Chateau Frontenac City

While we were in Montreal, we rented a car and headed to Quebec City.

Once in Quebec City, we parked at the gardens and explored the quaint city on foot, starting at the Place Royale (http://www.mcq.org/en/cipr/index.html), the site of the original settlement of the city of Quebec. From Parliament, we headed eastbound on Grande-Ailee Est past Parc de L’Esplanade, to lunch at Aux Anciens Canadiens (34 rue St-Louis), where the staff dresses in traditional garb and serves traditional fare. We had the phenomenally priced table d’hote menu, which this time included wine (we had one each of red and white, and found them to be quite good), followed by a tasty but simple vegetable soup, and two entrees: sautéed chicken with vegetables, and a very solid, "traditional salmon." Little did I know that traditional style was baked inside bread. I wasn’t a huge fan, but the people at the table next to us seemed to like it. For dessert, we had the choice of their specialty, a maple syrup tart, something that tasted like a blueberry muffin, or strawberry sorbet. The sorbet was outstanding, Ryan thought the blueberry muffin was fine, and the maple syrup tart (which we did not order, but tried some from the table next to us) was good but very very sweet.

After lunch, we did more sightseeing while strolling along the river on the pedestrian-only Terrasse Dufferin, which is essentially a boardwalk overlooking the river. At rue Mont-Carmel, visit beautiful Chateau Frontenac (http://www.fairmont.com/frontenac/), also a Fairmont resort. Opened in 1893 to house railroad passengers and encourage tourism, the monster version of a Loire Valley palace is the city’s emblem, its Eiffel Tower. You can see the hotel from almost every quarter, commanding its majestic position atop Cap Diamant.

At the time, there was also an art fair going on, so we walked through and looked at artists’ renditions of what is apparently the singular attraction of Quebec City, the Chateau Frontenac. It was also on every postcard of Quebec City. We determined that there is nothing more to the city than the hotel.

Just beyond Chateau Frontenac are the Escalier Casse-Cou (http://homeandabroad.com/viewSiteDetails.ha?mainInfoId=76129, literally, break-neck stairs, although they weren’t very daunting at all) and the funicular taking passengers to the top of the stairs. At the base of Escalier Casse-Cou was an adorable little village, full of knick-knack shops and maple syrup candy stores. We hit the most popular one to pick up some maple syrup hard candies to take back home with us.

We also visited the Basilique-Cathedrale Notre Dame (http://www.patrimoine-religieux.com/patrimoine_en.asp?no=22023), the oldest Christian parish north of Mexico. Parts of the existing basilica date to the original 1647 structure, including the bell tower and portions of the walls, but most of today’s exterior is part of the reconstruction of 1771. The interior is a flamboyant neo-Baroque.

Then we went to Montmorency Falls (http://www.alleneasler.com/montmorency.html), the highest falls in eastern Canada, including Niagara Falls (however, it is not nearly as wide as Niagara). We took the freeway northbound for approximately 15 minutes, and ran into the falls on the left. Thankfully, the Canadians allow u-turns on their freeways (this alone made the trip worthwhile in our eyes!), so we simply turned around on the freeway and exited to the falls. Admission to Montmorency Falls is free, but they charged for parking. From there, you can take a series of stairs to the top and go across a bridge above the falls, or you can simply admire them from beneath.

For dinner, we returned to Quebec City and went to the famed Restaurant St-Amour (48 rue St-Ursule near rue St-Louis, http://www.saint-amour.com/), rumored to be the most romantic restaurant in all of Quebec. This contemporary French restaurant is popular despite being costly, and it was the most expensive restaurant we visited, with the best service and what I can only describe as phenomenally good food. I ordered a glass of tasty Pommery Reims Brut Royal and we ordered the sampler menu (their version of the table d’hote), starting with shrimp in leek’s nest and chicken terrine, I ordered a delicious, juicy swordfish served on a bed of fresh tomatoes and steamed vegetables, and Ryan had a roasted Barbary duck breast with string beans and wild rice. For dessert, we gorged ourselves with their outstanding and unique tiramisu and lemon tarts, and washed it down with hot tea. Food and service were exemplary.