Anniversary in Quebec City

For our anniversary—44 years and counting—Mark and I got away to Quebec City, our first trip to that part of Canada. We decided to play tourists, staying at Le Chateau Frontenac and taking the hotel’s excellent tour of Vieux Quebec. I loved hearing about the Acadians who came from France as settlers to its colony of Acadia, now the general area of Quebec City and Montreal, and were later expelled by the British government during the French and Indian War for their refusal to sign an oath to the king. True to its proud French heritage, Quebec City and Montreal are predomoninantly French-speaking. I’ve been so curious about my mom’s Japanese background and haven’t paid due attention to my dad’s Acadian French heritage. It was so interesting to me to learn some of this history and to better understand the link between the Acadians of Canada and my dad’s Cajun family. Mark and I loved hearing the French language everywhere we roamed, along with a good number of other languages, and walking for miles around the very walkable city. It was as beautiful as Bonnie has described, and its Catholic foundation—we visited the Ursuline Museum and Notre Dame Cathedral with its Holy Door—made it even more fascinating to me. For Mark, one of the best parts was visiting the seat of Parliament and talking to the librarians about their fear of another Trump presidency. We both loved that long walk going beyond the city walls, stopping in old bookshops (St. Matthew’s Church turned library was very special) and Le Sacrilege pub, and then to the Plains of Abraham and the Citadelle. Walking along the ramparts towards the best views of the Frontenac and St. Lawrence River was breathtaking.