Quebec Vacation - Quebec City

8/2/19

Allison and I took a spur of the moment anniversary trip to Quebec City for a long weekend.  The location was going to be a surprise, but she ended up guessing correctly on her second try so I had to tell her.  Flights went smoothly and we ended up arriving at our hotel, Hotel 71, at a little after 5PM on Friday night.

Hotel 71 is located in the Lower Town area of Old Quebec and is about a block from the pedestrian area.  The location is ideal and the staff at the hotel are extremely helpful and very friendly.  Would definitely stay here again.

Since we were late getting in, we didn't do anything beyond briefly exploring the Lower Town and grabbing some drinks and a quick dinner.  The following day was to be dedicated to Montmorency Falls and Isle d'Orleans, with focus on the city resuming on Sunday.

8/3/19

Since we booked our trip on late notice, I had a hard time getting a tour booked for Ile d'Orleans and Montmorency Falls.  I eventually found something on a site called ToursbyLocals.  Unfortunately they completely no-showed on the tour (in their defense, their refund process was relatively painless), leaving us in a bind.  Thankfully the concierge at our hotel was able to get in touch with a guide who had a last minute opening due to a cancellation.

We were able to depart only an hour after we had originally planned and were quickly on our way to Montmorency Falls.

It was a pretty easy hike to the falls, though Allison DID NOT like going over the bridge the spanned the falls.  Never seen her tiny little legs move so quickly.  Since she did not enjoy the bridge, we obviously opted to skip the zipline and chose to just wander around a bit and enjoy the scenery.  Montmorency is actually almost 100 feet taller than Niagra Falls, though it isn't nearly as girthy.

After running back across the bridge, we rejoined our guide to make our way to Ile d'Orleans to check out some vineyards.  Our first stop was Ste-Petrenille for a tasting and a quick lunch.  Nothing like a giant plate of duck fat poutine with a nice crisp white wine.  We did a tasting of 5 wines for a very reasonable (can't remember the exact amount) price while we waited for a table.  Great place to stop.

En route to our next vineyard, we made a quick pit stop inside Chocolaterie de Ile d'Orleans for dessert.  We also picked up some chocolate golf balls for Mimi and my mom as a "thank you for dealing with my terrorist children" gift.

Our final stop was Isle de Bacchus where we did an 8 wine tasting for $10.  Found a couple that we really liked and, as our luck would have it, they just started shipping to the United States.  Score one for us.  We ended up buying a half case.

After a busy day of sightseeing outside of town, we made our way back to the hotel for a quick nap before getting ready for dinner.

We decided to head up the hill and explore the Upper Town a bit before dinner, and the crowds were insane to say the least.  I had not anticipated how popular Quebec City would be on a weekend with nice weather.  My bad.  Since it was close by, we figured we would stop by the Basilica before dinner.

Notre Dame de Quebec was under renovation, so we opted to skip heading inside.  There was construction almost everywhere, so I led Allison around to the north side to see if we could see the Holy Door.  I was about to give up when Allison spotted it in between a pile of building supplies and scaffolding.  Breathtaking /s.

8/4/19

We overslept a bit and had to rush out of the hotel, so we ended up skipping breakfast with hopes to make it to La Citadelle in time for the changing of the guards ceremony.  We rode up the funicular and made our way down Terrasse Dufferin, the boardwalk that runs in front of Chateau Frontenac, towards La Citadelle.  We climbed up a couple flights of stairs that led to a dirt path.  This is when I realized that we were going into a fortress/army base and of course it would only have one entrance...that was on the complete opposite side of where we were.

We made it just in time to get a primo viewing spot for the changing of the guards.  After you leave the ticket office, head to the left side of the parade ground to get the closest views.  The soldiers won't be facing towards you too often, but it's the closest you can get to them.

One thing that we did not expect, was La Citadelle's regimental army goat that came complete with shiny forehead armor.  The changing of the guards takes around half an hour, and starts to drag a bit at the end, but afterwards they let you line up to take a picture with the goat.  Allison sprinted ahead as fast as she could, so we were third in line in front of all the little kids.  SUCKERS!

After getting our rad goat pics, we made our way back down the funicular to grab a quick lunch and do some shopping.  There were some really neat art pieces that we saw in the several area galleries.  Allison was smitten by what she described as High Five Guy, a 6'-7' statue of a guy that just looked like he was begging for a High Five.  Lots of places to stop for a drink in the pedestrian areas and it's great for people watching.  Tons of weird looking people.

Place Royale is the main square in the Lower Town pedestrian area.  It's pretty central to everywhere, so we spent a lot of time walking around.  There is a statue of King Louis XIV in the middle of the square.  While we were there, it was surrounded by a clear bubble with face snow blowing up with fans, making it resemble a snow globe.

The old city Fortifications are located in the Upper Town near Rue Saint-Jean, which is right where we were having dinner that night.  The streets were all shut down for an event, so it was pedestrian only, which was nice because everything was super crowded.  We climbed to the top of the walls and got a picture with the towers for Emerson because she is a fan of towers.  She thinks princesses live in them.

Restaurants
Chez Boulay

Dinner Sunday night was at Chez Boulay and it was great.  I just wanted to point out that I got to eat a seal.

Aux Anciens Canadiens

Aux Anciens Canadiens is located in one of the oldest buildings in Quebec.  They have a multiple course meal that we opted for.  I had filets of red deer, bison, and wapiti.  Allison was full before her main course.

Bistro Sous le Fort

Good lunch spot by the funicular.  Grabbed an elk burger.  Was tasty.

Q de Sac

Q de Sac is located right next to Pape-Georges.  Ate here for lunch before leaving to catch our plane.  The duck wings were really good.

Bars
Pub de L'Once Antoine

We actually grabbed dinner here spontaneously on our first night while we were getting drinks.  Got a big ole French Onion soup, which was apparently the theme of the trip for me.  Good drinks, not too expensive, and quick service.  Think we stopped by here two or three times.

Pape-Georges

Pape-Georges was our first stop upon arriving in Quebec.  It's in a prime people watching spot and a good place to stop and grab a few drinks.  They have a cheese plate that looked really good, but we opted to eat elsewhere.

Pub Saint-Alexandre

Stopped here for a while during the festival on Saint-Jean before dinner.  Didn't have any food, but drinks were good.