embankments form luscious parklands. Major streets still pass through heavy stone portals in the wall, to the lower town and the Parliamentary sector on the west side. We eventually stopped for lunch at l’Omelette on Rue Ste. Ursule, very good!

 Then on up to the Citadel for a guided tour.

Our tickets were valid for returning the following morning for the changing of the guards too. During the tour a thunderstorm was brewing, so we passed through the Porte Saint Jean into the Parliamentary sector looking for a place to eat that evening, and resting on a bench near a covered pavilion where we could shelter if the lightning and thunder bore fruit.

Only the occasional drop, though, and still to early for dinner, so after awhile we headed back into the old town to explore more, and wended our way back to the corner of Sainte-Anne and Rue du Fort, to the Musée du Fort. On the hour, this little theater has an entertaining film and light show on the complete early history of Quebec, utilizing an elaborate model of the ancient fortified city and surroundings. While in the show, the storm came through, and as it was still raining some after, we had dinner in the small establishment below – not gourmet, but decent. I had a gluten-free lobster ‘burger’ – not quite in the top rank of lobster rolls so far, but pretty good. Nancy had an ok chicken breast roll, and we had a big tasty salad with chunks of chicken breast we took home for later. Afterwards, I wanted to check out the Marche du Vieux Port down at the harbor in lower town, but as we headed down, we noticed rows of onlookers waiting on the borders of several streets descending towards the port. We asked 'what for', and they were all waiting for a procession of the costumed folk. We waited, and along they came, drummers and all. Pretty neat!

 After, we continued to the market, but as it was by now after 6 on Sunday, they were closed (Joan, this is the place you mentioned). However, we were now on the bus route back to the rig, so we headed home for the evening.

8/11/14 – We rose early and pulled stakes to find a parking spot near the Citadel to make the changing of the guard ceremony. Via satellite imagery, I thought I found a few possibilities where I could fit the rig, for free, a short walk away. This was not the case in reality. Not only was everything fee parking, but all the lots forbade RV’s, even if there was room. Time and gas burning as I circled the streets frantically, I finally found a streetside pay spot at the end of a row I could just legally squeeze into. We still had plenty of time and only a short walk to make the ceremony!

Afterwards, we had just enough time left to make tracks all the way down to the harbor to the farmer’s market we missed yesterday, and they did have lots of nice, fresh, veggies, fruits, specialty meats and cheeses, etc.

We rushed through our shopping, and high-tailed it back up the hill and to the rig, getting back with about ½ hour to spare on our parking meter. It had become fairly warm and very humid, so we were pretty exhausted at this point. We drove the rig back the way we had driven in, to a mall near the Laval University where we could park while we searched for a campus Botanical Garden Nancy wanted to visit. After a quick bite in the mall, we set out for what we thought was the gardens on campus, but after walking almost 1 km in the noon heat, no shade, we ended up instead at a community garden of vegetables. We asked a couple old ladies sitting in the shade of a tree there, and we couldn’t quite understand the answer, other than it was too far to walk. So, we trudged back to the rig, looked up the address, drove thru the parking lot – and spotted the gardens directly across the street!! I re-parked and we walked over, but after strolling a few aisles of pretty flowers and bushes,…

…we decided at this point we were way too wiped to enjoy anything more. We returned to the rig and drove back to the KOA for drinks, air conditioning, and a dinner of fresh corn, salad, crackers and cheese.