Quebec City Day 2

Quebec City Day Two
Today we visited old Quebec City again only this time we concentrated on the homes and streets in both the enclosed city (walled) and also the shoreline area which was not the defended part of the city. This started with a walking tour and the tour guide was very good explaining not only the history of the different buildings but also the styles of architecture.
As you know this was originally a French City in 1608 with the coming of Champlain and then it was mostly a fur trading town. Later as furs were depleted and they were a British city (after 1759) the city became a great exporter of lumber. Because the ships carrying lumber to the old world needed ballast when returning they would carry bricks in their holds. These bricks upon arriving in Quebec would be used for building homes.
So originally you have French homes with their metal roofs and stone walls with small planters in the windows. Next you have British brick homes with their small flower beds out on the stoops and you can see how the architecture evolved. The other thing that you see is how the homes were added on to vertically over the years. It was of course cheaper to go up and add more floors to the houses as time went on than to build new homes because originally there was only so much area within the fort walls.
The next thing that is evident is that many of the homes originated shortly after 1759 because the British bombarded the city for two months before the final battle that led to the capture of Quebec.
One final note on the original settlers. Champlain cam with 28 men in 1608 and only about 8 survived the first year. After some time the settlement had about 1000 men and almost no women or families. These were traders as you may recall. To rectify this the French King Louis emptied one of the orphanages of 700 women and sent them with dowries (the promise of land) to the City of Quebec. It seems that all were married within two or three weeks of arriving here.
The area of the city below the cliffs was a wonderful place to explore and sightsee. The shops and restaurants were everywhere and the streets narrow. There was a church for the sailors and the stevedores and this was the center of business activity for the city for many of its early years. We walked around and went to the Farmers Market and bought some blueberries and smelled the bread. Lastly we took the escelar (something like the Angels Flight in Los Angeles ) up to the top of the cliffs and into the walled city. It is easy to see why with those cliffs they did not need to fortify that part of the city.
We have again decided to stay and extra day and visit the Parliament Buildings and the Musee de Art. Ah the life of the unencumbered.
1 Anglican Church
2 Typical French home
3 Brick home
4 City Hall
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