Sunday, January 13, 2013

29. ICE ICE AND MORE ICE

Tuesday January 8, 2013

To cap off our time on historic Quebec City we spent a few hours at the...
Musee de la Civilisation or the Museum of Civilisation
When we first came to Canada in 2009 we never expected to return. Well, not in this system anyway. Mike and Linda took us to see the most amazing volume of water falling over a cliff we could ever hope to see. Niagara Falls is both the largest waterfall by volume in North America and is without a doubt the most well known waterfall on the planet... But it's not the highest waterfall on the continent.
The Montmorency Falls are a large waterfall on the Montmorency River about 12 km from the heart of old Quebec City. The falls, at 84 meters high, are the highest in the province of Quebec and 30 m higher than Niagara Falls.
The suspension bridge over the falls.
The water rushes beneath the ice

The 1920s Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré is a basilica set along the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada, 30 kilometers east of Quebec City. So, who was Saint Anne you ask? Well, according Catholic tradition, the patron saint of Quebec, Saint Anne, was the mother of the Virgin Mary and grandmother of Jesus Christ. Who knew? Well, there is nothing in the bible about her.

Mother, son and granny
 
And now for something completely different.
That's the floor plan of the Hotel de Glacé or The Ice Hotel. We took a tour of this most bizarre building that is literally made of frozen water.
It is still under construction. In fact it's rebuilt every winter.
Gothic arch structure. The doors have a steel frame that is frozen into the structural ice wall.

 

The furniture is made of ... Yep, ice.
Yes, it is cold.
A chandelier
The compacted snow seems to absorb sound.
It is a real hotel with rooms for the night
Each suite is different. The bed is ice. The hotel provides you with special sleeping bags and they say its very warm and comfortable inside the bag.
Walls carved with artworks by ice artists.
Another room
The Chappel that is solidly booked for civil weddings.
 
 
 
 
 

And the Ice Bar which serves as a night club
That's an ice glass
The rooms go for $200 to $800 per night and its full most nights. Mmm. I think we will go back to Tony's place at Sorel for a warm bed in a warm home.
Tomorrow we fly away home.
Good night
Lloydnalex
 
 

 

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