Québec City 💙

Part two of our Canadian trip was to Québec City - the oldest French speaking city in North America. Also the only remaining walled city north of Mexico. I am so glad we made the trip there as it reminded me in many ways of Salzburg, Austria. So pretty, almost like a fairyland. Both Montréal and Québec City are in the province of Québec and French is by law the primary language. But even if people don’t speak much English they seem to understand it fairly well as we were told they all take English in school at a young age, and they watch Netflix!

We didn’t rent a car but it was easy to get there from Montreal - either bus or train. We opted to take the bus and it was easy to get to the bus station in downtown and buses left almost on the hour for the 3 and a half hour drive. Same heading back to Montréal which we needed to do to get our flight home. The buses were very nice and clean, but I recommend buying your tickets in advance as both of our buses were full.

Québec City is small compared to Montréal - and very walkable. In fact I highly recommend walking everywhere because it the best way to see this beautiful old quaint historic city. The explorer Samuel de Champlain is credited with founding the city in 1608 and it was called Kebec. It was originally governed by France but after some back and forth for more than 100 years it lost a big battle with the British and became part of Britain in 1763. Little did I know in 1775 American revolutionaries tried to capture Québec but were unsuccessful. I can’t believe they still like us so much!

We stayed right in the very center of town at the cutest boutique hotel. It was called Auberge Place D’Armes. Fantastic location and a great attached restaurant called Chez Jules. It got excellent reviews but we just ran out of time to eat at all the great spots. The hotel was very reasonable - I’m guessing more expensive during the summer months. We were lucky and the weather was great the whole time we were there. We needed coats but it was sunny.

The old city is all within the city walls and referred to as Old Upper Town and Old Lower Town. We could never get a definitive answer as to where the line is so everyone just said if you walked down a hill or stairs you are in lower town. Well ok! There are a few cool areas outside the walls too. We spent a day exploring two of them - St-Roch and St-Jean Baptiste. St-Roch is definitely lower and St-Jean Baptiste upper, but there is either a very tall staircase to climb between the two or you can take the elevator! We had done plenty of walking so elevator for us!

There are a number of what sounded like good museums, but since the weather was so great we stuck to more of the outdoor sites - and an awesome free walking tour. I had a spur of the moment idea and googled free walking tours in Québec City and one popped up. Let me introduce you to Sam DuBois. An awesome guy that is a certified tour guide and Québec City native that has been doing free walking tours for 7 years. He also has almost 1000 great reviews on Trip Advisor. What did we have to lose? If you are heading there I highly recommend committing to this two hour tour. His website is www.afreewalkingtourofquebec.com. He is interesting and funny and you will enjoyably learn a lot. But he should be compensated for his time and effort so tip generously.

The tour starts at the Parliament building right outside the city wall. Sam said basically that makes it like a state capital building.

In my opinion the most picturesque district is called Le Quartier Petit-Champlain. If it’s not in the Old Lower Town it definitely felt like it because you either walked down a lot of stairs or took the funicular. This time we took the stairs. So many cute shops, restaurants, galleries, statues etc. We went a couple of times and stopped one night for a glass of mulled wine at a cute rustic bar right at the bottom of the stairs.

La Citadelle is a massive star-shaped fort that construction was begun on in 1820 by the British to defend against an American invasion and a possible revolt by the French-speaking population. Lots of cannons pointing in all directions and sits very high up overlooking the St Lawrence River. It’s still an active military post with about 200 members based there. They give hour long tours which is the only way to see it from the inside so Cheryl and I did it and learned a lot. Yes that is a real (stuffed) goat that was a gift from Queen Elizabeth on her visit in 1955. His name is Batisse and it is a Persian goat descended from the Queen’s private stock of goats. The goat participates daily in the summer during the changing of the guard, and has become the mascot of Québec. The goat proved to be so popular and the lifespan not that long so they started raising the goats instead of importing them from England - and the current one is the 10th by best guess.

The Dufferin Terrace sits on the hilltop just below the very famous Le Château Frontenac. It is a great boardwalk that will take you all the way along the Governor’s Promenade to the Plains of Abraham where the famous battle of 1759 decided the fate of the city. A reminder - the British won. It s a beautiful overlook along the St Lawrence River and we lucked out with a spectacular day.

So many cute shops to browse in! I’m not much of a shopper but they had a great selection of scarves, gloves and hats. Lots of locals mentioned how cold it gets there in the winter so not a surprise they would be stocking up. Also cute souvenir shirts, sweatshirts, magnets, mugs and the like. I loved this cute shirt and came very close to purchasing it. Made me laugh every time I saw it.

We found a self guided walking tour of St-Jean Baptiste and decided to follow it. This area is outside the walls of the old city and I’m pretty sure it’s where most of the locals live. So many cute houses, shops and restaurants along with Martello Tower 4 - one of the three remaining towers that were part of the fortification built for defense in 1810. If you visit Québec City and have time it’s worth a half day and a breakfast or lunch as part of your exploration.

Last but definitely not least as far as sites is Le Château Frontenac. It totally dominates the city no matter where you are. You will end up with 50 pictures of it because it is spectacular and you want to remember it from every angle and every time of day. It was completed in 1893 and was built for luxury stays along the Canadian Pacific Railway. Lots of famous people have stayed there but the most memorable for me was PM Winston Churchill, President Franklin Roosevelt and Canadian PM William Lyon Mackenzie King met here to plan the final stages of WWII. Anyone can go into the lobby or eat at the hotel. They have a beautiful bar called 1608 that Cheryl and I went to our last night. Pictures coming up!

And now for some food! I didn’t get pics of every meal - but captured some of our favorites. We headed to St-Roch for breakfast one day because we read Le Croquembouche was the best bakery in town. They had an amazing selection and it was wonderful but very reasonable. I had a plain croissant with homemade jam and Cheryl had an apple turnover. We were definitely the only tourists - all locals - a good sign.

Our very favorite spot for lunch was La Buche. The food was delicious and we loved the very Canadian decor. Check out that bear skin on the wall! Cheryl started with a pea soup that was fantastic - and it was kind of a mustard color. We both had only seen pea soup that was green so caused us to do some research and find out that actually there are lots of colors of peas. Now we know! I had a grilled cheese but the cole slaw was unique. I think they use maple syrup liberally in many things. It was good.

Our favorite dinner spot was Bello. Excellent Italian but the lighting wasn’t great for food pics. We shared a salad, risotto and a ravioli dish that were all wonderful. Then a lemon tart with lemon sorbet - Yumm!

As mentioned we treated ourselves the last night by going to Bar 1608 at Le Château Frontenac for drinks and a charcuterie plate. It was such a cool place and felt so European. No one rushed you or kept coming by to entice you to get more drinks. Great service but respectful of letting you enjoy the lovely atmosphere. And of course some flying Canadian geese!

Je Me Souviens - you see it everywhere. It means “I remember” in French. Their heritage is important to them so they don’t want to forget.

There are a number of gates into the city. This one is right by the entrance to La Citadelle.

One last picture of Le Château Frontenac. You never get tired of it💕 This one taken looking up from Le Quartier Petit-Champlain.

We had such a wonderful trip! Thanks for being such a great travel partner Cheryl. You made everything more fun. We love you French Canada!