#18 Québec

View from the Lower Town to the Château Frontenac at sunset

Given that we had a four-day weekend available in June this year, I had a few bucket list trip ideas that could have been accomplished... and PA chose Québec City from that list!

Views over the Château Frontenac, Dufferin Terrace, and Saint Lawrence River

After a near-missed connection in Toronto, we made it to Québec City Friday afternoon and immediately got poutine and started wandering the Old City, particularly the Château Frontenac, Dufferin Terrace, and then up to the trail along the river and around the Plaines d'Abraham and Citadelle - there are some nice photo ops from that hill overlooking the Château. For dinner, we had an amazing platter of rabbit and duck specialties at Le Lapin Sauté along with a sangria made with local cassis, yum!

Duck poutine from Maison Livernois

Maple taffy sugar shack-style at La Bûche

On Saturday in drizzling rain, we joined a super informative historical walking tour in French in the morning, then spent the afternoon eating local specialties (La Bûche and Maison Livernois) and walking some more through the old streets, popping into Notre-Dame de Québec - nearly 20,000 steps in all! My favorite charming spot was Place Royale where we ate dinner at La Pizz and had drinks around the corner at Pub L'Oncle Antoine. We then rounded out the evening with an entertaining ghost tour.

The charming Place Royale

Local beers at Pub L'Oncle Antoine

The next day, we were on a quest for a great pain au chocolate and discovered Boulangerie Epi'Fanny down Rue Saint-Jean outside the Old City - so worth the walk! We took a fun bus tour out to Ile Saint Louis, Montmorency Falls, Sainte-Anne de Beaupré Shrine, and a copper museum for the artisan who did Sainte-Anne basilica's doors. 

Montmorency Falls outside Québec

Back in town, we headed straight to Le Chic Shack for braised beef poutine and salad for lunch. We stopped by the Anglican Holy Trinity Church (we heard it was haunted on the ghost tour) then headed back down to Rue Saint-Jean to browse the francophone used bookstores. The whole street was blocked off for pedestrians and had tons of outdoor bar seating/live music and a festive atmosphere on a sunny day. We ended up at the chill Bar Le Sacrilège for a beer on the shady back terrace. That evening, we went to Bar 1608 in the Château Frontenac hotel for (expensive) drinks with a view, then an 8pm dinner reservation at La Légende for the 6-course tasting menu.

Cinnamon roll from Boulangerie Epi'Fanny

Monday morning we made the most of another sunny day by walking back to Epi'Fanny for pastries, enjoying the Plaines d'Abraham Park, and having a last poutine and local cider lunch at Pub Saint-Patrick. Such a fun long weekend in Québec City!

Item 18 Completed 6/17-20/22

37/51 items complete = 72%