I hope I did not give anyone the wrong impression about Quebec City by specifically recommending that you avoid attacking it by sea. In reality, you should not try to attack that place by land OR by sea. Either way, it can only end in tears. Sure, they have nearly 100 cannons pointing out towards the St. Lawrence, but they also have ample defenses against a frontal assault by ground forces. Trust me on that. I went on the tour and I saw it all. Cannons, walls, towers... you name it. In fact, when the British finished it, it was considered impregnable (as opposed to pregnable) -- that's how good it was. No one ever tried to assault it after that, so I guess they never found out for sure.
If you haven't been to Quebec City, you really should go. It was settled in 1608, and it held great strategic and economic importance for400 years: first for France, then England, then Canada. The old city is still surrounded by an immense defensive wall that is 30 feet high and accessible only through a certain number of elegant gates -- each flanked by numerous firing positions. As an invader, you could hardly expect to breach the gate; however, tourists are quite welcome to pass through. Don't let your deficiencies in French deter you. Although I made efforts to speak French when possible, we hardly encountered a single person who couldn't help us out in English. In most cases, their English was far superior to my French capability (which I found surprising, because I invested some time earlier in the week watching a movie with the French subtitles turned on.)
Within the beautifully-preserved stone walls is a historic old city with buildings that look as good (or better) than they did when they were built 200-400 years ago. Unlike places in France that had to be rebuilt after the destruction of the two world wars, Quebec City has not seen a major battle since early 1800s, so nearly every building dates back to that period or before. It's like a city-sized outdoor museum, perched on the cliffs above the river, complete with crepes and cliche souvenir t-shirts.
Speaking of crepes, our hotel (Chateau Bellevue) didn't have a breakfast included, so we went out this little place that specialized in eggs. Instead of choosing the eggs, I felt like having a crepe with some strawberries and cream. The closest they could come to that was a dessert crepe with strawberries and ice-cream. I went for it, and I didn't regret it one bit.
I hope I did not give anyone the wrong impression about Quebec City by specifically recommending that you avoid attacking it by sea. In reality, you should not try to attack that place by land OR by sea. Either way, it can only end in tears. Sure, they have nearly 100 cannons pointing out towards the St. Lawrence, but they also have ample defenses against a frontal assault by ground forces. Trust me on that. I went on the tour and I saw it all. Cannons, walls, towers... you name it. In fact, when the British finished it, it was considered impregnable (as opposed to pregnable) -- that's how good it was. No one ever tried to assault it after that, so I guess they never found out for sure.
If you haven't been to Quebec City, you really should go. It was settled in 1608, and it held great strategic and economic importance for400 years: first for France, then England, then Canada. The old city is still surrounded by an immense defensive wall that is 30 feet high and accessible only through a certain number of elegant gates -- each flanked by numerous firing positions. As an invader, you could hardly expect to breach the gate; however, tourists are quite welcome to pass through. Don't let your deficiencies in French deter you. Although I made efforts to speak French when possible, we hardly encountered a single person who couldn't help us out in English. In most cases, their English was far superior to my French capability (which I found surprising, because I invested some time earlier in the week watching a movie with the French subtitles turned on.)
Within the beautifully-preserved stone walls is a historic old city with buildings that look as good (or better) than they did when they were built 200-400 years ago. Unlike places in France that had to be rebuilt after the destruction of the two world wars, Quebec City has not seen a major battle since early 1800s, so nearly every building dates back to that period or before. It's like a city-sized outdoor museum, perched on the cliffs above the river, complete with crepes and cliche souvenir t-shirts.
Speaking of crepes, our hotel (Chateau Bellevue) didn't have a breakfast included, so we went out this little place that specialized in eggs. Instead of choosing the eggs, I felt like having a crepe with some strawberries and cream. The closest they could come to that was a dessert crepe with strawberries and ice-cream. I went for it, and I didn't regret it one bit.
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