I was down in the Eastern Townships this past week, that should be my last trip of the year. It was a wet overcast week.
A Week in the Eastern Townships
I was down in Frelighsburg, Quebec this past week for work installing a new monitoring site. Not much of an opportunity to try out my new lens, but did get a few bird shots. Not sure what this one is, my birding app couldn’t tell me.
A Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis).
Some fungi off the roadway.
There were a lot of Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolour) living in boxes on the power poles.
On the drive back to Toronto, we stopped at the Mallorytown OnRoute service centre and came across this sign in the parking lot. Not sure what the attraction was for the bees, but the sign was covered and they were flying around it. Good thing I had my telephoto lens, didn’t have to get that close.
Northern Quebec
Work had me up in Chapais, Quebec for the week. It is a flight to Montreal (YUL), a connection to Val D’or (YVO) and then a 4.5 hour drive north-east.
All of the snow was gone, except for the odd patches in the forests, but there was still ice on the lakes.
In Val D’or there was an Esso gas station with a sushi restaurant.
Not often you see that combination, maybe a Tim Horton’s or an On The Run, but rarely do you think I’m going for some gas and sushi.
The sunrise at the Val d’or Airport on Friday morning.
Eastern Townships
I was down in the Eastern Townships for work, I flew into Montreal on the Wednesday and met with contractors on the Thursday before flying back. It was a quick trip, the first day it rained while we were working in the field, but Thursday turned out to be a nice morning. The fall colours are in full bloom.
Our site was located on an Agriculture Canada Farm, however after recent cuts, they closed the facility and were trying to sell it off. EC was able to get a portion of the property severed off, however it means we have to re-locate out site to the new piece of property.
Mont Sutton or Roundtop Mountain.
Day 2: Quebec By Foot
Today we were touring old Quebec by foot. We parked the car and took the ferry from Lévis to Quebec. It is a 10 minute ferry ride. Claudia holding our tickets.
The girls up top.
Approaching Quebec City.
Chateau Frontenac.
Walking around the lower town.
Fresque des Québécois on Côte de la Montagne. This mural recounts the story of Québec City, weaving in visual allusions to its unique architecture and fortifications, and its larger-than-life personalities.
We missed the New France Festival by a couple of days, they were removing all of these little stalls that were used the week.
Angela as a mate lot (sailor).
Claudia as a garçon.
Gillian as a L’habitant.
Looking up towards Chateau Frontenac.
We were over there by 9:30 and the crowds were still pretty good.
Angela standing next to a wall that was cut away. While we were standing there, a tour group went through and the guide said it was called a “Chicken ass” because the wall was cut away for the big wheels of buggies long ago. I couldn’t find any reference to it on the internet, maybe something was lost in translation.
A fur store.
The Breakneck Stairs, except for the lone guy sitting there it was empty.
Gillian, Susan and Claudia riding up the Funiculaire. Some form of the funiculaire has been in operation for 133 years.
Angela and I walked up the Breakneck Stairs and then up a road, followed by more stairs. I was taking pictures of Angela as we walked up the stairs.
Almost at the top.
Gillian and Claudia with the Bonhomme.
Looking north.
Angela and Claudia running up a hill.
The Saint Louis Gate into the old city.
The Wolfe Monument in the Plains of Abraham battlefield.
The monument marks the spot where Wolfe died.
Near the Musée National Des Beaux-Arts du Québec.
Angela and Claudia decided they were going to roll down the hill.
The most relaxing view on the Plains of Abraham. We took a nice break from walking under the shade of a tree.
The walls of the Citadel.
There were gaps in the wall that we had to leap over.
Looking back through the Saint Louis Gate.
They were doing some work on the roof of the Chateau Frontenac, the mesh they had up had a picture of the building.
A statue of Samuel de Champlain.
When we headed back down to the Lower Town, the crowds had increased from this morning.
The Place Royale
The Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church, the oldest stone church in North America (1688).
After a long day of exploring Old Quebec, it was back on the ferry to Lévis. Tomorrow we are back on the road to Fredericton, a shorter drive, but we lose an hour when we cross timezones.
Day 1: On the road
After an early start to the day we arrived in Lévis, QC this afternoon. The weather was good and we managed to avoid construction until we were about an hour outside of Quebec City.
We made three stops en route, here are the girls after lunch at one of the Quebec rest stops along Highway 20.
Day One complete, 823 km, 9 hours with stops and road construction. Tomorrow we explore the old city.
Back on the Road
I was back on the road this week, down in Frelighsburg, Quebec.
Our site is located at an Agriculture Canada Research Sub-station located about 5km from the Vermont border.
The monitoring site. Environment Canada has been in the news a lot these days with the looming program and job cuts, it’s always better to fly under the radar.
One of the many butterflies around the site.
I’ll be back down there in a couple of weeks to finish an installation with some American colleagues who are doing a co-located study.
