Quebec City

 

What to do when delayed at the airport?!

Ok, backtracking to my Quebec adventure back in July:

From America back to Canada – airport delay meant I had a little over an hour to kill at the Boston Airport… so I did some wine and cheese tasting of course!

Arrived in Quebec to a taxi driver telling me to learn more French quick smart or I would not survive in Quebec, and to think about buying a house, marrying my “make believe” boyfriend and having babies before I’m thirty because after that apparently I’m “going to have a lot of heartache”… well “Merci beaucoup vous trou du cul!”. He wasn’t all bad news though – he pointed me in the direction of the Bryan Adams gig that was on, and almost finished, and some Jazz to enjoy with a late dinner.

Jazz in the rain in Quebec City

I liked Quebec City, but definitely only needed my two nights there. This is what I did –

1. Explored the old city and surrounds. It is really easy to get around by Foot Falcon in this city. I went for a nice morning walk along the water, came across the Citadel at a very convenient time, when they were about to do the Changing of the Guard. Good half hour show meant my first sunburn of the trip!

The Fancy Fairmont Hotel, where I did not stay.

Lucky to arrive just in time for the Changing of the Guard at the Citadel! Score..

The Queens Goat inspecting the Guards for duty. Apparently this is goat number 14. I saw goat number 3 stuffed in the museum.

A girl in my hostel had handed me a flyer for Crossing the Holy Door in the Note Dame Cathedral. I thought that would be pretty cool to check out. The parish is 350 years old, and the Pope has opened the Holy Door in celebration. I walked through a few doors, not quite sure if I got the right one…. Beautiful old church!

Looks like rain…. inside the Notre Dame

Religious Graffiti

2. I did beer tasting. I was looking at what I thought was a walking tour organised by the Hostel. Turns out it was actually a ferry ride across to the river to Levis to take some great snaps of Quebec City….. When our Hostel tour guide suggested beer tasting after a hike up to the lookout, I was all in! Great decision as I met some lovely people and sampled some great beers!

Group Beer tasting at Corsaire

Our tour guide, Matthew had suggested another microbrewery to try, called Le Barberie which was a small hike out of the old town but had a lovely beer garden. I decided to go on a solo beer tasting adventure. Now these sample sizes were slightly larger than our afternoon Corsaire samples so needless to say I proceeded to get quite drunk after taster 3… By taster 6, a group of French boys had noticed me drinking by myself and invited me over for a chat. Which was good as I needed to talk rather than drink – the 8% amber ale had knocked me off my feet!

Solo beer tasting at Le Barberie.

3. I ate. Delicious crêpes, awesome pizza, maple walnut ice cream and a really tasty burger…. I was thinking of going for a poutine but though I would leave that till Montreal (SO glad I did!). Then I walked off my eating with exploring the city walls, perusing the Parliament House and enjoyed the Plains of Abraham before the rains set in for the afternoon – my cue to catch the bus to….. Montreal!!

Parliament House, complete with community garden out the front. Kudos Quebec!

 

Canada does flowers really well! My next home will have a garden, so for christmas I would like a gardening book!

Bush walking through Plains of Abraham in the rain – thank goodness for my awesome raincoat!