Ile de Orleans
ILE DE ORLEANS
Day 5 of 9
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Sunny and 87 degrees
****I have been journalling almost all of my travels since graduating college in 2003. In 2019, I decided to make them digital! I'm happy to share our adventures with you, but keep in mind they are actually for me and my family!****
Our last morning in Quebec City before launching towards Montmorency falls. With an 11am checkout and an easy 3-hour drive to Montreal, we had several hours to explore the falls and Ile de Orleans. I enjoyed coffee on the balcony with my mom just talking about her dad, my grandfather, who passed away when I was three. We actually did an unexpected detour on the way home to see his grave, her elementary school and her home in Brunswick, Ohio.
Conversation between Dylan and I.
D: "How long does it take to get to Montreal? "
Me:"2 hours"
D: "Good, then we don't need to stop for Grandma to pee." 
Montmorency falls
The falls are located about 12 km (7.5 mi) from the heart of old Quebec City. The area surrounding the falls is protected within the Montmorency Falls Park (French: Parc de la Chute-Montmorency). The falls are at the mouth of the Montmorency River where it drops over the cliff shore into the Saint Lawrence River, opposite the western end of the ÃŽle d'Orleans. The waterfalls are 83 m (272') tall, a full 30 m (99') higher than Niagara Falls. In fact, you can see Quebec from the top lookout that Paris and I climbed to. There is a $12.50 fee to park as admission to the parking lot. You can zipline, ride the cable cars and visit the restaurant at the top of the cliff. VIDEO OF THE FALLS
We chose to walk along the path to see the falls instead of up via cable car. Paris went back to the car for binoculars while we walked to the playground and towards the falls. It's a bit hot and sunny today, a great day to walk. I walked up to the stairs with Paris - phew! The climb reminds me of Jacob's ladder at my 3MF gym. Mom and Dylan took the adventurous side and walked up to the falls on the wet path and were drenched! Their hair, shorts, and pants were dripping wet like they were caught in a downpour.
Île d'Orléans
The island is accessible from the mainland via the Île d'Orléans bridge. It is rich in agriculture like berries, apples, vineyards, and chocolate. There is one way onto the island, and one way off - the bridge. We were lucky enough to miss some of the traffic we saw! 
The island is located in the Saint Lawrence River about 5 kilometers (3.1 mi) east of downtown Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. The island was one of the first parts of the province to be colonized by the French, and a large percentage of French Canadians can trace ancestry to early residents of the island. The island has been described as the "microcosm of traditional Quebec and as the birthplace of francophones in North America. The island has maintained its pastoral image and historic character, with more than 600 buildings classified or recognized as a heritage property. In 1990, the entire island was designated a National Historic Site of Canada.
At the village of Sainte-Pétronille toward the western end of the island, a viewpoint overlooks the impressive Chute Montmorency(Montmorency Falls), as well as a panorama of the St. Lawrence River and Quebec City.
Vignoble saints - Petronille
A beautiful winery overlooking the Montmorency falls in the distance. See the little white area in the distance over the top of the umbrella? That's the Falls!
The winery had 5 tastings for $3 CA dollars. A nice mix of whites and reds and a specialty dessert wine with syrup to pour into a bottle of white wine to sweeten it up. That's not it, the Insul is a wine that has bourbon mixed into it after the aging process. It has a nice kick with 11% alcohol content.
We dined outside under an unstable umbrella for the wonderful view! The restaurant served Lobster rolls and our first poutine experience. I must say that it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. You know I love some good french fries but I could go without the gravy. Mom had a tomato salad with 7 tomatoes on it- and said she was stuffed. This ended up being a funny running joke about "why are you hungry? You ate seven tomatoes!" We also opened a bottle of our newly purchased wine.
The winery had 5 tastings for $3 CA dollars. A nice mix of whites and reds and a specialty dessert wine with syrup to pour into a bottle of white wine to sweeten it up. That's not it, the Insul is a wine that has bourbon mixed into it after the aging process. It has a nice kick with 11% alcohol content.
We dined outside under an unstable umbrella for the wonderful view! The restaurant served Lobster rolls and our first poutine experience. I must say that it wasn't bad, but it wasn't great either. You know I love some good french fries but I could go without the gravy. Mom had a tomato salad with 7 tomatoes on it- and said she was stuffed. This ended up being a funny running joke about "why are you hungry? You ate seven tomatoes!" We also opened a bottle of our newly purchased wine.
