Back from our anniversary trip – it really did feel like a dream, like being in another time. When I travel, the history of a place is super important and transparent to me. When I look at a building or a street corner, a little movie runs in my head; the onion-skin-peeling back of centuries. New York‘s stories soak into my bones from the buildings around me, the names of London tube stops send me hurtling into another time entirely. Quebec City is completely transportive – huge 1700s stone buildings, winding cobblestone streets. Perfect for a ‘checking-out-of-reality’ rest up.
For 28437238 more photos, check my instagram feed. The iPhone has made me really lazy about my camera – and I’ve noticed that at 5 years old, my dSLR is not working as well as it used to.
Tips:
We stayed at the Auberge Saint Antoine, but it’s gotten shabbier + more expensive (huh) since I last stayed there in 2004. If we go up again we’ll probably stay at Hotel 71 or Hôtel Le Germain Dominion.
It seems like the best stay would be Monday – Thursday am. Tuesday and Wednesday were great, on Thursday morning we were baffled by hordes of tourists pouring off the cruise ships parked in the harbor. Yikes yikes yikes. It definitely put a damper on the wandering!
Both the Auberge Saint Antoine room service / bar & Le Café de la Terrasse at the Chateau Frontenac were CRAZY GOOD about gluten free stuff. It was fantastic! We also ate lunch twice at a creperie called Le Billig – the buckwheat crepes were great and I had no issues. (If I even get a little flour contamination I get sick for days.)
Everyone spoke English, and didn’t even let us try to speak any French. Probably to save their own ears from the pain. I’d even practiced my Je suis désolée, mais je ne comprends pas le français and didn’t get to use it. That was a little odd, because I’d WANTED to practice, and there were definitely conversations I could have had in French.
What else? Wait til the USD/CAD exchange is not quite so brutal. Be prepared for snow in October. Be excited for lots of walking exercise. Go to J.A. Moisan for groceries & fancy treats. Quebec City feels provincial in comparison to Montreal (am I going to get in trouble for saying that?) so don’t expect crazy euro-style shopping. Just wander and time travel.
I’ve been soaking up your Quebec photos on Instagram this last week. I want to go there so badly now. What a beautiful place. The history, as you say, is always apparent to me too. I had many moments at Shenandoah National Park when I looked at something and thought of the people in the 30s and 40s marveling at the new park. Glad I’m not the only one who thinks of those things.
Yes, exactly like that!
cannot believe i’ve been in quebec four years and have never been to quebec city. while you were away i kept shoving your pictures in pierre’s face “LOOKHOWPRETTY.” i was surprised they all spoke english – i’ve heard they’re a little snootier about it there??? with all the tourism, it’s not surprising, tho. yikes!
also, that is scary about the dslr. whaaat. i didn’t know they could do that!
re: camera – I asked on Twitter & it seems like the sensors wear out eventually. No fun!
Snootiness: not too bad – everyone was head over heels to help about the gluten free stuff, especially. WE did get a couple of the “Bonjour”-s which are said in such a way as to imply “why are you in my shop/space/etc” in which case, we just left. No money for you, snotty fake-Frenchies!
Ah, these photos bring back good memories! Canada had a Summer Language Bursary Program, where intensive French classes, programs and room and board were covered for various Francophone communities in QC and NB (and elsewhere?). Mine was in Quebec City and I remember getting into my first bar at 17, eating crepes and thrifting around the city. So fun!
Not sure the Québécois would agree that they are “fake frenchies”, though. Distinct culture, folklore, etc. This is a super-contentious issue in Canada!
Not all the Quebecois are snotty fake Frenchies! Just the ones who turned “Bonjour” into a sneer.
where do you live in quebec? as someone who visited montreal and quebec city as a tourist who only spoke a bit of french, i encountered equal amounts of snootiness in both. and i don’t think it’s necessarily “snootiness” but rather, quebec city is a much more francophone city than the only city larger than it in the province.
You must speak French now, right?!
Hi girls… I dont know where you get the impression that people from Québec city are “snooty” or snob…. go to Paris or Montreal….. that is snob for you!! In Montreal, some people will not even speak to you IN FRENCH!!! They will only speak english even though they are perfectly capable and understand what you say.They wont speak french to native quebecers! I think I live in the friendliest city in the world.
Definitely NOWHERE NEAR Paris. I thought everyone was quite nice with the exception of one or 2 shop ladies.
Why wouldn’t people speak to you in French in Montreal? I don’t understand!!
The dynamics of the francophone and anglophone communities in Montreal are pretty complicated with a lot of history. Some English-speakers speak only English and this sometimes occurs in shops, ie. they speak only English with customers no matter what language the customer speaks. When I lived there I had the (sort of) opposite problem. As an anglophone who speaks good French, I sometimes had francophone clerks at the bank or somewhere who would speak to be in English, as soon as they heard me speak French and could tell I was not natively French-speaking. Sometimes, even though I continued to speak in French, they continued to speak to me in English. It was ridiculous. In Quebec City, I only encounter that rarely. this is probably because mt French has improved a good it over the last couple of years and because people here tend to be less practiced at speaking in English and will stay in French when they see you speak French at a certain level.
I have found everyone to be very friendly though and can’t think of any snootiness. Except one time I was buying boots and the clerk only spoke to my husband and would not speak to me, even though I was speaking to her in French. It was weird. But again, that was in my first year here. But regardless, her behavior suggested to me that she was not used to speaking with non-francophones in French.
