La Rue Vibre !

Here we are in another capital of South America. The meaning of Quito is “world’s center” (Qui for center and To for world). Built between mountains and volcanos at an altitude of 2850m, the city expands on over than 20km wide for “only” 2 millions of inhabitants. The proximity of the Equator (proved by the french expedition lead by the “chevalier de la Condamine”) makes this signification almost true.

The historical center of Quito, recorded at the UNESCO, is all colonial and baroque architecture. A guide made also us discover the “Iglisia de la Compañia”. The exterior architecture is already really baroque, but inside, it’s even worse: shinny parts, oriental motifs … We don´t have pictures, but you can check this out to have an idea : here
More baroque than the more than baroque style, it’s an architectural style very present in all those former spanish colonies.

We also visited the National Vote Basilic, a very big neo gothique cathedral build in 1883. The poor french architect spent 6 years to design the plans. It is possible to ascend one of the tower, after several stone stairs, 2 metalic stairs, and 2 rusty ladders. This cathedral is a lot thiner than the classical french ones. It’s because reinforced concret was used, a light material the middle age builder didn’t have.

We then went in the new town, the tourist gathering spot. Here are all the bars, nightclubs and mountaining shops. The Ecuador is a wonderfull country for mountains lovers, with more than 10 high volcanos to climb, and countless hikking possibilities. There we also discovered a really nice french bistrot: “Chez Alain”. Its unpretentious and simple cooking in a relaxing atmosphere for a really low price make this place a good place to lunch. Alain, the helpfull and charismatic owner has been around for 17 years.

Thanks to the french connection, we were royally hosted by Phillippe, Christelle and their son Romain. Philippe and Christelle are teachers working in the french school of Quito, and so live a confy life in Ecuador. They know very well the country, and others as they travelled a lot. It was deeply interesting to discover the expatriat point of view of the Ecuador.

Quito is a large city with all the trouble coming along, at the same time it also a lovely city with a lot to visit. We’ll come back!