Pat and I once took a romantic weekend away in Quebec City. At least that was the plan until Stu's trip was cancelled and our romantic weekend became a bit larger. Still, we made the best of it and had Stu invite a friend and booked an additional room.
We stayed at the Chateau Frontenac - one of the destination hotels built by the Canadian Pacific Railway and a truly romantic spot. Pat and I overlooking the river and Stu and Andrew overlooking the parking lot.
We arrived on July 1st which is Canada Day - the celebration of the signing of the Articles of Confederation on P.E.I. which effectively established a united and English speaking Canada. This is not the highlight of the year in Quebec City, the emotional heart of French Canada. Coincidentally, we arrived during the International Police Olympics.
After checking in and settling in we met the boys for a walk and lunch.
Right outside of the hotel at the central fountain a protest group wearing and waving the Fleur d' Lis had gathered to chant, give impassioned speeches and burn the Canadian flag. At least I assume so as their French was much faster than I can translate and did not use the usual catch phrases. I was bemused by the number of international Policeman in casual attire watching protests that would not be allowed in many of their countries (the cops were fairly obvious as they mostly wore t-shirts with various spellings of Police and/or badges on them). The local gendarmes did nothing to stop the protest.
One of the protesters singled me out, got in my face and aggressively shouted "Je pense que vous etes tres beau et voudries te montrer la ville. Apres nous pouvons avoir un verre de vin et d'une cigarette dans mon grenier." Unaware of what he said and wanting to be satisfied with my response I took a guess that he was complaining about the English and replied, "Imbecile" while shaking my head with a knowing Gallic tilt. With a satisfied smirk, he went and rejoined the group.
I went off with my group to find a glass of wine.
We returned from our weekend three days later to find that they were shooting fireworks at Shea Stadium in remembrance of Independence Day. They missed the plane.
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