We left Toronto on the morning of the second of August and reached Lévis that same evening. Lévis sits across the St. Lawrence from Quebec City, separated from it by nothing more than a short ferry ride and a great deal of history; it was to become our staging post for the days ahead, the place from which we would set out towards Gaspé.
Anjali and I had been to Quebec City once before, back in 2007, and had stayed at a bed and breakfast in Lévis run by an elderly couple of Greek heritage. There was no Airbnb in those days. We found our hosts instead through a site called BBCanada, and the whole experience was a good deal more personal for it. Booking meant writing an actual email, not clicking a button; and the couples who took us in did rather more than hand over a key. They cooked us breakfast most mornings and often sat with us while we ate, curious about where we had come from and why we had chosen to go exploring a country not yet quite our own. We, in turn, were just as curious about them: how they had built their lives here, and what had brought them to this particular corner of Quebec. Between the eggs and the coffee, those conversations became some of our first real introductions to Canada, long before we were entitled to call it home.
Arriving in Lévis this time round filled us with much the same excitement as it had nineteen years earlier. Despite an eight o'clock start and a full day's drive behind us, we felt none of the tiredness we probably should have; instead, we took the ferry across the river and gave ourselves back to Quebec City's old-world streets and cobbled lanes, happy simply to be reacquainted.
Enroute to Levis we went through Montreal, QC and crossed over to the south bank of St. Lawrence River driving over the Jacques Cartier Bridge. This is 3.43 km long and is he third most busiest bridge in Canada with an estimated 35.8 million vehicles crossing annually.
In front of the Lévis ferry terminal someone was giddy with excitement
Us on the ferry from Levis to Quebec City. Chateau Frontenac is the beacon we are drawn towards.
Chateau Frontenac Hotel in Quebec, QC dominates the skyline of the city whether seen from inside the older parts of the city or from the Levis side of the banks of St. Lawrence River. In the evening it is a giant beacon glowing bright orange inviting the curious and the tourist to visit. It is the most photographed hotel in the world.