Quebec City

Although the day started out cloudy and cool, by mid afternoon the sun has come out and Quebec City started to feel more like July. Our slow start to a carless - not careless - day started with another trek down into the heart of old Quebec. Construction at the ramparts stopped us from going up to the Plains of Abraham and then down the boardwalk to the Chateau Frontenac. Also, the main stage for the Summer Music Festival is set up smack in the centre of the Plains. Our prime objective was to find a way to the lower town without all the steps. On this route we stopped in at Simons Dept.Store where Dawn worked as a teenager. Our route eventually took us along the lower ramparts with its guns still pointed out over the St. Lawrence, protecting the city from those nasty English. We finally comingled with all the other tourists in Lower Town. As it was once again time to put on the feed bag, we stopped at the Cochon Dingue (Crazy Pig) after also contemplating Lapin Saute (Fried Rabbit). We shared a substantial poutine with all things pig - sausage, bacon and pulled pork. Yum! Stairs to return to the upper town were still not an option, so a quick trip up the funicular took care of that. The summit was at the foot of the Chateau Frontenac where an avant grade statue of Alice in Wonderland by Salvidor Dali was on display. Then it was time to waddle our way back to our hotel for a rest. On the way we found a new restaurant in the place of the Cafe de la Paix that had been on that site and a favourite of the Wilsons for many years. On this excursion through French Canada, we have noted that compared to previous journeys, just about everybody we encounter will readily speak English to us, even though we always start off in French. It's certainly great for most tourists. For happy hour today, we went about fifty metres up la Grande Allee to the Hotel la Concorde, then up to the roof and their revolving restaurant called Ciel. In the 90 minute revolution, we got some pretty spectacular views of the city. For our one revolution, we started off with a Grey Goose martini and finished with a glass of rose Cremant de Bourgoyne. We had some crudités including this dish. We also got a good look at the roof of our hotel. It's the gray peaked roof on the right. Also a look at the major concert venue from the back. What a good choice for cocktails! Then we returned to Louis Hebert for dinner and shared three appetizers - a mixed salad; foie gras on a bed of cripsy rhubarb; and veal sweetbreads with wild mushrooms. Yes, I did say share. Dawn quite enjoyed the sweetbreads better than the foie gras. She was certainly a good sport and I do applaud her. Then it was back through the throngs to the hotel as the city continued to vibrate. What a fabulous city!! By the way, the crudités? Cheese curds in olive oil and basil. How Quebecois!

South to Quebec City

Yes, the weather has indeed gone to crap. We had rain on our entrie journey south today - this was a really pretty drive heading north - until about 5:00 this evening and it's also chilly compared to sweltering southern Ontario. We made a quick stop at Ste. Anne de Beauport for a pic of the pilgrimage church out the car window. We decided that today would be a memory-lane journey for Dawn to her home turf, for 6 years, at CFB Valcartier. This is now the home of the 5th Mechanized Brigade and it is an impressively huge miltary presence. Because Dawn's dad was an officer, they lived in single family homes in the PMQ area. While Ted was a captain, they lived here on Rue Beauvais. Then they went to Germany. Upon their return, Ted was promoted to Major and this became their home on Rue Savoy. Dawn was sent to Quebec City for High School, a one way 28 km trip twice a day. Yikes! Traffic was really congested in and around Quebec City and after arriving at our hotel, we discovered that this is the first day of their Summer Music Festival - more impressive non-research. Tonight, for example, Sting and Peter Gabriel were on the bill. Our hotel was right on the Grand Allee, which turns into a pedestrian street in the evening. Fortunately we were able to unload before the closure and snagged a room right on the street at ground level - no lack of action from our window. We are in the room immediately to the right of the front door of the hotel. There are many Concert performance venues a short walk from our hotel, one just kitty-corner from our hotel window right on the street. This city really has a pulse! After depositing our car behind the hotel, we set off on foot for the old town. No shortages of scenery in old Quebec! Nor is there a dirth of tourists, all wishing it was a bit warmer. We were almost blown into the St. Lawrence by the time we reached the Chateau Frontenac. So to fortify ourselves, we stopped in the bar of the Frontenac for a libation - Manhattan for Dawn, Lagavulin for me. I might point out that from the Chateau Frontenac back to our hotel on la Grande Allee, it is very much uphill. So by the time we climbed up the hill it was time for dinner, on the terrace of Louis Hebert which also happened to be a stones throw from our hotel. By then the Grande Allee was shut down to automobiles and swarmimg with tourists. Back in our hotel room, we tuned into the Jays game with some nice ambient bass throbbing from the street and masses of people going in both directions. Cool! We're keeping our fingers crossed for better weather tomorrow.

