Franklin Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and I all stayed at the Hotel Frontenac when we visited Quebec City years ago. I was there as a tourist; they were there with Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King to plan Allied strategy, their second summit.
Designed in the late 19th century to resemble both a fortress and a chateau, Hotel Frontenac tops a literal summit high above the St. Laurence River. My room on the eighth floor was a tight squeeze that formerly may have been a broom closet. Still, I felt like a prince just stepping into the lobby.
My exploration of Quebec City started from the terrace outside the hotel where the leaders posed for this picture. Churchill seems to be asking FDR where to get some snug spandex shorts for himself.
While I enjoyed the city's old-world charm and fantasized about someday returning to write a novel in some Bohemian garret there, my greatest excitement was to speak French -- I'm such a word geek!
So Quebec City is one of the places I've "lived or loved" where I pause for reflection in my virtual bike tour of the world.
February 24 - March 4 2022
Riding on trails around Atlanta, I've cycled 275 miles in 2022, average speed 15.5
I revisited Hotel Frontenac in my dreams, and posted some color pictures. See Montaigne's Mountain (06/2021).
See my page with photos of all the virtual stops of my second world tour, from New York's Stephen Sondheim Theatre in June 2020 to now.
←← | ← || → Use the arrows to follow my bike tour from the start.
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