Road Trip Update: Québec

Canada Day in Saint John was quite nice, except for the fact that it was so foggy (how foggy was it?) that they had to cancel the fireworks because they simply couldn’t be seen behind the clouds. We left fairly early in the morning, despite the continuing fog, and soon arrived at Fredericton—my old stomping grounds, as it were—where we saw soldiers drilling in a parking lot just outside the historic garrison. Some carried rifles and some carried axes, but I am nearly certain that a few of the axes were simply made of tin foil, so I can’t even vouch for the reality of the rifles. It was like some crazed LARP or SCA meeting or something like that.

After Fredericton, we turned north and went through Edmundston, New Brunswick into Québec, where we made a small detour to the town of Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha!. Yes, Saint-Louis-du-Ha! Ha! is a real place, but you don’t have to take my word for it—check out its entry on Wikipedia. Apparently nobody really knows where the name comes from—it’s probably just as well. At any rate, I have photographic evidence proving that (a) it exists and (b) I’ve been there. Count another notch on my list of places with crazy names that I’ve been to.

We camped right near Québec City and went into town for the 400th birthday of the city, which was celebrated in a torrential downpour with church bells ringing simultaneously all across Canada at 11 am (eastern time, natch). Thousands of people turned out despite the rain, but we west-coasters were the only ones sans umbrellas, nyah nyah. There were boring speeches by dignitaries and a military parade that almost didn’t happen because of the rain. Of course, the anti-war protesters came out in force anyway and the Québec City police were ready to meet them face-on, as it were, in full riot gear with gas masks. I did not think it wise to try to snap photos of some of these events.

So, bonne fête, Québec ! To 120, or something like that.

As always, the full photo gallery is available here. Next stop, Montréal!