Since we are getting in later than anticipated, we complete our normal morning routine without any rush, then wait impatiently for the ship to be cleared. Of course it takes longer than normal and then we have to get an Uber to rush us over to the Citadel, which also takes longer than anticipated. Ugh. When one thing goes wrong. We finally arrive at the Citadel, rushing up through the walkway (our Uber driver didn’t know she could drive us all the way up to the entrance – which we didn’t know either until we arrived there to find another Uber letting passengers off) begging for forgiveness to the ticket counter girl because we are late and missed our 10am tour time. Turned out it wasn’t an issue, she just reissued our tickets for the 10:30 tour, and voila! We were set.
Waiting for the tour, we were lucky enough to be able to have our picture taken with the Batisse Goat and its soldier keeper. The goat is Regiment 22’s official mascot, a descendant of the first goat given to the Regiment in 1884 by Queen Victoria. This particular goat is the 12th Batisse to be born to the “royal” lineage.
Photo opp over, our tour is gathered together and off we go, following Julien, our fabulous guide. Seriously, he is educational and funny, and self-deprecating – keeping us amused for our entire 1 hour+ tour. We start out in front of the parade grounds, getting a brief history of the Citadel: A Bastion style fort that acts like a little city; begun by the French in 1750, completed by the British in 1850, ostensibly to defend against an American attack (that never came…but wait! Maybe they still need to activate this fort today? Just sayin’…..); built on Cap Diamant, the highest natural point in the city; home to Regiment 22 which is the only fully French speaking Regiment in the service today.
The tour encompasses some of the more important – and interesting – buildings inside the Citadel – beginning with a casemate used for lookouts and gun placements. Here we learn about the star shape design of the Citadel, and how the 5 points of the star offer protection with no blind spots anywhere around the fort. No matter where or how attackers try to gain entry to the fort, the attackers are always in the line of fire – from any angle. Moving on the gun powder magazine – one of the 2 oldest buildings in the Citadel, built by the French in 1750 – Julien explains that the walls were built 6 feet thick and the shape is arched or domed to prevent shockwaves or percussions from exploding the gun powder, as well as to contain any explosion should one occur. Inside is a little museum that gives more details on the gun powder magazine and the fort in general with some cool old drawings and an old Regimental drum and swords.
Back outside, we traverse the grounds, passing cannons and the Regimental HQ, with the Beaver on the Regiment 22 crest, along with the words Je Me Souviens – I remember as well as many of the 32 functional buildings here, all named in honor of battles fought. Continuing on to the Disciplinary prison, which was for soldiers only, we also pass through another little museum type area with photos of parades and ceremonial events, as well as a stuffed Batisse! The 4th Batisse, and the last to be shipped from England before the mascots began to be bred here in Quebec.
We complete our circuit of the fort at the viewpoint/cannon station overlooking the city – with incredible views of the Le Chateau Frontenac (one of the most photographed hotels in the world) and sweeping views down the river. You can understand why this location was chosen for a fort.
Leaving the Citadel we pass the guards stationed outside the entrance (sort of missed them in our rush to get to the ticket window for our tour), then make our way back out into the city proper, passing by the St. Louis gate and lovely old buildings, including the Parliament building with the Tourney Fountain in the foreground as we make our way to our chosen lunch spot, Snack Bar Saint-Jean! We didn’t really want anything heavy and decided on hot dogs (cheap and easy), thus, the “snack bar.” Which was perfect. Two dogs – one with bacon and cheese and coleslaw, one with French fries (of course, we’re in Poutine central here!) and coleslaw and some sort of sauce. Easy, fast and just filling enough.
Making our way back uphill, we pass a great bakery with little kitty cat pastries – I so wanted to buy some! But I resisted! – past more incredible buildings, churches and street art to our final destination of the day, the Musee National Des Beaux-Arts, the oldest – founded in 1860 – and the largest art museum in Canada spread across 5 pavilions and a 570,000+ sq.ft., most of which is exhibition space.
