Day 4 (Saturday) – continued

We finally stopped for a late lunch at La Crêpe Cochonne, in Sainte-Famille (before you get into the village center). The menu included “build-your-own” crepes as well as crepes with set fillings. Initially we considered ordering three, but the server raised her eyebrows when we mentioned that and asked if we really wanted that many! So we scaled back to two, one with asparagus and cheddar cheese (delicious!) and one with ham, onions and peppers. The latter was a little disappointing (at least to me), as the onions and peppers were raw (I had expected them to be sautéed). The crepes came with a side salad and a fruit garnish – don’t remember if there was anything else with them, unfortunately. Prices were reasonable and the view from the back deck was nice, but the service was a little slow.

Before we went in for lunch, I had run next door to the Boulangerie G. H. Blouin (to be sure I got in before it closed). It is a pretty nondescript building, but inside smelled wonderful. There is a little retail area inside the doorway, with a view of the rest of the bakery beyond. I bought a turnover filled with strawberry jam (the pastry was just the right mix of chewy and flaky) and a “bar” filled with raspberry jam. The bar looked similar to ones I have eaten in New England, but the “pastry” part had a texture more like a cracker than a cookie or cake (thinner and crisper). Both were huge, and at only 75 cents each quite a bargain!

After our dessert-on-the-go, we drove into the village center. The church was closed to visitors by the time we got there, but we did enjoy visiting the Parc des Ancêtres next door with its many flowers, view of the river, and interesting central sculpture (note: there is a public restroom there that might come in handy). Also of interest is the scaled-down version of the church behind it, in the cemetery. After that stop, we continued through Saint-Pierre and off the island.

We had seen the Basilica of Sainte Anne from the road on the island and decided to drive down that way, although I figured it would be closed as well. I was wrong! It was open and bustling with pilgrims when we arrived. We visited the interior and then walked around the exterior. Mom decided to sit on an outdoor bench while I went to climb the hill with life-sized stations of the cross that sits across the street from the basilica. There had been announcements that a bilingual recitation of the rosary was about to start, but we had not expected that it would be broadcast via loudspeakers to the outside.

I ended up changing my mind about climbing the hill and went in the building housing the replica of the Sancta Scala, the stairs Jesus climbed in Jerusalem when he appeared before Pontius Pilate. To my surprise, the stairs were wooden (I had expected them to be stone). Also surprising was their very shallow tread – I suppose to accommodate those who climb them on their knees. I was the only person in the building while I was there, of which I was glad. It was interesting to see both the basilica and the Sancta Scala, but I always feel a little funny visiting religious sites as “tourist attractions”.

Because we had eaten such a late lunch, we really didn’t feel like much dinner. But I wanted ice cream from Les Chocolats Favoris, so we drove all the way to the bridge over the St. Lawrence (on the west side of Quebec City) and then all the way back east to Lévis. Mom thought that I was crazy and that we would never get there. My craziness was rewarded, however, by the ice cream (we were able to park right across the street, too!).

Mom had maple soft-serve dipped in milk chocolate, and I had strawberry sort-serve dipped in dark chocolate. Both were outstanding. The chocolate is not the thin shell typical of many soft-serve places; it was thick and rich, and it took effort to bite through it! The selection of sorbets and hard-packed ice creams was extensive as well. Sorbet flavors included pear, strawberry-mint, strawberry-basil, and apricot-rosemary (which I tried; it was an interesting mix that at times even tasted of mango or orange). LCF certainly deserves its reputation and is worth a visit (or two)!

That the place was still hopping at almost 10 PM was a big surprise to Mom. She still lives in a bedroom community of a small city in the southern US (where I grew up) and was not used to all that late-night activity (on the other hand, I did not think twice about it). More than once when we were out late, she asked “Where are all these people going so late at night?” She also never quite got used to the sidewalk traffic in the city – the crowds were larger than what she regularly encounters. Especially vexing were the people who would just stop in the middle of the sidewalk to carry on a conversation!