Chocolatier
Ice cream for Paris and sorbet for Dylan, chocolates for Mom. A delicious variety was displayed in glass cases. We found flavors like salted caramel, lemon-lime, raspberry, mint, maple butter, and all varieties have dark, milk and white chocolate.
On our way back, we drove past a Farm Market for the cheapest maple syrup we've found yet. 1 L for $17.00 of pure maple syrup is a good deal! We weren't impressed with their picked over, super expensive berries but the syrup was a must!
We arrived after a 5-hour drive at dusk to our VRBO property. Can I just say that Paris and I nailed it with the maps?! We failed to get our mobile data with Verizon thinking that we would be just fine without it. Um....get it next time if you are driving all over the French Canadian border towns and need to navigate. We did amazing with the paper maps though. Seriously stressful sometimes because they are all French, but rocked it!
Our VRBO was a flop! Drug addicts outside in the parks, no A/C so the windows were open and we had to push them to shut from the outside! The property was NOTHING like the photos listed. We couldn't read the French parking signs and it all looked like permit parking so we circled around for an hour before finding an overnight garage. Mom stayed back with Dylan while Paris and I parked and went to the grocery for some Benedryl and creamer (a staple!). Upon checking out, they didn't even offer a bag to carry our items. As I grabbed a bag, the cashier said 'the bag is 30 cents". Oh, no worries. Before we could pull the change from our pocket, the nice gentleman in line said, "I've got it, you are from out of town, welcome to Quebec!"
Back at the property, we found a broken TV, leaky refrigerator, floss on the living room floor and Dylan didn't even want to use the bathroom because of the hair left behind. Ew. After messaging with the owner about the photos not matching this property, they claimed that they just remodeled two weeks ago. ah - huh. There is no way they ripped out the tile in the bathroom and replaced it with a plastic liner. When I said it was unacceptable, they simply said: "you can stay, or you can go". So we left (but after Dylan took a poop in the toilet)! As Paris walked to the car to retrieve our vehicle, a firetruck zipped by and hit the mirror of a car two in front of us! And kept going!! Paris was sure it would hit our car and even close his eyes as it passed. These streets are narrow!
OUR VACATION HOUSE, Part One
You can never tell what type of neighborhood these properties are in, but I always do my best to research and make sure my family is safe. The Mont-Royal area seemed like it was close to a lot of food and restaurants on Rue St. Laurent, not to mention the location to Mont-Royal for exploring. I thought this would be perfect. WRONG!Our VRBO was a flop! Drug addicts outside in the parks, no A/C so the windows were open and we had to push them to shut from the outside! The property was NOTHING like the photos listed. We couldn't read the French parking signs and it all looked like permit parking so we circled around for an hour before finding an overnight garage. Mom stayed back with Dylan while Paris and I parked and went to the grocery for some Benedryl and creamer (a staple!). Upon checking out, they didn't even offer a bag to carry our items. As I grabbed a bag, the cashier said 'the bag is 30 cents". Oh, no worries. Before we could pull the change from our pocket, the nice gentleman in line said, "I've got it, you are from out of town, welcome to Quebec!"
Back at the property, we found a broken TV, leaky refrigerator, floss on the living room floor and Dylan didn't even want to use the bathroom because of the hair left behind. Ew. After messaging with the owner about the photos not matching this property, they claimed that they just remodeled two weeks ago. ah - huh. There is no way they ripped out the tile in the bathroom and replaced it with a plastic liner. When I said it was unacceptable, they simply said: "you can stay, or you can go". So we left (but after Dylan took a poop in the toilet)! As Paris walked to the car to retrieve our vehicle, a firetruck zipped by and hit the mirror of a car two in front of us! And kept going!! Paris was sure it would hit our car and even close his eyes as it passed. These streets are narrow!
One and a half hours later on the phone with VRBO the next day and we found that we will not be reimbursed for the property. They flagged the owner's account, looked at the photos we took to compare and submitted the case to their "Trust and Security Department". Chalk that one up as a loss and move on. That's all we can do. *It did leave a bad taste in our mouth for Montreal though*
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| Montmorency Falls with large tree logs to the right of the picture. These large tree trunk have fallen down the falls and accumulated at the bottom right of the photo to show the massive height of the falls. |
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