It was so hot

It was so hot when we first came to Quebec. I don't know if we were just unaccustomed to the humidity? It had been humid in Nauvoo and New York, and we felt okay there. Maybe it was just that in Quebec, we couldn't cool off at night because the house was so hot all the time! But somehow, that first week or two, even though the temperatures were only in the mid-80's (which at home I would consider hot but by no means unbearable) we just felt limply, wearily, dreadfully hot all the time. Out of sheer desperation, we sought out every water-related activity in the city, and luckily, there were a lot of them. 

It pleases me that waterfalls are "chutes" in French. We loved Chute-Montmorency!

We rode the tram from the top to the bottom and back again. Exciting!

The spray of mist at the bottom of the waterfall was absolutely heavenly. Even looking at this picture I feel a great sense of refreshment and relaxation. I wanted to live in that mist. (It reminds me of how I used to feel in the Costco dairy room the summer I was pregnant with Clementine. I just wanted to sink down behind the boxes of spinach and sleep in that cool air for a hundred years.)

We got so wet!

There's a suspension bridge across the top of the falls. It was fun to walk out and look down!

In a moment of recklessness, we told Daisy, Junie, and Malachi they could go on the zipline across the falls. So they got all harnessed up and we walked back across the bridge to watch them. It looked scary to me, but they said they loved it!

Whee!

We got poutine for dinner that night and it was so, so good!

(You can still see Clementine's little scrape under her nose here, from when she "fell off the ferry" in Maine.)

Yum yum yum yum yum!

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One happy discovery we made is that all the public pools in Quebec City are free! And there are lots of them! One was at a big park we really loved called Domaine de Maizerets.

There are some beautiful wooded trails there,

And a pond with the cutest tiny island you can walk to over a footbridge.

We all swam for a while, and then an hour in, when the little ones inevitably got shivery and cold, we could just leave the big kids playing in the pool and go explore more of the park!

This park is on the site of a Catholic Seminary which was built in 1690. The old stone barn and (restored/rebuilt) house, the Maizerets Estate, is still there. And the land was sometimes called "La Canardière," which as far as I can figure out means…the Duckery?? Ha! During the French and Indian War in 1775, the Americans occupied this land while fighting near Quebec. Like everything in Quebec, it seems, the religious purpose of the place has been lost, but this little shrine (? not sure of the right word) to the Virgin Mary remains on the tiny island. 

Half of the circular pond around the island was completely covered by this green pondweed. The ducks left little trails in it as they swam around (and they liked to nibble on it too, from what I could see!).

There is a really fun playground at the park.

This was the first we'd been very much around regular people in Quebec, and it was fun to hear the little kids chattering in French and calling to their parents, "Maman, regarde-moi!" Clementine was counting to three as she jumped off the steps, so I started counting in French to her and she looked at me suspiciously and said, "Who's that, mama? Duolingo?"

The little boys were both so proud of themselves for being able to do this!

There are some big regional parks in Utah and they do a good job making them fun, but goodness, we will never be able to match these beautiful trees and woodlands!

As it happened, Teddy and Goldie had a Primary Activity at the Domaine de Maizerets a couple weeks later, and while I waited for them I got to walk around and explore the parts of the park we hadn't seen before. That was fun.

This sign made me laugh—apparently this is a "convival" park, which mean you can drink alcohol there— with a meal, that is. Ha ha.

There's a tall observation tower where you can climb up and look over the park. And there's a maze!

And here's the shirt Goldie made at the activity! (Where is Teddy's picture? I don't know!)

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Another fun water place is the splash pad over in the old town. We eyed this place hungrily during one of our first hot walks in Old Quebec and a few of us even ran through the jets to cool off! We vowed to come back another day with swimming suits.

I love this little square in front of the Hôtel de Ville (town hall). The building used to be a Jesuit College so it's old (1730's) and beautiful. The Price Building, a lovely art deco skyscraper, is right behind us from this vantage point.

And you can see the steeple and bell tower of Notre Dame de Québec to the east.

Gus was my favorite one to watch in the fountain. He was just so gleeful!

Squinching up in the cold (I love it when kids do this)

And a pretty walk home past the Morrin Library!

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Another place that is SO fun (and also free) is Station de la Plage. This is a fairly new swimming pool and splash pad (jeux d'eau is what they call the spray jets…water games? playing water?…and miroir d'eau is what they call the shallow sort of wading pool. Such a perfect, pretty name) right on the bank of the Saint Lawrence. The pool looks like it drops right off into the river! It's so pretty!

We walked along the riverbank for a little while to get there from the parking lot. There's a bike trail and walking path.

There is a pretty church up on the hill above

The Saint Lawrence looks greyish next to the blue swimming pool!

The kids who always get cold appreciated having sand to play on when the inevitable happened. Or rather, we appreciated them being able to go play so we didn't feel like we had to choose between (1) taking everyone home or (2) becoming parents to three tiny icicles. (Yes, it was a hot day! Yes, everyone was dying to get into the water! But it makes no difference!)

I also appreciated how easy it was to go dip them in the pool and clean off (most of) the sand!

Miroir d'eau

You can walk down to the actual river, too. Teddy did, and practiced skipping rocks there.

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And lastly, one more lonely little picture of another pool we visited, which claimed to be "shaped like a fish." I guess I can see it, but it's a strange fish.

Thank heavens for all these pools and fun places that cooled us off when we most needed it!