J’arriveé dans la Québec

Time for a nice cinnamon whirl and tea (in a proper mug) at the
ubiquituous Tim Horton's coffee shop before our train from Montréal
to Québec city this morning. Most places do tea but some better than
others. It's a boiling water thing and only us brits are fussy about
the 100° thing. Train was the VIA One service which meant ample
seating room - only three seats abreast in the corridor, yet another
hyper-ingenius foldaway tray and lovely views across the Quebecian
provence on the sunniest day since being in Toronto. The possibility
of pay-per-use wifi on the carriage brought a smile to both myself
and The Writer as it will be something that will be great to have on
the big three day/three night trip across to Vancouver starting on
Thursday for y'know, looking stuff up, getting some of the pix I've
taken since the last postcard entry online.

I'm kinda sleepy. We got here around four and have once again easily
secured a lovely room at the last minute using the increasingly
preferred 'Arrive, go to Tourist Info Office and see what they have'
method of finding accomodation. This Hotel - The Hotel du Terasse
Dufferin is a mere stone's throw from the big Châteaux within the old
walled city and has a great view over the river, being on the forth
floor and on a big hill. It has actual rooms and is more like a mini
apartment but is only costing us $139 Can (about £70) a night. We
have a hunch the local restaurant Français might be a little pricey
if last nights' foray into Montréal Old Town is anything to go by
(Where we tactically had salad and the cheese plate) so having a
kitchenette may prove useful for brekkies and coffee. The Writer is
sulking with a book in the other room as all efforts to get 'free'
internet here have failed meaning the quest for the elusive
'87' (whatever THAT means) has been curtailled for a wee while. Train
loving Gwilliams' will be pleased to know I took my locomotive
pictures today. All the stations so far until Quebec have been a bit
like airports in that you leave via some stairs and never actually
walk the length of the platform to see the engine that pulled. Todays
engine looked kinda angular. Like a blue doorstop. Pix to follow I
promise.

So - the plan is to mooch about here for tonight and tomorrow wherein
we set off rudely early on wednesday morning to return to To in time
for the 9 o'clock off on The Canadian train that takes us through the
prairies, the rockies and over to the west coast. We spent a long
time at the station in Montreal on Saturday realising that even with
our rail passes that getting a private room and making a stop in
picturesque Jasper probably would Actually Break The Bank so we've
reeled things in a little, going for bunks and shared bathroom
without the stop on the way. We do still get the meals and access to
the very splendid observation cars (the sort that peep out above the
rest of the train with 50's style batman windows) though so I'm
getting quite excited about the ride. The guidebook warns of german/
sun-lounger style shenanigans in the acquiring of such well appointed
seating so I hope to be able to give as good as I get and get up
really really early at least one day to get a good view of dawn over
the rockies.

Edit: This took a while to get sent (despite many amusing attempts to
find free WiFi in Quebec. One of which involved Jo getting thrown out
of a museum. Or that's what she thought - it was really just normal
closing time.
On train back to Monteal as I type and then on to Toronto on First
class. I really can't speak more highly about the Canadian VIA
trains. Clean, friendly, efficient, wide, "Enjoy your tea - keep your
cup - I'll be around later to give you a free refill...". How splendid!

More pix to come. FTPing from a train, How cool is that???