The Grand Canadian/
American Adventure
Day 13 Montmorency Falls
and Cirque De Soile
Day 13; we were supposed to meet the Barnards at 10:30 at
the Montmorency Falls, but thanks to our ever reliable GPS (I know, electronics
are only as good as the dummies that program them)we ended up not on the
outskirts of Quebec but in the city centre. Oh how I hate that machine, it’s
bad enough getting told where to go by one woman, but worse with two, especially
when they can’t agree. (I’m gonna pay for that last comment) any way we finally
made it out to the falls. The falls are at the mouth of the Montmorency River where
it meets the St Lawrence and are 30 metres higher than the Niagara Falls and
quite spectacular; you also get great view back towards Quebec from the
suspension bridge that spans the falls.
Leaving the falls we split up; as Chelle, Laureen and
Laureens parents and brother all wanted to go off and visit a nearby Basillica.
Mick and I took the four kids to the Quebec aquarium rightly guessing they
wouldn’t want to be dragged around another old building. Again the Aquarium was
another interesting place as, as would be expected this one focuses on fish and
wildlife of the North Atlantic. So we got to see some creatures you wouldn’t
normally see in the Pacific Ocean also fish we had recently been served on a
plate, have I mentioned how good the seafood is in the Maritimes? The aquarium is
also home to three very large walruses, which Tasha enjoyed seeing and promptly
declared she wants one as a pet. Looks like we are may have purchase Springwood
Aquatic centre. There is also a Polar Bear in residence, but he looked a bit of
a sorry figure, just pacing back and forth in his den.
From the Aquarium we headed back into the city to the
Barnards hotel, so the kids could jump in the pool until we met up with the
others. Chelle and the others came back from their trip having enjoyed the
church. If there is one thing Quebec does not lack it’s spectacular churches. Getting
ourselves sorted out we then headed back out for dinner and down to one of the
Freeway overpasses near the harbour for the highlight of the day, a free
performance by Cirque de Soile. We were told not to miss this from some other
Aussies that had preceded us through Quebec. Apparently it is a show put on by
the Cirque De Soile understudies during the Quebec festival and it is performed
in something akin to a work site using shipping containers and scaffolding as
the back drop. There are no seats and as you would expect it’s first in best
dressed, the best part being is that you are no more than 10-15 metres from the
stage and prior to the performance beginning the cast roam through the crowd
and interact with the audience, so you get really involved. Having only seen Cirque
De Soile on tv before, to be this close was stunning. The show only goes for an
hour but it was certainly a lot of fun. All the kids loved it especially the
acrobats on the trampolines. If we had stayed in Quebec another night I would
have gone back and seen it. By the end of the show it was 11 Pm so we bade
farewell to the Barnards, as they were continuing their journey East as we
headed back West and made our way back to the hotel.
