Camping Transit, Levis, Quebec, Canada (Quebec City)
Put away perversity from your mouth; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. ~ Proverbs 4:24
Beginning at noon tomorrow, 90-95% of all construction workers in Quebec go on paid holiday (aka vacation) for two weeks, so says one of our campground hosts. They do the same for two weeks in the winter. Isn’t that strange? I’m wondering if, because warm weather is in short supply up here, if too many people were calling off and just going ahead and giving them two weeks off actually makes the work move along faster. That was my thought before I started researching the real reason. 😊
In the province of Quebec, Canada, the Construction Holiday (French: Vacances de la construction) is the most popular time for summer vacations. In 1970, Quebec legislated an annual holiday for the construction industry which begins each year on the second to last Sunday of July, and lasts for a period of 2 weeks. ~ Wikipedia
The Construction Holiday collective agreement covers both private and public contracts, including roadwork, housing projects, commercial buildings, foundations, and demolitions, as well as certain suppliers and machine operators. There are a few exceptions where the Commission de la construction du Québec allows companies to stay on the job during Construction Holiday, such as emergency roadwork that cannot be put on hold for two weeks. ~ financialpost.com
And one more article I found online in the Montreal Gazette dated July 18th:
The Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ) says it has sent out nearly 159,000 cheques totaling $447 million in vacation pay as the province’s two-week construction holiday is set to begin on Sunday.
The amount represents an increase of six per cent over last year’s vacation payout by the CCQ of $421 million. The commission says the increase is largely because of a spike in construction activity during the past year.
Construction sector employers in the province make monthly payments to the CCQ to cover vacation and other holiday absences in accordance with union contracts. The amounts represent 13 per cent of a construction worker’s weekly salary.
This year the construction holiday officially begins on Sunday and ends Aug. 3 and will see about 80 per cent of the province’s construction workforce off the job.
In 2018, the Quebec construction industry counted more than 165,000 workers and more than 25,000 employers.
The vacation time is obligatory in all sectors of the construction industry, however there are exclusions, including most public infrastructure and road work as well as emergency maintenance, repair and renovation.
The CCQ notes that in 2018, the number of hours worked in the industry increased by 10 per cent compared with 2017, a statistical spike which, apart from a record-breaking increase in 2012, has not been seen since 2004.
I didn’t see anything in those articles that mention time off in the winter, however, I did find another article from 2015 that says they do – around New Year’s Day.
Here’s a couple of facts about Quebec City:
1. It was founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain
2. It’s recognized as the cradle of French civilization in North America.
3. Old Quebec was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985.
4. It’s the Provincial capital.
5. There are 713,000 residents. 95% of them are native French speakers, and when that construction holiday time hits, 1/3 of their population is on vacation for two weeks.
6. According to the book I’m getting this information from, it’s one of the safest areas in North America.
7. In 2016, 4.4 million tourists visited the Quebec City area. Nearly 800,000 were from outside Canada.
There are even more hills and stairs in Old Quebec than there were in Montreal. Steep hills and many stairs. And many steps again, too. 26,817 of them.
Our campground offers a free shuttle to and from the ferry that takes you over to Old Quebec. (Remember when we ferried over to New Orleans? And the cost and distance was pretty much the same, too.) It’s a really nice service they offer, especially since the drive to the dock is about 15 minutes or so. Plus, they offer two return times – one in the middle of the afternoon, and one at 8:30pm. We chose the evening time, but as it turned out, it was just about an hour longer than our bodies would’ve preferred.
Our first glimpses of Quebec from the ferry were enthralling.
Of course, the stand-out is the gigantic iconic building you see in just about every picture of Quebec City. And it’s in a lot of our pictures as well. And even if we didn’t intend to take a picture of it, it was still there, looming over everything. This is the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, a hotel. It was built in 1893 (not as old as we thought, but still 126 years old) and named after the Count of Frontenac, a notable former governor in New France (that’s what they called it when they came to Canada in the 1600’s). Parts of it weren’t built until 1924. Historic conferences in 1943 & 44 were held here and attended by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. And you could stay here, too. You’ll have 611 rooms to choose from – if you’re willing to fork over $279 Canadian per night. If you’re using your American credit card to pay, you’ll get a great discount due to the exchange rate – – $209.25.
They’re doing some work on the Fairmont.
of the little wooden villages people buy for their mantles and shelves. : )
This was taken from the ferry as well. Great zoom!
Old Quebec is full of history and charm and cobblestone streets and narrow sidewalks and really old architecture! And a lot of souvenir shops. There must’ve been 30 or more just selling T-shirts, and every single one had the exact same shirts. Blaine managed to find one he liked; I just took a picture. 😊
Sort of.
I still used Google a lot. : )
We wandered around a bit before heading to the Citadel along Dufferin Terrace.
We took this from the Citadel, but it’s the only one we have.
Even the walkway is historic here. It was built over a portion of the site of Fort Saint-Louis that was built by Champlain in 1620. It’s also the place where he died in 1635. His successor, Montmagny, built a chateau that served as a residence for New France governors for two centuries until it was destroyed by fire in 1834. Four years later, Lord Durham (the governor at the time), had a promenade built that was enlarged and renovated several times of the years.
