Our Adventure Caravan Gaspe & Canadian Atlantic Maritime Province 56 day trip is officially under way. We arrived 2 days early so that we could begin our preparations for the trip. We have 16 rigs on this trip which is considered a small group.
We started in Hermon, Maine, at the Pumpkin Patch RV Park. The park staff was very accommodating and we could not have asked for nicer people. The park itself was beautifully surrounded by woods, which made for a great lightening bug show at night. We started our trip off with orientation and staff prepared lasagna dinner. We have an interesting group, with quite a few into engineering and aviation.
We enjoyed our first weekend with beautiful weather, but as we drove to Ste-Foy, Quebec, Canada, the weather turned to rain, but that’s okay as long as it’s raining just while we are driving.
As we approached the Canadian border, we saw one of our guests detained for inspection of their motor home. As we were resigned to pulling over to wait for them, we were informed by the border patrol that we needed to pull over for an inspection. I think maybe the question, do you own any firearms did us in even though we did not have any with us. As we waited outside our RV, I had visions of going back in and finding the whole inside in disarray. It’s a very weird feeling to go through inspection. As they open every nook and cranny, you feel like you’ve been violated. But when they emerged out of our RV, with a smile on their face, they said we were free to go and one of them commented he inspected our vehicle with envy. He commended on how much room we have inside, yes they made us open up the slides! I do have to say that they were very nice and left everything exactly as it was.
Our first day of touring Quebec was a motor coach ride through new and old Quebec City. We came across a building that was being renovated in a very unique way. While they renovated the outside, a drape was put into place to cover up the workers and make it looked like the building was intact.
Even the horse watering holes were unique.
I found it very interesting that a canon ball would be embedded at the base of a tree.
We stopped along the river near the fort and then headed into old Quebec
for a historical tour of Chateau Frontanac, followed by lunch on our own in the city.
The hotel was built by Emily Post’s father. It was in this hotel that she wrote her book of etiquette. You can see the hotel off in the distance.
We were split up into three groups, one led by the chamber maid, one led by a bellhop, and I’m not sure who she was, but she was in a beautiful long dress, carrying an umbrella and walked in singing. We went with the chamber maid who shared a lot of old stories about the hotel and secrets. 
I found it very interesting that it was in that hotel where strategy was planned for “D-Day.” It seems that one of the employees who cleaned up after the meeting found a pad of notes regarding their strategy. When the officer came back to the room to get his notes that he forgot, he discovered that there were already found and the employee was asked to keep them a secret until it happened. Believe it or not, he did keep that secret and only talked about it after D-Day.
There were many old photographs of famous people who visited the hotel over the years. I found the photo of Princess Grace dancing with “Tom Cruise” fascinating.
BUT WAIT, Tom Cruise and Princess Grace. Impossible! It turned out that it was not Tom Cruise at all, but a royal dignitary from the middle of the 20th century, probably before Tom was born!
At the end of the tour, we walked down the “magical steps.” They are said to be magical because if you make a wish and don’t reveal the wish, it will come true and only then can you tell of your wish. Years ago a couple was married in the hotel and they each made their own wish. In 1993, they returned to the hotel for their 60th wedding anniversary and revealed their wish. Their wish was that they would live happily together for the rest of their lives and one day they would return to the hotel.
What a beautiful city Old Quebec is. As we wondered around, we found a Muriel showing all the prominent people of Quebec.
Our last day in Quebec, we started out at the Montmorency Falls.
Wow, what a hike! Just walking up the stairs, which weren’t much, to the bridge let me know just how out of shape I was. Luckily, after viewing the falls from the top, we walked the 430 steps, but at least that was down. Up would have been a challenge.
In the gift shop, there were photos of the falls in the winter. People actually use metal poles to walk up the falls.
I can’t even imagine being up here in the winter. Near the main waterfall is a smaller “bridal veil” fall.
Next to the Isle of Orleans for lunch. What unique houses they have. Many of the houses were built in the 1700s and are not allowed to be changed. They also have a building moratorium on building, so the older homes are bought and renovated as much as they are allowed. The minimum cost for a very small house on the Isle is $250,000. For waterfront, add another $100,000. Here’s a cute little Gingerbread type house.
We stopped at the Chocolate factory for lunch, No, we didn’t eat chocolate for lunch. There was a deli, but we did get some soft ice cream dipped in chocolate for dessert. Oh my gosh! It was the best! The chocolate dip was so thick, not like in the U.S.
We toured Albert Giles Copper Works. The creator died 30 years ago and the art is still carried on by his wife and children. One of his daughters gave us a tour and explained the process to us. What beautiful things they had on display and for sale. Can you guess what the yellow background is made of in the picture of the monkey?
Believe it or not, it’s eggshells!
As we drove around Cot-de-Beaupre we came across a few vaulted cellars, which are rare because it required hiring a specialized stone worker. In order for the structure to last, the stones had to be shaped and fitted to form keystone arches. The walls are very thick, the front wall usually being almost three feet thick. The vault was usually covered with soil and sometimes had a second roof.
We made a quick stop at the sugar shop-Chateau Beaupre for a taste of honey butter on fresh bread. The bread is made in the same brick ovens from the 1600s and 1700s. There were also a lot of root cellars and houses from that era.
Our last stop for the day was the Sainte-Anne Beaupre Basillica. My Patron Saint.
What a beautiful church.
Downstairs we found a room of candles. There were so many lit that you immediately felt the heat as you walked into the room. It felt like a huge fireplace burning.
Before I left, I bought myself a medal and had it blessed. I think the priest was more interested in learning about our group than blessing my medal. LOL
We finished off our day with the movie “Anne of Green Gables” and popcorn. The movie didn’t end until 11 p.m. It must have been good because most people stayed for the ending.
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