Quebec City Adventures!
It’s summer time, and Québec City is on my mind. More specifically, I’m on the job search, I have no travel plans in the near future, and so I’m daydreaming of my past adventures.
Ah, la Ville de Québec. A most glorious francophone city that I had the good fortune to visit last Thanksgiving (2016). Along with a fantastic friend from grad school, I discovered some of the wonderful things of the area. I’m a little incredulous that it’s taken me more than half a year to write up a post about a city I loved so much.
But alas, let me remedy that now! Below, I’ll share some favorite things from my 5-day stay and a few basic tips for traveling to Quebec. My pictures will (obviously) be from fall/winter, but I assure you that my wonderful experiences can be recreated in any season!
First things first, I chose to stay in an Airbnb, and the accommodations alone were a highlight. To be fair, this is largely due to the presence of a large, fluffy, extremely friendly cat who made my wintery stay in Quebec extra warm and fuzzy. I really felt like staying in a regular home added to the experience! Although I feared for my life walking down the snow dusted metal staircase (in my big fluffy boots)… I still loved it!
Beautiful, Friendly Atmosphere
I can’t say enough good things about Québec City. The atmosphere was magical. People and cities across the world are wonderful, of course. But Québec is noteworthy in that it still has an extra warm, special welcome – even for tourists. Maybe it’s because I’ve spent good chunks of time in bigger cities and metropolitan areas, but I was very (pleasantly) surprised at how kindly I was welcomed everywhere. I went prepared for the typical sub-par service in touristy areas, but pretty much everyone and everything were excellent.
One of the things I was most surprised by was everyone’s willingness to speak French with tourists. Granted, I speak French pretty well and have spent a good chunk of time in France so it (hopefully) wasn’t too much of a task for the Québecois to speak French with me. Still, I noticed that even with tourists who had minimal command of the language, the Québecois were very gracious about speaking French (if that’s what the tourists wished). To illustrate this point: during our Thanksgiving dinner at a French-style bistro, our waiter saw that we spoke French, so talked to us about the menu in French. When he came back to take our order, he started in English. The place was crowded and very busy, so I just accepted the turn of events. However, to my surprise, after just a few seconds he apologized saying, “Oh! I forgot, you guys speak French!” and proceeded to switch back to French. This kind of welcoming and attention was characteristic of my time in the city.
I arrived at YQB Airport with a fairy tale dream of frolicking around old, wintery streets and buildings (with perhaps a sprinkling of snow), eating good food, speaking French and flâning about. The Québec gods granted me literally everything I hoped for, including the snow!
Cafés, Restaurants and Markets
I ate and drank very well while staying in Québec City. I even managed to create a morning routine of sorts by visiting Nektar Caféologue 3 times over the 5 days I was there. It was close to my Airbnb and had the perfect café vibe. I have no regrets that I chose to visit this place multiple times instead of trying new places. The latte rooibos aux bleuets (blueberry rooibos) was absolutely delicious with almond milk. I was so obsessed with this that I even asked them if I could buy a bag to take home (they said I could, so I did). Yelp says their coffee is just as good.
Down the street from Nektar, you can find a charming restaurant called Le Clocher Penchée. It was so yummy – I wish I could have visited more than once! Lunch time is great because they have a $17 deal which comes with an entrée (appetizer), plat + coffee/tea. Some choices cost an extra buck or two, and dessert is $5. My friend and I decided to split a dessert and each try an iced wine (a specialty of the region, along with iced cider). So good!
Québec City is also home to some wonderful markets. I strolled through the Marché du Vieux-Port and got some little things like a mini bottle of cranberry oil and christmas ornaments (since it was the beginning of the holiday season). During our stay, the marché de noël allemand (German Christmas market) also opened, so my friend and I took our time looking at those booths as well.
[I could go on describing all the wonderful cafés, bistros and restaurants I visited, but I’ll just include a list at the end!]
Architecture and Scenery
Walks, Hikes and Explorations
As I mentioned previously, it SNOWED!! I’m from the San Francisco Bay Area so snow is kind of a big deal. I’m definitely not equipped to handle an actual snow storm, but I am one to romanticize the powder sugar coating of light snow. On the snow day, I decided to go on a solo trek around the Plaines d’Abraham (which should be lovely all year round for walking) and visit the beaux-arts museum.
The whole city is a wonderful walk, though, so I highly recommend trekking around (especially the vieux quebec neighborhood). It’s hilly + there are some stairs, so just be prepared.
Basic Travel Tips:
- Quebec Tourism Website: I can get pretty fed up with bad tourism websites, but Québec City knows how to charm and inform its tourists. Gold star.
- In fact, you should just go ahead and visit their Office of Tourism at the heart of Vieux Québec. Super helpful people will point you to all the best things in town.
- Look into Airbnbs for your stay. Of course, there are lovely hotels (at a wide range of price points), but it’s really worth it to stay in a regular home.
- For good measure, I’m going to remind you to visit Nektar Caféologue.
- I saw a lot of buses going around the city, but I just walked everywhere.
- Even if you speak French, you might want to take some time to listen to Quebecois French on YouTube or something. I didn’t do this, and definitely had a harder time than expected getting used to the different pronunciations.
Quick List of Restaurants, etc:
- Le Cochon Dingue – René-Lévesque (has a number of locations in the city): Solid food. Extra stars for our waiter who was incredibly entertaining.
- Camillia Sinensis – a magnificent tea shop. The owner (or at least, I think that’s who I met) was proud of his teas. I bought a lot to take home as gifts. They had uber-local tisanes as well!
- Erico – a lovely chocolate shop! Yummy chocolate bars, chocolate confections, pastries/cakes, and bags of hot cocoa. Yum!
- Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec – a great museum with a variety of artworks. There was a Bonnard exhibit when I was there, and I enjoyed that. Extra tip: go on the elevator. You won’t be disappointed.
- Le Brigantin – A bistro that we wandered into (our first choice was closed already for lunch). It was delicious! Sometimes, the wild card pays off! The confit de canard was perfect.
- Chez Jules – A pricier bistro that we chose for Thanksgiving dinner. Escargots were good. I liked the confit de canard, though it was a bit on the saltier side.
- Aux Anciens Canadiens – I enjoyed the experience (traditional quebecois/canadian foods) and am glad I went and got the full dinner menu. To be very honest, I’m not sure the food was exactly my style, but definitely worth the visit!
- La Maison Smith (Rue Notre Dame) – Perfect café for a little break from walking around the old city area. If you spot the chocolate ganache cake, eat it. I ate it twice, and no regrets. I’m pretty sure their tea bags are from Camellia Sinensis.
- J.A. Moisan – oldest grocery in North America! Chock full of beautiful jams, mustards, spices, teas, etc. There’s a deli section so you can actually eat in (or take away)! The store windows are also superbly decorated.
That’s all for now! Happy reading, day dreaming and traveling <3
[Jk, here are some extra photos for the road.]
