May 24, 2017

Magical Quebec

Chiara Di NORTH AMERICA, TRAVEL Canada, French Canadian, Quebec, Quebec City, Travel, Wanderlust 0 Comments

It was an easy decision to include the French Canadian city of Quebec on our itinerary for this trip as it is just so beautiful and picturesque.

The flight from Toronto to Quebec takes about an hour and a half. We took a taxi from the airport to Old Quebec for a flat rate of CAD$38 including tax.

We stayed at Hotel Clarendon, a charming French hotel in the heart of Old Quebec. It was conveniently located just up the street from Hotel Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac.

Old Quebec is like a town in France has been picked up and dropped into Quebec. It feels more like Europe than Canada and was great for me to a get a little European fix. The buildings have old world charm and the first language is French.

Our first afternoon in town we walked around pretty much the whole of Old Quebec sighting Hotel Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, La Citadelle de Quebec, Basilique Cathedrale Notre Dame de Quebec, Eglise Notre Dame des Victoires (one of the oldest churches in Quebec), and the shops and cafes of Rue St Pierce, Rue Notre Dame and Rue St Jean. We also saw the Quebec City Convention Centre just outside the walls of Old Quebec.

I also spotted snow in Quebec, although old and slushy, I was still happy to have a photo with it. If I had my way the snow would have been falling while we were there but I will take old snow.

On our first night in Quebec, we had to eat French. We dined at Chez Jules and enjoyed mini baguettes, escargot, beef cheeks with mash and beans, and a glass of merlot each. It was all very delicious.

On our second day in Quebec we had a country tour booked with Les Tours du Vieux Quebec. We were picked up at 10.15am and visited the spectacular Montmorency Falls first – higher falls than those of Niagara. The falls had massive amounts of water falling and was quite impressive. We walked the bridge above and enjoyed the different view points.

Next stop was the Chocolaterie del’ Jle d’Orleans for a taste of locally made chocolate (milk chocolate caramel bar for me and healthy dark chocolate nut bar for mum) and a view of Quebec as we were now on the island – Ile d’ Orleans. You could even see the falls from there.

The island which is only 10km from the city centre is country style with no schools, shopping centres or services. It can be reached by a bridge from the mainland.

We visited the Albert Gilles Copper Art Boutique & Museum and watched a demonstration on how the pieces are designed. We had time to explore the museum and shop for a unique piece of copper art. Mum bought some nice copper drop earrings.

We had a taste of maple spread on bread at Chez Marie. It was very sweet reminding me of the flavour of a cinnamon bun.

Our last stop on the tour was Sainte Anne de Beaupre Basilica, named after Mary’s mum and known for making miracles happen. The basilica is grand and has amazing sculpting, mosaics and statues.

When we got back to Old Quebec I enjoyed a ham, cheese and egg crepe while I waited for mum to get her hair done. We then visited the antique shops on Rue St Paul.

We enjoyed an afternoon drink at 1608 Bar a Vin and Fromage at Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac. I had the Hurricane cocktail with gin and passionfruit and mum a merlot from California. We were given complimentary snacks (nut mix and spicy popcorn) while we enjoyed our drinks. We also had a look around the beautiful hotel while we were there.

That night we walked outside the Old Quebec walls for dinner at Bistro L’Atelier on Grand Allee which was very lively when we arrived. We ate burrata with tomatoes, salmon tartare with coriander and Greek yoghurt, and potato and pulled pork croquettes. We also enjoyed another round of drinks – a mojito for me and Cowgirl cocktail and shiraz wine for mum.

Everything was dying down around 10pm, which was a bit of a shame and made us see how quiet this city really is. We walked the 15 minute walk back to our hotel and enjoyed one last look at lit up Quebec.

The following morning we were up early for our 8.05am train departure with Via Rail to Montreal. We walked to the Gare du Palais train station which was 15 minutes from our hotel. There were a couple of cafes to enjoy breakfast as we were there an hour early. The station was quite small and quiet.

Quebec was truly magical, although a bit of a novelty. It was nice to see and enjoy the crisp cold days but I wouldn’t need to visit regularly.

Next week it’s all about vibrant Montreal.

LWL xxx