An early start finds us heading to Quebec City on the VIA Rail. The 3hrs passes quickly as we watch the Canadian scenery pass by, and are served breakfast, a first for me on a train.

Google tells us that the walk to our hotel is a 20 minute, mostly flat stroll. As we check in, having lugged our cases up hills steeper than any at Mount Royal, our receptionist simply laughs ‘yeah right’ as we tell her this.

It seems obvious now, when our hotel looms over the city, and in an area known as the ramparts that it was never going to be at the bottom of the city.

We choose to take a quick stroll around the area we are stopping, which is within the walls of the old city, and is the only remaining fortified city in North America. Think Chester or York and you get the idea.

Beavers are soon back on our mind as we pass Roots. A Canadian clothing brand which features a Beaver (or Castor to give it it’s French name, we may have to rename Benoit). After much debate we buy matching cream hoodies.We also stop at Queues de Castor (Beaver Tails) to snack on their classic Beaver Tail. A flat donut sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, it resembles a beaver tail.

We head back to the hotel and find the pool, it sits on the upper floors and features a ‘terrase’ overlooking the city.We head to the lower town for the evening, we have booked at Don Vegan for Quebec’s only Vegan restaurant.

The upper and lower parts of the city are separated by the steep climb, there is a funicular but it is closed by 21:00. So we burn off some of our meal climbing the steps back to our hotel.By now the day crowds have left and the evening atmosphere is more subdued and peaceful looking over the St Lawrence River.

Some street performers are still playing, and I hear the second rendition of Leonard Cohens Hallelujah of the day, with him being Quebec born.

Side note, street performers seem to vary between Canadian staples, Leonard Cohen, Celine Deon, and British such as Oasis and Beatles. I have now heard Oasis covers on at least 2 occasions.

Tomorrow we hope to explore the city more on foot or maybe on boat.