All that to say….the history of Québec is complicated around the subject of language. I have been researching this because I find it fascinating…
My god, this looks totally gorgeous!! Ahh, I know the pain of not being able to practice a language you’ve been learning. But so often, they are keen to show their English skills and practice on you!
Alli xx
Stunning pictures, Tamera. I particularly like the one of the promenade with the flags – what a pretty split sky.
I’m taking down all your suggestions for “someday.”
(…and I would also recommend Hotel 71. We stayed there last time and it was terrific)
Sigh. So pretty. Your pictures are so infused with the feel of the place, I can almost smell the cold brick and stone.
I am kicking myself for not going to Quebec when I was living in Massachusetts. These pictures are so lovely.
Ah! I can’t wait for my husband to get his border-crossing card so we can go visit ourselves. Fingers crossed for spring!
If you come in the “spring”, make sure to check the weather because sometimes, spring here doesnt start until May!! Better be warned….. sometimes spring is early but it can draw out long and grey with the melting snow turning to brown slosh in the streets….. just a friendly advice dont book too much in advance!
We were just there this weekend – and I must say, it was beautiful but oh man, all of those people from the two cruise ships made it absolutely insane. My pictures from some of the same places – especially near the Frontenac – are full of people. It made it a bit harder to enjoy all the walking around. I’ll be going midweek next time I head up there. We stayed at the Bed & breakfast above the J.A. Moisan which was great, and tasty cocktails (and… onion rings) in the Frontenac’s fancy bar.
I highly recommend stopping by some of the places on the “route de fromage” next time you are in Quebec! We drove around to visit a bunch of them between Montreal and Quebec City, and ate a bunch of cheese samples. We have a fair pile of cheese waiting in the fridge now, too.
When we left there were FOUR huge cruise ships in the harbor. Insane.
i live in quebec city and always recommend people avoid peak-tourist seasons! it tends to be mid-july, mid-february, and october. and every year, i forget about the october cruise ships! the cruise ship industry has been booming in this corner of the world for the past five or six years.
i often recommend things a bit outside of vieux-quebec, like i did to tamera, to get away from the massive crowds and get a better sense of the non-completely soaked in tourism parts of the city.
aaah i’m so happy to see you had a lovely time in my city. it’s wonderful to see how you see it, as well.
I just saw on Lyn’s blog comments that you were in Quebec City. Fun! We live here.
And yes, I’ve noticed that October seems to be the month where we get a ton of cruise ships in. Which I don’t really get because the weather is already getting cool.
Anyhow, happy anniversary from Quebec.
hey Tamera! Glad you had a nice stay. It’s always fascinating to rediscover your own city thrugh the eyes of someone else. Glad you enjoyed the Billig. I LOVE this place, especially the banana-chocolate crepe and the one with asparagus & cheese…..SO GOOD!!
If I had known you went to Auberge St-Antoine I wouldve told you, I too think they are too expensive for what they offer. I’d like to try Hotel 71 but the prices seem quite steep from their website. There is a greta hotel I love [I’ve been there 5 times, and it’s in my own city!!], hotel PUR. It’s downtown and very affordable for the quality and ambiance.
As for the cruise ships, you were just really unlucky to be there on THAT particular day. I was stcuk at the ferry station 45 minutes waiting on the bus, AND the Queen Mary 2 was there with 4 other ships all at the same time, it was crazy!! All the tourists from the ships plus the people who came to see the ships AND the shuttle buses for the passengers blocking traffic downtown…. some buses in town were an jour and a half late!!!! It doesnt have anything to do with the day of the week, I guess you just have to check the cruise ship schedule….. which can be viewed on the internet here : http://www.portquebec.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=101&Itemid=356 I always have a printed copy handy so we know which ships are arriving and departing and at what time!! So we can watch the ones we want to see, the biggest or more handsome!
As for the snow in October, not much such the last few years, today it was sunny and 19 degrees celsius! J A Moisan has great stuff, I agree. They have Boylan’s soda, turkish delight…. CRAC is great too, less expensive and more variety.
I had stayed there before and it was nicer and reasonable – prices have gone up and the hotel needs to be updated! Oh well, it was nice enough.
So the cruise ships are mostly October, but random days? We could not believe how crazy it suddenly got!!
I’ve now been twice and seen flurries in October, so I’m sticking with my snow in October line! It didn’t last, but was definitely chilly!
I agree that PUR is a great location, though I have no idea what it costs. The restaurant in the hotel is nice too. Upscale comfort food in small tapas servings, But EVERYTHING is in walking distance.
And Verhext, in 2009, it snowed (with actual accumulation) about two or three days after our mid-October wedding in Quebec City.
Oh the timing on me seeing this is perfect. We are going to quebec for our baby moon/10th wedding anniversary!
Any other have to eat places for me and my celiac? I HAVE to go to the crepe place. I’m part French Canadian and my gram to this day still makes me crepes for breakfast when we sleep over.
Aw, sweet! (10 years!!!) I am not sure where else to go, but I did google gluten free quebec city and got some good listings.
Ahh, I’m loving all your Quebec pics! That’s where we honeymooned in May 2010. Interestingly, we did not encounter much English when we were there at all. Seemed like it was basically all French all the time! We managed to get by with my “singer’s French” and my husband’s long-dormant high school French alright, I guess. I would LOVE to go back there! It’s high on our list.
Love the blog redesign, too!