Fantastic visit – especially for the Inuit art exhibit on the top floor. If there was nothing else contained in this museum, this exhibit would have been enough for us. A fantastic array of carving and art focused on Inuit traditions of Respect for Animals and the Land – as well as mystical Shamans and protections. We were enthralled. Some of the carving – particularly the walrus skull with the sled dogs on one tusk, a polar bear stalking its prey on the other and the Whale vertebra carved to reflect the interconnection of Arctic wildlife to Inuit culture – were simply beyond belief.
Tearing ourselves away from the Inuit art – trust us we could have stayed there for hours – we continue onto more abstract oddities, such as the design and use of objects room where there were incredibly creative and wild objects – some made with glass – a cool horse sculpture and beautiful vase with flowers; useful objects such as the Spider Boot, an Anti-personnel Mine Foot Protection system made out of thermoplastics; a series of “salads” using nude male bodies as the “lettuce” that reflect the horrors of a mass grave from an artist diagnosed with AIDs.
An outside green roof terrace opened up off the design room, complete with grass, moss, a “rock” stream and great iron sculptures, looking like Lego versions of cacti and pyramids (or maybe the Louvre?) – complete with great skyline views of some of the wonderful architecture around.
Other rooms held terribly odd, but interesting exhibits: a wooden replica Mercedes set atop wooden pegs; my new best friend, the ape I spied out of the corner of my eye, thinking he was a live person sitting on the platform; a bizarre mirror and wood structure called The Quail – with quail eggs inside little compartments (why?); interspersed with more Inuit art (clueless as to why the Shaman whalebone would be here in this area).
The final area we explore are the works of Niki de Saint Phalle, a French-American artist known as one of the few female monumental sculptors, as well as her social commitment and work. The exhibit here is called “unleashed” – art from the last 2 decades of her life. Her pieces are whimsical, yet all have some socially important commentary. She created what she called “Nanas,” huge expressions of the “everyday” woman in fiberglass reinforced polyester (a sad side note – this type of fabrication and painting released dangerous chemicals and gasses, which eventually led to serious respiratory disease which eventually led to her death).
There is so much to see here – representations of the Tarot Garden (a huge garden located in Tuscany with 22 sculptures from the Tarot deck), her signature snake, slithering across the floor (via multi-media of course!), devils, Ganesh, cool chairs with open mirror mouthed snakes, people chairs, the Skinnies series, and her representation of Black jazz musicians – Miles Davis and Louis Armstrong – allegedly made twice as big as real life because they had to perform and work twice as hard as whites to have a place in society. Great exhibition to finish out our visit!
Next, it is the trek back to the Frontenac where we can catch the shuttle to the ship – first enjoying the tourist polar bear statue across from the museum then meandering through the Plains of Abraham, the Battlefields park where the great battles of 1759 and 1960 between the French and British empires took place. Today, it is a lovely walk through manicured gardens, dotted with statues and memorials and stately buildings.
We reach the Frontenac easily, and only have a few minutes wait for our shuttle, which whisks us back to the ship – past the BIG stuffed beaver outside the Monsieur Jean Hotel – if only we would have seen that in person instead of from the bus. Bummer.
Back aboard, we have work to do: we have to pack! Never have we put off packing this long, but with this itinerary, there really was no other time to do it – so out come the bags, and quickly in goes the clothes! Then it is gym and a new dinner strategy – lining up at 5:40 to get our table #4 for our last night. Sigh. Even that ridiculous early line waiting didn’t work! Stupid TSAs! Jumped right up in there, even though we know Vicson had the table set for us. Honestly.
But, still, we spent a lovely last dinner at table #2, saying farewell and see you soon to Joel and Charles and Ryan. A quick hug and snapshot with Vicson – and well – that was that.
Back in the cabin for a bit, we finalized the packing, put the bags out, watched the countryside slide by us as we sailed then ran up on Deck 11 for a fantastic sunset and more great sailing pictures.
After getting our photography fill, we headed to the Living Room to say farewell to Roy – who may be with us on Journey – which would be amazing. While we were there, Bernardo was doing a game show called True or Moo…..really? This is bad. Just really bad. The game itself is dumb, but there are only 6 people up here playing it. Not working. Definitely not for us, and apparently not for anyone else either.
Our night ended, as usual, on the balcony with drinks and a gorgeous moonrise over the St. Lawrence. Tomorrow – our land adventure begins.
Andiamo 