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photo shows, this is a cantilever design and the main span is 1,800 feet long with the suspended span between the two cantilevers 640 feet. The bridge has 66,500 tons of steelwork which gives some idea of its size. Charlie and I were much impressed but I think the girls would have preferred to continue the "feeling" activity.
To celebrate our last night in Quebec, we had dinner at Mme. Hoeckx and drank imported wine to boot-- Medoc which is a red Bordeaux and was delicious, coming from the Medoc district in southwestern France. Also we drank chocolate but that was "bum" according to the diary. After dinner, apparently in a nostalgic mood, we drove down to "BAS--Canadian Pacific" to see the Saguenay boat come in from Bagotville. Then we drove back up the hill, deposited the car in the garage (50¢ a night) and drifted down to the Chateau Frontenac to listen to the music for awhile. The diary has a mysterious item which says simply "--trouble at the garage--" and even Charlie failed to recall what that might refer to. I kept a meticulous record of car operating expenses so we could divide that cost 50-50 at the end of the trip and I find no reference to any unusual garage expense so I'm at a loss. It sounds sort of "omnious" but evidently wasn't. Following the music at the Chateau, my companions apparently were so bushed that they went to bed and left me to conclude my Quebec night life on my own. So I went to a place where there was more action to my liking than the Chateau -- the Chien d'Or Tavern-- where I had some ale which cost the unbelievable amount of 5¢ a glass and presumably wasn't Black Horse but rather some local brew on tap. I can almost remember sitting there by myself and drinking the stuff out of a stein and watching the antics of the many French and English sailors who patronized the place, which was an indication of the kind of a spot it was -- an action spot but one without girls it would appear. I was particularly impressed with the black sailors off some French warships which were visiting Quebec, possibly in connection with the quadricentennial of the discovery of the St. Lawrence River by Jacques Cartier.
I made my way back to Mlle. Hudon's at a reasonable hour, regretful that our trip was now nearing its close. Particularly being in Quebec, both city and province, with their strong French flavor in almost everything, had given me my first taste of "going abroad" as they used to say in those days, and because of that, the trip has remained one of the most memorable and enjoyable in my life--even though it wasn't "going abroad" in the sense that that term was usually used. But it might have been because in Quebec you could close your eyes and easily imaging you were in France--in fact, you could open your eyes and imagine this much of the time. And besides all this, the four of us had gotten along well and had a lot of fun together. I thought about all these things as I trudged back to 80 Rue St. Louis, wishing to high heaven that we had another week or so to spend in Quebec.