July 13 Quebec

Walked to The Plains of Abraham at 11:00AM. It is only one block from our hotel. Took the wrong route. Went almost all the way up. The walkways are under construction, and we were only allowed to walk part of the way. We will try again later on.

Rita was overdressed so we came back to the hotel. Here is a picture of our stairs.

Arrived at the Lauzes at 12:15. Rachel had arrived an hour earlier. She was jetlagged.

Had a GREAT lunch, quiche, cheese omelet, all kinds of cold cuts, cheeses, pastries. The Lauzes know how to live on holidays.

Left their place around 4PM. We had decided to take the Funicular to the bottom of the hill, and then take the short ferry ride across the St Lawrence in lieu of a cruise, as someone had suggested to Tina and Dean.  Went to  Notre Dame again, the Lauzes hadn't seen it before. Rita asked an attendant where the holy door was. It was at the side of the cathedral. Another attendant was there to explain how the door worked. He had a very heavy French accent. His English vocabulary was neither extensive nor easily accessible to him. Didn't matter, religious stuff is Greek to me anyways. We would have been better off, if they would have given us an IKEA instruction type book on how to use the door.

So we walked through it. It is supposed to be a one way door, You should enter the Cathedral through the door, but you should never leave through it. Tina, Rachel and Hanna were walking in, then out, then in again. Tina wants to go back tomorrow to do it properly. As far as I'm concerned, it's not a biggie. Nothing a sprinkle of pixie dust can't remedy.

So Rita received her Indulgence. The beauty of it was, that it was free!

Raya and Eija are sinners, whereas (at present) Rita is not. Wouldn't worry about it, by later this afternoon Rita will have caught up, and by this evening she will have reclaimed her position as "Leader of the Pack".

Hanna had discovered a market yesterday, and she was anxious to show the ladies her discovery. The Lauzes all disappeared down a long flight of stairs Rita and I waited up top. Joshua and Dean reappeared after a few minutes and said we would meet them at the bottom of the Funicular. Walked around for a while on the boardwalk.

Then we went down the Funicular ($2.20). On the way down Rita was holding on, to anything she could, for dear life. A lady standing beside her asked, with a French Canadian accent, whether she was scared. Rita replied "No, I'm Canadian".

I was proud of Rita. Being in a very stressful and dangerous situation, going down the Funicular, she had the presence of mind, not to let on, that her Finnish passport has expired and therefore she is an "Illegal Finn" in Canada. Just in case the lady was an undercover RCMP officer chasing down "Illegal Finns" going up and down the Funicular. Raya and Ken should learn from this experience. Or, have they renewed their passports and, are here legally?

We met up at a restaurant on the bottom.

It was getting late and they decided to go to the concert, and take the ferry tomorrow. So we parted ways, and continued with our plans.

Took the ferry ($3.20) to the other side of the river, looked around, and returned with the same ferry. There is not much to see, on the other side of the river.

Walked around.

Took the Funicular back up to the Chateau. On the way back to the hotel, we found a grocery store. Bought a bottle of wine, and a sandwich for Rita. I was still full from the humongous late lunch we had.