We didn’t discover the significance of this remarkable archeological find underneath this walkway until near the end of the day, but I’ll include it here.
This is the Saint-Louis Forts and Chateaux National Historic Site. Around 2002 (? – we’re not sure about the date), there were some boards that needed replaced along the promenade. They knew the placement of the Fort and the Chateau had once been here, so it was decided to dig around a bit to see what they could find. They ended up finding a lot! It’s an enormous area underneath the Dufferin Terrace, with artifacts covering more than two centuries, including all types of artifacts and parts of the structure! When they finished, they put a few “peep holes” into walkway, encouraging people to look down as they walk around, and we’d done that, but couldn’t see anything. But what an extremely interesting place! And it only cost us about $3 each to see.
She was very excited to show it off. : )
Important people host a lot of guests, requiring a lot of jam for their important guests.
Only important, wealthy people ate jam.
The very tiny white glass is a smelling salts vial.
I think the large gold thing is a wax sealer, but I’m not sure.
That’s 18 years before Champlain found Canada!
What’s that, you say? Well, I happen to have a picture to show you!
I’d bet that the original was sent in English. : )
Back to climbing up to the Citadel.
And that doesn’t count the ones we had to take to get to this point from the River.
See that tall, circular tower in the distance?
They expect you to pay $16/person to go up there and look at views of the city.
We did fine where we were.
The name? It was a plateau and owned by a farmer named Abraham Martin,
when the battle between the French and English began in 1759.
Even I wasn’t brave enough to take pictures of the “real” guards here. 
Guards flanking the entrance.
It’s actually an active military base, which means you have to be part of a tour in order to walk around inside. They even have guards at the doors, like in England! We were allowed just inside passed the guards, but there was other security all over the place dressed in their fatigues. And then, as usual, I got in trouble . . .
The girl with the heavy French accent that met us at the entrance, told us we could walk in and turn left and walk up to the “red door” without participating in their tour. So I was looking for that “red door” she mentioned. Turns out, she said “guard door”, which was actually a window, which was actually a guard room, which was actually full of guards, one of which stuck his arm out and told me to stop. Ooops!
Another way Old Quebec and New Orleans are similar is the profusion of street performers. Well, New Orleans actually had more, but still. Here, there were all types of performers – singers, instrument players, acrobatics, goofs performing acrobatic comedy . . . all kinds of things. And just as in Montreal, we’d see the same people in different places. They must have a schedule of some kind, moving them around to various places, I’m assuming to maximize their incomes.
As we sat in the blazing hot sun. . .
And very athletic!
And then it was lunchtime. We didn’t want much, because we were planning on a big dinner here in town, but we didn’t have anyplace picked out for lunch, so Blaine pulled up Tripadvisor on his phone and then began to drag me all over town to the #1 place in town.
His sandwich was really good! I only had a cup of soup, and it was good, but not as good as his. 😊
Then we set to wandering again.
I’m neither small, nor a child, but I sat there anyway. : )
But if you read the Old Testament, the Temple was filled with it too.
We kinda him-hawed about visiting Parliament only because it was practically on the opposite side of town from where we were, but once we got there, we were soooo glad we went! We had to pass through security, and present our ID to receive permission to enter, but then they set us free to roam as we pleased! Can you believe that? You could pay for a 90-minute tour, but we didn’t want to, so they just set us loose to peruse on our own. And so we did. Up and down (always with the steps in this Province!) and all around we went. I’m sure the tours got to go places we didn’t, but we saw plenty on our own.
We discovered this one of Levis. : )
Well, ya don’t know if ya don’t try!
Blaine always stands far and away when I do things like that. : )
No trouble getting a wheelchair in here!
Those are tiles on the floor!
At any rate, this is the seat of the President of the National Assembly in the Province of Quebec.
That’s quite a throne!
What about this picture tells you that there’s work being done in here? : )
After that, we headed back to check out that archaeological dig, but I’ve already talked about that, so we’ll move on to just wandering the city until it was time for dinner.
I don’t know where we were standing, but I can assure you, it wasn’t in the middle of the road. : )
The chimney sweeps use it.
I guess we’re standing in Upper, looking down at Lower?
Our restaurant of choice was recommended by our campground host as serving authentic Quebec cuisine. Aux Anciens Canadiens or To The Old Canadians, a name chosen over 40 years ago for the restaurant, taken from a book written by a guy who lived here in the early 1800’s. The actual house was built in 1675 and most of its layout and woodworking, etc. is original! And the staff wears ‘traditional’ attire from the 17th century. The food was excellent!
This one’s dated 1958. Not exactly old, is it?
French fries, cheese curds and gravy.
I’ve had my fill now. : )
Reminded me of cold meatloaf.
And also included in our meal was a glass of red or white wine.
We drank it, but we didn’t enjoy it . . . .
Not sure what small vegetables are, but I sure didn’t see many . . .
Still, I crammed it all in, because you can’t have dessert unless you finish your dinner.
Both were extremely good! Even on full tummies!
We were bulging by the time we finished (as usual), and we had two hours to kill before time to catch the ferry, so we walked around town again, trying to find some new places to see, watching street performers and sitting for a spell. It was much more crowded this time around!
No surprise, it was originally built in the 1700’s.
What an absolutely wonderful day! Thank You, Father for the health and opportunity!