Much to her relief, we took the ferry back across to Quebec City. We had a little wait for it to leave, so we were able to watch both the Image Mill at the port across the river (I was glad I had brought my binoculars along!) and the finale of the fireworks down at Montmorency Falls (quite impressive, even at that distance). We stayed in the car for a little while to listen to the radio broadcast of the audio for the Image Mill and then watched from out on deck. It was interesting, we both agreed, but we were glad we saw the part of it from the ferry rather than sitting through the whole thing at the port. I’m not sure either of us could have endured over an hour of it.

I realized that we probably would hit the ferry landing about the time the Image Mill ended, and sure enough, we did. Seeing the size of the crowds walking back to their cars/hotels/etc. made Mom even more glad we were not out among them! For the most part, the crowds were very orderly, which was a relief to me as a driver. I had visions of being surrounded by pedestrians and unable to drive for quite a while, but, all things considered, it didn’t really take that long to get through the city and back to the hotel.

Even thought it was late, we tried to do some packing, as we were leaving for Maine the next day.

I enjoyed your comments about your Mom being so surprised by the "late-night" activity. A lot of especially urban Quebecois have the opposite reaction when they travel to some cities in the United States..."where is everybody?"... the streets seem so deserted.

I'll get around to posting Day 5 soon, I hope, but here are two other surprises I haven't mentioned yet:

(1) We never saw any pigeons in Quebec City! That was a nice surprise.

(2) There were black squirrels! OK, so I only saw 2, but I had not seen a black squirrel since a school trip to Toronto almost 30 years ago. Our tour guide told us to be on the lookout, but we were starting to believe he was scamming us, as NO ONE on the trip saw any until the very last day.

Funny you mention those black squirrels. I don't see them especially here in Montreal (we tend to get the more common gray ones with the fluffy tail, an occasional albino), but in Toronto's Queen's Park, the black squirrels seemed predominant! Interesting... And in Halifax, Nova Scotia they get a MUCH smaller reddish variety, maybe twice the size of a chipmunk.

FINALLY!

Day 5 (Sunday)

This was our last day in Quebec City. After checking out of the hotel, we attended services at Quebec Baptist Church, an English-language church on Grande Allée (by now you had probably guessed we are not Catholic). QBC is one of just a handful of English-language churches in the city and includes a good number of non-North Americans among the congregation.

We had intended to have lunch at Asia (also on Grande Allée), but it was closed, so we started looking around for a replacement. Mom was game to try a nearby Lebanese place (her first time), but they were cash only, and we were out of Canadian dollars. After checking out a few other places, we settled on (gasp!) Quizno's because they were quick and took credit cards.

As we walked back to the car, parked near the Jardin Jeanne d'Arc (Joan of Arc Garden) at the Plains of Abraham, the wind suddenly picked up, out of nowhere. The Loews Le Concorde has flagpoles that extend from the hotel parallel to the ground, with flags hanging perpendicular to the ground. The wind was so strong that the FLAGS were parallel to the ground! That lasted for a couple of minutes - it was not just a brief gust.

We decided to enjoy a stroll in the gardens and over to the Martello Towers Numbers 1 and 2 in the area - did not go in either one, though. But the view of the Plains and the river was nice, and Mom loved the flowers in the garden. SURPRISE: There were little signs in the flower beds announcing that there is free wi-fi access in the gardens! That struck me as so humorous that I took pictures of them. The sign were green and had the "concentric arcs" wi-fi symbol shape.

From there we set of to hit the road to Maine. Instead of taking the principal streets, though, we drove through the neighborhoods that paralleled them, to get a feel for what residential parts of the city are like. It didn't take much longer and was quite interesting. I'm sure the more places one visits, the more comparisons are made, but I was surprised that residential parts of Quebec City reminded me of Dallas, Deep-South cities (like Jackson, MS, and Birmingham, AL), and Midwestern cities (like Cincinnati and Indianapolis). Odd mix!

When we finally got to the bridges, I opted for the older Pont de Québec, as we had already crossed the Pont Pierre-Laporte a couple of times. It meant a little detour, as we were headed for the A-73, but it was fun to have crossed both bridges. Plus, we ran by a Walmart we spied on the way to the A-73 for a quick look. It was nicer than most US Walmarts I have been in.

