| We left the Portneuf Marina about 10:30 in the morning. It was another beautiful day with the river reasonably calm and light winds. We would prefer to have a bit of wind to help our sails but that is not to be and we are content with fine weather to motor in. Destination: Quebec City! |
 We arrived around 3:30pm and it was exciting to see the skyline which is dominated by the Chateau Frontenac Hotel, which is a huge structure on one of the city’s highest points and looks very much like a huge castle. Blog readers, if you have never been to Quebec City (“Quebec”) then is has to be an absolute must on your bucket list. Quebec celebrated its 400th anniversary last year. It is truly one of the most interesting cities on the continent. |
 Quebec has several marinas for pleasure craft but we elect to splurge a bit and stay in the City’s marina which is just on the edge of downtown and only a 15 minute walk from the oldest parts of the city. The St. Lawrence River in Quebec is influenced by Atlantic Ocean tides. Without extensive dredging the marina basin would dry out at low tide. Many years ago when this basin was important for commercial traffic the City solved this problem by installing a single lock at the entrance. This lock assures that the water level in the basin is constant. Many pleasure craft go through this lock each day so the staff operating it have the procedures down to a tee. |
 After passing through the lock we are assigned a slip and we tie up for the night. Time to go exploring! Just as we are getting ready to leave the boat it begins to rain. |
 We break out the umbrellas determined to see some sights—regardless of the weather. As it turned out the rain was light and intermittent so it did not bother us that much. We also discovered to our pleasure that the rain on the streets gave the lighting in the old city a wonderful aesthetic appearance. |
 The oldest part of the city is very well preserved and walking through it is like being in an old European city. We spent an hour wandering through the city admiring the sites and then stopped in a great restaurant for coffee and decadent desserts. |
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 On our way back to the marina we came across an incredible “show” being projected on the massive grain elevators in the commercial port. This show was absolutely unbelievable! A series of videos and special effects were designed to be projected on the concrete elevator walls and to incorporate the design of each structure in to the theme and story being told. The storyline was basically a video history of the province of Quebec and life for its citizens. Hundreds of people were gathered on the shore to watch the spectacle. We arrived in about the middle of the show and watched until it ended—almost an hour later. In the morning we learned that this is the only production of its kind in the world. Wow! Our timing could not have been better. |
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