I impress myself with my assumed knowledge sometimes. Later in the day, I said to my husband that I suspected the cheapest you'd get a room at this globally recognised hotel for would be $560 - $580 per night. When we got home, I looked it up on a few sites, and found the best price currently is 543$ Canadian, which is AUD $574! How close was I?
After a while we went up to Musee du Fort to watch the 'sound and light' show. It was a 20 minute show and cost us 22$. We found it very dated, confusing, and even boring at times. I almost feel asleep twice. However, it did give us a much more vivid understanding of how strategically important Quebec City was and still is, and why the Americans wanted it so much. It also heightened my awareness of why Boston is still seen as a fierce rival, by both Montrealers and Quebecois folk.
Next we walked down the many steps to the area underneath the fortress walls, by the banks of the St Lawrence River. We meandered through many of the cobblestone laneways, along with countless other groups of tourists. It's very gimmicky down there, but the heritage buildings and shopfront presentations remain interesting to me. Laurie and I have a real soft spot for old wharfs, marine waterfronts and working port heritage. Whenever we arrive in a coastal city, it seems to be the very first place we go.
We decided we needed something to eat, so started looking for a decent spot, knowing that our chances of finding something worthwhile would be limited in such a tourist trap. Eventually we noticed a gorgeous and less populated street, so went down there and found a great old stone pub called 'Oncle Antoine.' We went into the dark, compelling, cave like interior to enquire about beers, and saw the quality of the french onion soup a hipster barman was bringing out for other customers, and that was it - We were in. We grabbed a table in the cobblestone laneway, ordered some beers, the soup and some nachos. This may sound pretty average, but my Goodness, when it arrived on our table, it was the best version of each dish we've ever had. We regret there was no prospect of trying their fondue (as we just can't eat everything on a menu!) We're sure it would have been exquisite. It was lovely sitting out there, in the gentle warmth, along with a couple of gay business men and some stylish Italian women carrying Prada handbags. It was a memorable experience.
Next we wandered the shopping lanes some more, with ice-cream cones in hand, and found a store where a woman made fresh, warm maple taffy, cooled it somewhat on a bed of ice, then wrapped it around a stick and gave it to our daughter for 2$. It was delicious gummy goo.
We returned back up to the old city fortress on a fernicular, then strolled the length of the boardwalk up there overlooking the river and the landscape at large. It's a tremendously wide wooden boardwalk, about 25 metres wide, I'd say. It's called Terrasse Dufferin. We then went into the grand Hotel Frontegnac to check out the internal courtyard and the main entrance areas. I had full, and long held, intentions of having a whisky sour at their stunning circular bar, overlooking the river, but unfortunately it does not open until later in the day.
Content with all that we'd seen and consumed, we called it a day, and came home for a siesta. I had dearly wanted and intended to go to the Musee National des Beaux Arts, further along through a large park, however luckily I checked before heading off there, only to find that it is closed until the end of June for refurbishment. I also wanted to visit the Musee Royale, but that's only open on weekends. No matter, it's such a picturesque city that just being here for 3 nights has been a great privilege. And now, we're off to have a gourmet pizza experience at Quebec City's most well reviewed 'unique pizza' restaurant, so we'll get to enjoy more walking along the cobbled streets, and down to the waterfront below. Definitely happy with the time we've had here. It's a seriously charming city to visit.
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