Tadoussac Wilderness

Although I commented that our hotel goes back to 1942, there has been a hotel on this site since 1864. I suspect none of that original hotel exists. Tadoussac, an unexpected treasure, is a blip on the edge of Quebec wilderness. North of Tadoussac along the St. Lawrence quickly becomes lake country, with next to nothing for another 100 km. West of Tadoussac along the Saguenay, there appear to be a few outposts before the town of Saguenay about 100 km. up the road. This area is considered fjord/whale country. This morning, we focused on La Baie Ste. Marguerite National park, about 25 km. from Tadoussac along the north shore of the Saguenay. We had no idea what to expect, but after entering the park, we were quickly forced to abandon the car and set out on foot. Still not knowing what to expect - a little lack of research here - we started our trek with no water, food or jackets on what materialized as a 3+ km. walk to the Saguenay along the Ste. Marguerite River. The sun continually try to pop through the clouds, but generally the walking conditions were perfect. Once we reached the Beluga Observation post, we of course, expected to see whales frolicking. Alas, once more, no whales. The character of the shore at the outlook was such that the water depth dropped off drastically at the end of the river, providing a perfect habitat for whales. There was an interpreter here keeping hourly records, but she wasn't too busy while we were there. In any case, we had a whale of a time and quickly made our way back to the car park. We had a nice and needed walk with some pretty scenery and flora along the way. On our way into Tadoussac we opted for another high class meal - hot dog and bacon poutine. Gotta have poutine in Quebec. It was another slow late afternoon and dinner tonight was buffet in the main restaurant in the hotel called Cloverdale. We didn't set out to do buffet, but the maitre d' talked us into it and in the end with multi courses, dinner cost 1/3 of last night's damage. Apparently our weather is going to crap for the next week or so with cool temps and rain. And, once again c'est la vie!

Road to Tadoussac

Our trip thus far, until we reached Quebec City, has involved pretty much zero scenery. Then the road along the coast of the St. Lawrence to Tadoussac came along with amazing vistas over hills and valleys and out to the river. This was one beautiful drive! There are some touristy moments along the way, like Montmorency Falls and the Cathedral at Ste. Anne de Beaupre, but the best part of the trip was the drive. This pic doesn't really do this drive justice, but then, you had to be there. Other than the natural scenery, this 1929 Mercedes caught my eye. The road from Quebec city ends very abruptly at the Saguenay River, but a ferry awaited and we drove directly on and within minutes were headed to Tadoussac. As this ferry is a continuation of the highway, there was no charge for this service. The views up the Saguenay from the ferry, although the day was overcast and cool, were quite amazing, but alas, no whales. Our accomodations for the next two days are at the classic Hotel Tadoussac, dating back to 1942. We found it quickly, only minutes from the ferry. Today's journey of 364 km took us the better part of five and one half hours. Part of the time was spent in the many construction stops. Once we moved our luggage in, it was time to explore the environs. The hotel has beautiful grounds right on the edge of the Saguenay, with a sandy beach, if the weather ever gets nice enough to swim in it. Tadoussac itself is very touristy with mainly boutiques and restaurants. We chose one of these, the Pere Coquart Cafe for a shared salad and pizza. Then we retired for some reading/napping/blogging time, before our dinner reservation at Le William, probably the swankiest place we'll eat at on this trip. Conveniently, it is part of our hotel. At dinner this evening, we discovered that this is a seasonal hotel, open only from May to October. In fact, the whole village folds up and goes away. This makes what I'm about to tell you about dinner even more amazing. How do they maintain an excellent chef and staff? So, tonight we ate in the hotel's high end restaurant, with a pretty exotic menu and we both felt that this would rate as one of our best meals ever. First of all, choosing a wine was interesting. The list was built around a lot of really limited production wines with high prices, but we noticed two whites from Quebec. Like Ontario wines, I'm pretty leary of high priced local wines, but after being allow to test the two, we settled for Cuvee Natashquan from Vinoble de l'Orpailleur. The courses we knew this would go well with, included Dawn's opener of Beausoleil oysters poached with sea buckthorn aromas. I had a feuillantine of Nymph legs (frogslegs boned) with a fricassee of Chinese artichokes and a reduction of champagne. For the main course, Dawn chose a St. Lawrence bar filet seared with a white port reduction and whipped tarragon butter. I had my absolute favourite. Let me describe what you are seeing here. There are sweetbreads on left and right with an oyster topped with caviar on the right. There is also a slab of pan seared foie gras in the centre surrounded by a bevy of root vegetables and asparagus on a beet puree. OMG!!! We finished by sharing a gratin of raspberries in sabayon. Not a cheap meal, but fabulous none the less. Tomorrow, we anticipate exploring the surrounding area and hope tonight's rain has gone away.

Road Trip

Ok, so the first thing everyone will wonder is where is the French travelogue this year. Well, we already decided after last year's trip that France would not be on the itinerary for this year. Now, with all the labour strife in France due to upcoming unfavourable labour legislation, strikes are the order of the day and our decision to skip France looks like genius. Our French immersion this year will be limited to a road trip through southern Quebec. I am not by any means putting down Quebec. We are very excited about visiting the Saguenay area at Tadoussac and return to Quebec City and Montreal after many years of absence. Then we move further down the road to visit three sets of old friends. We started off at 9:17 this morning and with only a very minimal slowdown around southern Montreal and three stops along the way to stretch, we rolled into our hotel in Drummonville shortly after 6:00 and a visit to the SAQ store = LCBO - 774 km later. We chose the Hotel-Motel Drummond, immediately off the highway and quickly swapped a ground floor room for a second storey one. Ground floor was super musty, so I quickly downed an antihistamine with a nice California chardonnay. La vie est belle! Now we got an upgrade to a king size on the not-smelly second floor. Tomorrow, Tadoussac and maybe a whale or two.