On the way to Lévis the previous evening we had seen the signs for (and the spray from) the Chutes-de-la-Chaudière, so we stopped there, too. The falls are not as high as Montmorency, but we enjoyed the view (and I went down to the footbridge that spans the river below the falls - too many steps for Mom). The view from the bridge is great - the falls on one side and the city in the distance when you face the opposite direction - but if you don't like things that sway, you won't like the footbridge. I guess it's serious, but was amused by the sign forbidding "Les manoeuvres avec cordes" from the bridge (which I assumed meant bungee jumping, but I suppose might have meant rappelling).

When we finally really got underway, it was late enough that we just took the A-73 rather than the more scenic Route 173. A-73 is pretty boring - from the glimpses we had through the hills of the Chaudière Valley and the brief stretch we followed once the A-73 ended, it looked like 173 would have been a nice drive. Of course, it had started raining as soon as we had left the falls, so not sure how much that would have further slowed us down. As it was, we did not make it to Bar Harbor until after 10 PM!

But we did make one final stop before we left Canada. Don't remember if it was in Beauceville or Saint-Georges, but Mom decided she wanted more cookies to take home, so we pulled into an IGA to stock up. It was probably the nicest IGA I have ever been in - pricier than the Maxi in Quebec City, but also very sleek, with lots of wood in the décor. It looked more like a Whole Foods to me than an IGA. And I am still enjoying the Fudgee-O's that I brought home - doling them out two at a time to savor them. Mmmmmm! The "Distinction" maple cookies made by Leclerc were really good, too - high praise, since I am not that much of a maple fan.

From there, it was on to the border, with a very easy crossing. There were 2 lanes at US immigration, only one of which was occupied, so we were able to pull right in. The US agent actually looked in the trunk (the Canadian agent had not when we entered Canada). He was pretty stone-faced and stern, and maybe they have to be, but it was not exactly a warm welcome back home. I guess they have a tough job, though.

But it was a great trip! We did not get to do the tour of the Château Frontenac or the visitor center/bus tour/Martello Tower at the Plains of Abraham, but otherwise I think we did most everything we had really wanted to. Thanks to all who helped in planning, and sorry this took a month to get all posted!

Maybe I will get around to doing the Bar Harbor/Acadia TR now!

Thank you for sharing your experiences of Quebec! I have visited Québec (the city and the province) from southern Ontario many times, but it is very interesting to read other travelers' (especially American) experiences. I haven't had the ice cream at Lévis but I will have to enjoy some now that you have described such a delicious treat!

I have taken middle (Gr.7/8) school groups to visit Quebec City and environs and the highlight of their trip was the mall! They too enjoyed the number of stores and they were able to practice their French (I am a French teacher).

I hope that you will visit the Governor-General's Residence in Ottawa one day - it is very beautiful. I have not yet visited the one in QC - another place for me to visit.

I found your comment about the wine at the Québec Parlement restaurant interesting - I have visited France and I agree - the wine "culture" has travelled across the Atlantic. What wine did you try? There is a very successful wine industry in my area of Southern Ontario - the Niagara peninsula (which is at a similar latitude as Burgundy) has red and white wines that are becoming very successful, as good as the ice wines which one would expect from Canada.

Timsmom -

Thanks for your kind words. I would love to visit Ottawa some day, as well as to return to Toronto and southern Ontario.

As far as the wine at Le Parlementaire - we did not have any, so I can't comment on the selection or quality!

Bookmarking for future trip. Thanks Cranachin!

You're welcome, Martinan.

And I thought of another funny thing we saw - a car with "Lavez-moi!" (Wash me!) written in the dust on it.

I didn't realize that was universal - LOL

thanks for the detailed report!

You might want to try Aux Anciens Canadiens on your next trip. They do have menu complet meals - appetizer, soup, main dish, dessert and tea or coffee. The prices start at around $35 but both times I ate there I thoroughly enjoyed my meals. The first time was in 1981 and the second in 2005, so they kept the standards up.

The restaurant itself is the oldest building in Québec City. The ambiance was lovely and the service was good - none of that "I'm Amy and I'll be your server tonight" spiel that makes me crazy.

All in all, I found it value for money and a great experience. The second time we have friends from Michigan with us who really enjoyed it.

Nice to listen story about Quebec, I'M living just near this city, at Saguenay !

bookmarking .. thanks