Quebec City

July 22, 2022

For our first full weekend in Canada, we traveled to Quebec City with our Montreal-local friends Emma and Darren. Getting there on a Friday night, we spent our first few hours in the town exploring the area outside our Airbnb on Rue Saint-Joseph where we ate some poutine, spoke with a couple Scientologists, and caught a glimpse of a drag show from the outside of a popular bar.

July 23, 2022

Cynthia and I burst out of the door on Saturday morning determined to see the changing of the guard ceremony at La Citadelle de Quebec, about a 30 minute walk from our apartment. Opting to hoof it rather than call a cab, we only had 30 minutes until the ceremony began, so a quarter of the way there we decided to start running up the hill toward the citadel. As we entered the gate to the fortress in time, we were a little dismayed to learn that the ceremony was canceled and hasn’t been held since Covid became widespread in 2020.

After walking along the outside of the citadel, we met up with Emma and Darren and strolled down the Dufferin Terrace with the famous Chateau Frontenac towering above us. Built in 1893, this historic hotel was the location of the First and Second Quebec Conferences in 1943 and 1944 where World War II allies met and discussed strategy for the war. Attendees during these two conferences included Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Canadian PM William Lyon Mackenzie King.

We took our time strolling the city above Old Quebec and visited the Notre-Dame Basilica, a Christmas store, a historic library, and a number of boutique shops. We then descended into Old Quebec on the oldest street in North America, Rue du Petit Champlain, lined with restaurants, cafes, gift shops, and art galleries. While in Old Quebec, we visited the location of the first building in Quebec City, which is now a church, and also visited the Museum of Bad Art that was on exhibit in Place Royal Square.

July 24, 2022

Before heading back to Montreal, we spent a few hours on Ile d’Orleans where we visited a chocolate shop and strawberry farm to get a taste of the idyllic Quebecois countryside.