Wednesday, 24 August 2011

FIRST DAY IN QUEBEC

Tuesday, August 24
We had contacted Mario and Amanda Derocher (formerly Amanda Bennett) as we were leaving Ontario and although they had company they really wanted to get together (and so did we) so we arranged to meet at a honey farm to take a tour and have a picnic together.  One problem, when we went to leave we could not get main slide-out to retract.  How do you drive your vehicle down the highway with an extra three feet protruding out the side?  We were stuck. :(  After spending an hour and a half checking all fuses and crawling around under the motor home we could not get it to budge.  Finally Kent asked me if we should do the Alex Howden fix - I was doubtful but he took out the hammer and gave the slide motor a tap and what do you know - it worked! :)  Moral of the story is: do not travel without a hammer in your repair kit.  We had contacted Mario and Amanada and told them we would meet up with them later after we got things working but they wanted to help so they proceeded down to the campground with plans to picnic there with us and help get us back on the road.  Thankfully we got things working before they arrived so we drove a couple kilometers down the road and had our picnic outside the cheese store and factory that is at the original location of the monastary where the famous Oka cheese comes from.  The Abbaye Cistercienne was founded by a group of monks who moved to Canada from France in 1881.  We bought some of the Oka cheese which is made using the same recipe developed by the monks years ago and it is a very good semi-soft cheese which is also very stinky. 

Mario, Amanda, Justin, Annika, Johnathan, and there youngest daughter (didn't catch her name will ask Dana and fill it in) Derocher and Dave and Carmen Gieb with their three children. 

With our delays this morning we decided to head straight to Chute Montmorency instead of stopping in Quebec City for something to eat.  We made it to the falls around 7:00 and were able to take the tram car up to the top of the falls.   Kent went back down via the tram but the girls and I walked over the bridge and decended the 487 steps down to the base of the falls.  The falls plunge 272ft from the Montmorency river into the St. Lawrence, they are 100ft taller than Niagra Falls.  There is a beautiful building at the top of the falls with a restaurant inside but the last tram ride down was 7:20 and Kent would miss his ride back down so we didn't eat here but Kent found out from the tram operator that the food was not that great so we feel like we didn't miss much.  The sun was setting as we walked so by the time we got back down the light show was on.  They light the falls at night and it was extremely beautiful.  We were able to stay the night in the parking lot, so we did, even though there was lots of road noise.
 Montmorency Falls

 On the tram going up.

 Anita I think we found the tree?!

 On the bridge over the falls.

The falls at night with the lights on.

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