We had heard great things about Quėbec City from a friend who grew up north of the historic French Canadian town. Honestly, before we knew Dany I had never heard of Quėbec City. But now, like all the ports on this trip except Bar Harbor – and that might be entirely weather-related – I am trying to figure out when and how to return to this charming city someday.
Rob is not one for international travel where English is not the dominant language, so today was a real treat for me. Today, my 3.5 years of high school French got dusted off and put to some use. Really, I was just able to properly order my citron et fraise gelato but in vacationland, that is pretty critical stuff.
Quėbec City is quaint, charming, picturesque, hilly, cobblestoney, and very European feeling. The old part of town is for pedestrians only, encouraging leisurely strolling and window shopping. There are two parts to the old town, the upper (Haute-Ville) and the lower (Basse-Ville). You traverse between the two either by the “Breakneck Stairs” or the funiculaire. We did the funicular up and the stairs down; I preferred the stairs. More scenic and less stuffy. At the very top was what is claimed to be the most photographed hotel in the world, the Château Frontenac, operated by Fairmont. It was like an old stone castle, all turrety with green metal caps. It was very photogenic outside but sort of forgettable inside, at least as far as lobbies go.
We spent our morning wandering around both old and new, including a farmers' market filled with flowers, tomatoes, strawberries, and cheese. We sampled some apple cider ice wine and some light and medium maple syrup. We now have yet more bottles to figure out how to pack home.
The ice wine is made from apples left on the trees to freeze and picked in January after the first frost. They are then pressed and the juice is fermented. We tried two versions; one was rather sweet and the other (which we purchased) was more tangy but still definitely a dessert wine with a distinct apple smell.
The maple syrups were very nice as well. I tend not to eat things that would call for maple syrup and now I know why. The syrup I'm used to is too sweet and gooey. The locally produced Quėbėcois syrup was much lighter and less teeth-achy sweet with a wonderful brown sugar aftertaste. Several years ago, I dragged a number of Rob's family to a 'chicken 'n waffles' restaurant in southern California and discovered the magic of maple syrup and fried chicken. So with my newly acquired cooking confidence, I think I might try preparing a meal of fried chicken, pancakes, and our light Quėbec maple syrup when we get home.
After a late breakfast of wonderfully light crêpes (ham and cheese for Rob, apples and cheese for me) at an outdoor cafe, we met up with our afternoon walking tour. For about 2 hours, 27 cruisers tagged along with Natalie, an energetic and lively Quėbėcois native whose family first arrived in the province in the mid-1600s. She had a wonderful French accent and made lots of amusing hand and body gestures to punctuate her explanations of wars, victories, and rivalries with Montréal.
Our tour was capped off by us all squeezing into an underground cellar for some wine tasting. We tasted a white, a red, and a dessert wine ~ all made from mostly unfamiliar grapes. We also had some crusty bread, Brie, and a wild boar and apricot paté. I tried everything and concluded: 1) I am very happy we found the wine at the farmers' market earlier in the day; and 2) I prefer my wild boar cooked.
Rob and I decided that Quėbec City is a fantastic way to visit France without all the travel and chaos and unfamiliar currency and hoity toitiness of Paris. It felt like a wonderful European escape almost in our own backyard.
Oh, and the St. Lawrence River, which flows through the Quėbec metro, is lovely. We are cruising it as I type, with calm waters and treed banks dotted with houses and farms just over there. Very scenic.
Tomorrow we disembark the dam ship in the morning and then will spend two days exploring Montrėal. By coincidence, we will be joining the city for its “biggest tourism event of the year, bar none” according to our guide book. Yes, whether we want to or not, we shall be experiencing the Grand Prix du Canada. Should be interesting. And loud.
1 comment:
Probably not as much local color as the Banks’ Combine Demolition Derby; but I’m sure it was interesting in its own way.
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