Quebec City

Hi Kids,
It's me -- Tiger!  Lily is letting me send you a post to tell you about the trip I took this summer.  I went to Quebec City in the province of Quebec in Canada.  A Canadian province is kind of like one of our states.
Quebec is an unusual province because it is very French while most of Canada is more English.  Even the people here speak French although most of them can also speak English.  In the picture above you can see part of the old city walls behind me.  In olden times, the city was built inside and protected by huge stone walls.  Today that historic part of the city is full and the town has spilled out beyond the walls.

The town is very old and very beautiful.  It gets really cold in the winter but summers are lovely and people enjoy being outside.

This is me with the concierge at the hotel.  He is helping me mail the post card I sent to you!  Have you ever seen such a fancy mailbox?  (Is concierge a new word to you?  Pronounce it con-see-airzh.  It means someone who helps hotel guests with questions about where to go, what to see and where to mail a post card!)

This is me with Steeve Gaudreault.  He was our guide on a tour of the town.  He knows a lot about history and is dressed up as Louis Hebert, the first permanent settler in Quebec.  Quebec City was founded in 1608.  Louis Hebert (pronounced Loo-ee Ay-bear) came to the area in 1617 and settled with his family.  Don't ask me to pronounce Steeve's last name!

A good way to see the city is by horse and carriage.  There are many beautiful old buildings in the town -- particularly in the historic areas.

One of the most famous Quebecois (Kuh-bec-waz) is Louis Joliet.  He was a French-Canadian explorer who explored and mapped much of the Mississippi River.  This is an actor dressed up as Joliet.  He shared a lot more history with us as we sailed down the St. Lawrence River.  This is a very large river -- 744 miles long -- which connects the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.  

The streets in old Quebec are very narrow.  Old Quebec consists of two parts -- the oldest part is Lower Quebec, right on the river bank.  Now the area is full of interesting shops and restaurants -- and this lovely little park.

The larger part of Old Quebec is the upper part -- atop the cliffs.  It's a steep climb, so most people take the funicular -- a sort of elevator on tracks.  

Miss Elaine and I were invited to Quebec to see the International Military Band Festival.  We love music.  And we loved this man.  His name is Boris Dykov and he and two other singers came from Russia to sing in some parts of the concerts.  He had a booming baritone voice.  Men's voices are divided into three types.  Men with high-pitched voices are tenors.  Men who can sing very low notes are called basses.  And the baritones sing in the middle.

The final concert was very exciting.  Each band performed individually but on the last pieces, they played altogether.  There were over 700 musicians.  I wish you could have heard it.  It was so wonderful I got goosebumps under my fur!

I hope you enjoyed hearing about my trip.  Maybe Lily will let me write you again sometime.
Love,
Tiger