We absolutely loved Quebec City! The energy, the beauty, the food, the people… Quebec is high on our list to return to someday (Jay would say in winter… and I would say any season butt winter.)
We parked Leap on the street near a large, open space called The Plaines D’Abraham, which is the site of a pivotal battle between the French and the English (spoiler alert: the English won) during the Seven Years War.
We started our bicycle tour of Quebec City at Battlefields Park, specifically at the Plaines D’Abraham. The Park is big at 240 acres; butt is still less than a third of the size of New York’s Central Park.
From there, we continued our military tour and bicycled up (I’m glad I have a battery on my bike!) to Cap Diamant, Quebec’s highest point, to visit the Citadel of Quebec. Quebec City is the only city in North America with ramparts (at the Citadel) still intact.
Two guards stand at the entrance to the Citadel. The Citadel is home to the century-old French-Canadian Royal 22nd Regiment. Much like the guards at Buckingham Palace and Arlington’s National Cemetery, these guys don’t smile for pictures with tourists 😉
The Regiment’s motto is, “Je Me Souviens,” which means, “I Remember.” It is a patriotic acknowledgement of the role Quebec played in both World Wars.
We toured the museum at the Citadel and learned German submarines sunk ships in Canadian waters in WWI and WWII. In 1942, German U-Boats entered the Gulf of St. Lawrence (which borders Quebec) and sank four Canadian warships.
In WWII, Canadian women, like U.S. women, went to work in munitions plants. More than 50,000 Canadian women went a step further and enlisted in the Canadian Armed Forces. Female officers got their eight-week training in Quebec.
In 1945, the 22nd Regiment disarmed a fortress used by the Germans in the Netherlands. The Regiment turned the fortress into a prisoner of war camp, housing more than 4,600 German soldiers.
The Regiment found this wrought iron eagle in the fortress of Hoek van Holland. German troops used the residence while occupying Holland during WWII.
After touring the museum, we watched Canada’s only French-speaking regiment perform its once-daily musical march.
The musical performance is on the parade grounds, which is at the center of the Citadel fortress.
Not surprisingly, the star of the show is the Greatest of All Time (a goat)!
The goat, named Batisse, marches alongside the musicians during the performance.
The Regiment’s goat tradition began back in 1955 when Queen Elizabeth gifted the regiment its first goat. Apparently, Great Britain’s monarchs have a rich history (back to the Victorian age) of gifting goats to British army units.
We casually sauntered up to Batisse and his handler while another tourist snapped our picture.Jay refers to himself as the “GOAT” in our fantasy football league. Now, we have proof that he’s truly a GOAT!
After our fun tour of the Citadel, we rode our bikes over to the old town section of Quebec City. We went to the Palace Royale, which is the center of the city and is where Samuel de Champlain founded the city in 1608.
We parked our bikes and sat down at a quaint cafe for coffee and breakfast.As we expected due to its French influence, the pastries in Quebec City were divine. This chocolate croissant was the GOAT of all croissants!This panoramic shot was the view from our seat at the cafe. Quebec City truly is the closest thing to a European city we’ve found on this side of the Atlantic.
After coffee and the GOAT croissant, we rode our bikes over to the Notre Dame des Victoires church.
Jay quickly went inside and snapped a few pics. The church was built in 1688.The church has “stood guard” over the Palace Royale, the historic square (where we had coffee), for more than 300 years. Jay poses in front of the seat of the National Assembly of Quebec, the Parliament Building.
From the center of town, we rode our bikes to the L’Observatoire de la Capitale, a building offering the highest view of Quebec City.
We made a new friend at the front desk – she has dreams of visiting the southern United States someday! We offered her a place to stay in Tucson during her travels 🙂At the Observatoire, we learned Quebec is the OPEC of maple syrup since it supplies more than 72% of the world’s sweet confection. In fact, Quebec’s Global Strategic Maple Syrup Reserve is the world’s emergency stockpile in case of a worldwide maple syrup shortage.
After looking at the city from the tallest viewpoint, we made our way back downtown to see if we could find a Christmas tree ornament (we have ornaments from all of our travels, which explains why we have a 12-foot Christmas tree!)
Jay has a built-in radar detection skill, which allows him to zero in on anything related to Christmas (especially pine trees).Yes, we found an ornament in this mega-palace of Christmas shoppery!Outdoor markets abound in Quebec City. Once again, we were glad we were on bicycle and not in a car. It made getting around so much easier!For lunch, we found a little French restaurant offering traditional Quebec dishes. In case you’re wondering who took our picture as we ate lunch…Our server not only ran outside to take the picture, she brought a chair from inside to stand on so she could get a good angle. She also helped us park our bicycles behind the restaurant as city police are known for confiscating bicycles parked on sidewalks.
Quebec City’s service, like its food, was all around top notch!
Jay ordered Quebec’s traditional meat pie, which he thoroughly enjoyed.As Jay is famous for his bathroom photos, he made sure to get a picture of the restaurant’s restroom sign.We happened upon this side street and were mesmerized at the canopy of umbrellas.The murals in Quebec City tell the history of the city. This one was painted in 1999 and is 40 feet tall and 400 feet long. I’m standing next to Samuel de Champlain.
The following day, we returned to the city to enjoy a nice French dinner al fresco.
Most restaurants had their menus posted outside their entrances. This is good and bad. Good because it gave us a good idea of what each establishment offered. Bad because it gave us too many choices! 😉After much debating, going back and forth, up and down streets, we finally picked a restaurant that offered great food and outdoor seating.Chef Jay was in awe of our appetizer: a dish of shrimp flambéed in a sambuca sauce. He is determined to find the recipe so he can re-create it at home!
While our stay in Quebec City was a few days longer than most of the other stays on our tour so far, we felt like we could have used another week or two to fully explore all that Quebec City has to offer. Perhaps someday we will return (just not in winter, even though I know the city would be a living dream covered in snow, and ringed in Christmas wreaths and sparkling lights) 😉
Alas, we packed up from the campground, bid Martin farewell, and hit the road south to the good ‘ole U.S. of A!
Frankie, who had taken to commandeering the co-pilot seat, reluctantly allowed me to sit on the very edge of the seat while I wrote a blog about our Quebec adventure.
Those huge, fuzzy hats on the soldiers make the one I wore in high school band look sleek and stylish! Thanks for sharing. Quebec is a place I would love to see someday!
This blog is fantastic. I want to visit Quebec. All of the pictures are great. I love the church. And the umbrellas are really fun. We saw 25 huge kites flying over Jackson MN and thought that was cool. As always thanks for the history lesson.
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