Ville de Québec

Quebec City. Founded by Samuel de Champlain in 1608. UNESCO World Heritage Site. Old buildings. Art. More restaurants than you can count. Impressive Chateau Frontenac. Street performers. One of my favourite cities.

Chateau Frontenac

View of port and St. Lawrence River

Quebec is all these things and more. Its name comes from an Algonguin word meaning "where the river narrows".  It has played a significant role in Canadian history and as the tourist guide says, it is the "birthplace of French civilization in North America", 

It is also a great place to hang out with Granny.

After getting settled in the marina in the Vieux Port, we started making plans for our vacation with John's Mom, Lois. Together, we rented a car: a peppy little Fiat to get us around. Unfortunately, our rental coincided with the Grand Prix Cycliste; a race where the city turned into a frenzy of speeding cyclists. Most of the roads were closed, and the streets were packed with people to watch this grand event. We had trouble walking without getting yelled at by police to stay off the roads. After a couple of hours of me re-learning how to drive a car in a new city with crazy traffic delays, we found our way to a supermarché to stock on provisions.  

Outside the store, we happened upon a guy who just happened to be shopping with his Polaris Slingshot three-wheeled motorcycle. He saw that John and Simon were interested in it and let them sit in it for a photo op. Trés cool! (Note that he did NOT give Simon the keys.) 

After we picked up Granny from the airport, we decided to try our first Quebec city restaurant called Légende (restaurantlegende.com). We read online:"An intimate, upscale restaurant featuring a menu of seasonal dishes". Our waiter told us that everything is local from the Gulf of St. Lawrence region (except the wines of course.) The dishes are small in a tapa kind-of-way and are meant for sharing. The fisherman's platter that we ordered was nothing like we have ever seen. Not a lick of breading, or anything that was remotely recognizable. It was however, delicious, healthy and added to our adventuring spirit. Wavey nonchalantly ordered the blood pudding dish like she had been eating it all her life, and shared with us all.  New experiences all around.

Meal at Legende

The Fisherman's Platter (notice the foamy shrimp and strawberry dish on the left)

We decided to stop "formal" bomeschooling during Granny's visit and use the opportunity to go into field trip mode.  We enjoyed walking around the city (phys ed, map-reading), watching street performers (performing arts), poking into shops (money management and French), and eating gelato (reading, decision-making).

Going up on the Funicular

Boutique shopping with Granny

Beautiful streets and shops

Marina dining

The weather was glorious for most of the visit, which allowed us to visit the Citadel and take a tour of this still operational military station. On our rainy day, we made our way to the Musée de Civilization where we learned about nanotechnology, the history of First Nations in Quebec, and little known facts about cats and dogs. The last exhibit we visited involved the senses and exploring our perceptions of our world. As usual, we closed the place, yearning for more learning.

Our one rainy day

Learning about cats and dogs

Hanging out 

Ahhhhhh!

Picnic lunch waiting for our tour of the Citadel

A soldier and his goat

In the evenings, we retreated to Granny's boutique hotel where the kids were greeted at the door with lemonade, fresh pastries and apples for guests (well, we were kinda guests). We watched movies and visited before returning to Nahanni V to recharge for the following day. 

Au revoir Granny!

As we reflected on our visit, we all felt it had been a fantastic five days. Is there any better thing than spending time in your favourite place with those you love?