Quebec City Episode

Québec City is one of the oldest cities of North America. Capital of Québec, the French province of Canada, this small city was built on the banks of Saint Lawrence River. This charismatic city has been declared as a World Heritage Centre.

Our trip to Québec province (Montréal and Québec City) was part of our South East Canadian Trip in May’10. We decided that it should be a road trip as we both enjoy driving around so much. Hence we hired a car at Toronto. The drive to Québec City was uneventful but not very picturesque. We noticed that sign boards written boldly in French as we entered the province. We knew the journey had almost ended that way. We reached Québec City late afternoon. We stayed at a quaint little hotel 10 minutes away from the old walled city.

One of the cobbled streets of Québec City

Most of the places of visit are within the walled city. So we decided to walk within for rest of the day. As one can imagine, parking is a big problem and is expensive within the walled city. The walled city is divided into upper village (Hauté Ville) and lower village (Bassé Ville). We walked around Hauté Ville all evening, admiring the narrow and cobbled streets, old-fashioned buildings. This place had such a European feel to it – so different from rest of Canada or even North America. We hopped on a couple of pubs and settled in a lovely Italian restaurant with live music for dinner (before you ask - we were reserving Québecois French food for the next day).

The next morning, we booked ourselves to a walking tour that we had heard so much about. We decided on taking the grand tour - What better way to see the old city! Our guide was a Quebecois (naturally) Professor who spoke good English. He had thorough knowledge about local history, an excellent sense of humor and patiently answered all questions. We were a group of 8 people in the tour. Since it was a walking tour, we didn’t go into any buildings. But the guide specified which ones were worth returning to. More details about the tour can be found here. After the tour, we had our lunch at a local favourite – a French café in 1 of the back alleys of Hauté Ville.

We then returned to the places that we wanted to re-visit, as per our walking tour guide:

• Rue du Petit-Champlain - the main street in Bassé Ville for shopping, food & street performances.
• Quebec City Mural – This is a five story three dimensional painting on the side of a building in Bassé Ville that displays a very successful trompe-l'oeil (to trick the eye) effect. It depicts several notable people in Quebec history
• Sainte Anne de Beaupre Basilica in Hauté Ville
• Funiclair - old time elevator between Hauté Ville and Bassé Ville
• Le Château Frontenac - A palace in Hauté Ville overlooking Saint Lawrence River. It has been turned into a hotel & is owned by Fairmont (Surprise! Surprise!)
• La Citadelle – The Royal 22e Régiment museum. We missed the changing of the guards (10:00 am daily in summer) as we went there in the evening.

But there is so much more to write about, to see around. We couldn’t cover all that we wanted to in the 2.5 days we were there (e.g., Museum of Civilization).

View of the walled city of Quebec from the Levis ferry

That evening, our 2nd in Québec City, we took the ferry to the other side of Saint Lawerence River – to Levis. Not that there is much to do in Levis, but the view of the walled city from Levis (or even the ferry) is breathtaking! Right next to the ferry docks at Levis, there is a micro-brewery called Corsaire Microbrasserie. We tried different types of beer (I think I counted 10 or 12) before we took the ferry back to the old city.

Our 3rd morning was spent driving around L' Île d'Orléans, an island formed in the middle of Saint Lawrence River. Though we didn’t go to any of the vineyards, wineries or museums, we drove around the whole island. We found the island to be a very quite and charming place with various small villages. We noticed that wind surfing and kite surfing were extremely popular off the island beaches.

Montmorency Falls

We then headed to Montmorency Falls. Its 11 kms (7 miles) from the walled city and on the way (back) from L' Île d'Orléans. The first thing one notices about Montmorency falls is its striking height - It is higher than the Niagara (one wouldn’t expect) and quite broad too (though not as much as Niagara or even American falls). There is a nice park around the waterfalls – with few walking trails that are good.

Hurons entertaining visitors at Wendake

The last stop around Québec City was Wendake is a reserved area (for native Indians from Huron tribe). A reconstructed Huron village called Onhouä Chetek8e (where 8 is pronounced as Oua - as in ‘wh’ of what) is the main attraction there. These natives are always dressed in native clothes and perform a dance to welcome people. They sell souvenirs, art & crafts made by the tribe. Guides explain their customs, tradition, trading practices. This place also has a restaurant serving native Indian food – but unfortunately we reached just after the restaurant closed.

Thus our 3 days in and around Québec City ended - totally overwhelmed by this old-world city and its surrounding areas. But we were also looking forward to our last leg our South East Canada Trip – Montréal

Niagara Experience

We visited Niagara as part of our South East Canada trip in May’10. It was on eve of Victoria Day – a long weekend in Canada. As most do, we drove from Toronto to Niagara. The drive itself wasn’t too long or tiresome. We reached Niagara just to find out that there were a gazillion people there – such a contrast to the quite Calgary we are so used to now. A long weekend doubled with the fact that it was beginning of summer made people want to travel, was the logical explanation to the crowd.

Our initial feeling of seeing Niagara was that of disappointment – contrast to the natural beauty we expected, this place seemed to be infested with casinos, restaurants, bars and shops. Whatever happened to the serene atmosphere and tranquility we wondered? The first sight of Niagara Falls was overshadowed by the commercialization of the place. It was a concrete jungle practically.

We dragged our feet towards the maid of the mist – a boat tour to the heart of the falls. We felt it was one of those tourist things we had to get over with; but boy we were glad that we did - It was such an enthralling experience. The cruise takes you almost to the heart of the falls – This is as close as you can get to the falls - with the spray of the falls triumphing over everything else. You really feel awfully humbled in nature’s glory. It is absolutely brilliant! But it’s almost impossible to take out your expensive camera (read DSLR) out in this spray/mist. But I do recommend everyone to go this tour irrespective of its cost.

American Falls on the left and Niagara Falls far behind

Niagara has 2 HUGE waterfalls. One being Niagara falls and the other being the American falls. The American side has an observation deck which allows American visitors to look at the Niagara in addition to experiencing the American falls. American visitors can also take the maid of the mist cruise.

There are other attractions like journey behind the falls (a tunnel which takes you almost behind Niagara Falls), Sky Wheels (like London eye), Skylon tower (similar to CN tower). The rainbow bridge connects Canada and US borders. Children have a lot more to look forward to at Canadian Niagara, with a whole lot of attractions like wax museums of Hollywood stars, Ripley’s museum, arcades, etc.

The attractions are different from the US side. Access to Goat Island (island between the American Falls & Canadian Niagara falls) is on the US side. Prospect point takes you to the tip of the river where the rapids become American falls. This point also allows one to view Niagara Falls from the US side. We thought both the prospect point and the rainbow bridge were an eye sore amidst nature’s beauty.

But we spent rest of the day going to casinos and restaurants. Amidst all this, one of my dear Aunts visited us from Rochester, NY. Rochester is a few hours away in US, on the other side of the Canadian border. It was EXTREMELY sweet of her husband and her for this gesture as we couldn’t visit them since our Canadian Visa had expired. They visited us despite the crowd due to the long weekend. This is an exemplary illustration of family matters!!!

We returned to Toronto by road the next morning so that we could leave for the next phase of our South East Canada Trip – to Québec City and Montréal.

South East Canada Trip

Ever since we reached Calgary or probably ever since it was decided we were coming to Calgary or probably ever since she moved to Canada, my aunt (theoretically my grand aunt) wanted me to visit her. She has been living in Toronto for more than 25 years. So we always knew that if not any other place, we would definitely visit her for sure. We’ve always heard of her family being great hosts and aunt being an awesome cook. So justifying that Niagara Falls is a close-by tourist place wasn’t really an incentive.

We decided to visit them in early summer of 2010 and cover Montréal and Québec City as well. Our final itinerary was: Calgary-Toronto-Niagara-Toronto-Québec City- Montréal-Toronto-Calgary. So our 11 day - 3 phase approach to most vacations was put into effect again.

The first phase was Toronto and Niagara.

Our Toronto stay was a mix of exploring the city, visiting local attractions and spending time with family. More information of our Toronto trip can be found here.

The Niagara experience was a mixed bag. On one side you see one of the natural wonder of the world. There are no words to express the grandeur of this geological beauty. On the other hand there is such a bad taste of commercialization. All around the falls you see a concrete jungle filled with restaurants, bars, pubs, hotels and casinos. More information of our Niagara experience is here.

Québec City was the second phase of our trip. The Québec City episode was heartwarming especially after the Niagara experience. This city not only has the historic value but also gives a very European touch be it through architecture, art or culture. We loved walking through the old walled city and exploring the surrounding areas as well. More information of our Québec City episode is here.

Our third and final phase was the Montréal Fren(ch)zy. It was the most fun and remarkable phase in the entire trip. We would easily rate this city second only to London – our most favorite city in the world (so far). We found this city to be pulsating. Be it walking around old Montréal or visiting local attractions or checking out various festivals (through out the year) or experiencing the foodie paradise or getting a sense of the night life… the list is endless. This city doesn’t sleep, there is something for everyone and it keeps you on a high (no pun intended) always. More information of our entertaining Montréal episode is here.

Here is a link to our album: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/akshatakaranth/SouthEastCanadaTrip2131May10#