Although this post is dated July 26, this little blog documents our holiday trip June 30 - July 3, 2006. We just wanted to get out of town (country) for the big blowout 4th. It really was a long drive. 515.74 miles, to be exact. Mapquest said we could make the trip in 8 hours and 38 minutes. On the drive there, we were flush with happiness for our little getaway and since the holiday traffic wasn't as awful as we expected, we had a pretty good time.

We listened to music through the iPod, iTunes, and the Bose, plugged into the cigarette lighter and booming from the backseat. Laptop on my lap:

When people heard we were going to Quebec City, they inevitably said, "Oh, are you staying at the Frontenac?" That's the Château Frontenac, of course, one of the grand hotels of Quebec City. It's big and historical and undoubtedly has great views from some of the rooms, but we were really happy with our own hotel.

But I'd be seriously amiss if I didn't post some pictures of the old broad, so here goes:





There. Château Frontenac.

Quebec City is Charming (with a capital C, obviously). Hanging baskets of beautiful flowers everywhere, cobblestoned streets, neatly painted buildings, sidewalk cafes, precious. So precious. Almost too precious, but not quite. It held that edge.



alley of artists selling their paintings




So Saturday was Canada Day, eh? Not too much patriotism really, beyond the little pocket flags we saw here and there. But there were a couple of mini-parades of people who didn't seem to be all that happy with Canada. First, the angry mob:

What you can't see is a really pissy fat woman who, as she walked past me, shot me the finger. The whole way, and with a nasty look on her face. I was trying to take a video, but when we got back to the room it turns out that I hadn't saved it. Too bad, you could see what I meant. We think they were shouting something about not celebrating Canada Day. And their flag was orange, white and green.

Then there was a gang of French kids -- or, at least, people wrapped up in French flags. They were so happy, stopping to sing and dance. We have no idea what they were saying, but they were really, really happy.


We ate dinner at this really charming restaurant near our hotel. The food was really good, the crowd was not too fancy, and we had a great table inside, but near the open front of the restaurant. Really sweet, we enjoyed ourselves.
And a Fodor's pick:

Portofino Bistro Italiano
54 rue Couillard, Québec City, Québec, Canada
PHONE: 418/692-8888
Cuisine(s): Italian
Price range: C$8 to C$12, C$13 to C$20, C$21 to C$30,
By joining two 18th-century houses, owner James Monti has created an Italian restaurant with a bistro flavor. The room is distinctive: burnt-sienna walls, soccer flags hanging from the ceiling, a wood pizza oven set behind a semicircular bar, and deep-blue tablecloths and chairs. Don't miss the thin-crust pizza and its accompaniment of oils flavored with pepper and oregano. The pennini all'arrabbiata -- tubular pasta with a spicy tomato sauce -- is also good. Save room for the homemade tiramisu. From 3 PM to 7 PM the restaurant serves a beer and pizza meal for less than C$11.

This is our hotel, L'Hôtel du Vieux Québec -- really charming, and the location couldn't have been better. We simply walked out the front door onto a plentiful street.

There was always something going on, and in the afternoon the streets were crowded. Since Saturday was Canada Day, people had little Canadian flags sticking out of their pockets and pinned to their jackets. Cute.

So charming really does describe our hotel. It was great, we couldn't have been happier with it. When we checked in, the desk clerk kind of paused and said, "ok, it's a little tricky to get to your room. Go up these stairs..."


"...then you go through the lounge..."

there was a little TV to the right

"...then around the corner and up another flight of stairs...."


"...then up another flight of stairs..."

this flight was the killer

"...et voila!"

Et voila, indeed. The room was pretty small, but big enough. And it came with a refrigerator and range (with oven), and a decent bathroom.

if you know us, you know this is so us

Sunday night we were walking down Rue St. Jean, the street in front of our hotel, when I heard that old familiar sound, the sound I love -- click and enjoy:




That's right, there's nothing that says Quebec City like the sound of an accordion. We ate breakfast here Saturday morning, but there was no live music. Too bad.

We knew we were facing bad weather when we were driving into Canada -- these are beautiful, orange skies full of rain and heavy looming but luminous clouds full of light. Really pretty, but ominous, too.





And sure enough, we had loads of rain. Our first day, Saturday (July 1, which turned out to be Canada Day) there were periods of heavy rain. This is a view from the boardwalk, overlooking the lower part of the old city.







But the rain did stop, every day. This was Saturday morning, our first venture down to the boardwalk. That's Frontenac behind Marc.







So every single day of our trip, it rained. And every single day of our trip, there were long periods without rain, which means we had the chance to do as much sight-seeing as we would do under any circumstances.

• Boutiques on Saint-Jean street
• Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral
• Artillery Park
• Les Dames de Soie, economuseum of dolls
• Urban Life Interpretation Centre (Ville de Québec)
• Musée de l’Amérique française (museum)
• Québec Expérience
• Wax museum
• Tourism information
• Boutique L’Échelle
• Boutique du Lys

Restaurants

• le Café Buade
• Aux Anciens Canadiens
• l'Oeuforie
• L’Échaudé
• La Grolla, Le Petit Café Suisse
• le Portofino
• le Patriarche
• Pub St-Alexandre
• Chez Marius
• Le Restaurant-Pub D'Orsay

Outside the Walls

• The Parliament of Quebec
• The Capital Observatory
• Battlefields Park
• Musée national des Beaux-Arts du Québec
• Musée de la Civilisation (museum)
• Choco-Musée du chocolat
• Quartier Petit-Champlain
• The Old Port
• Place Royale and its Interpretation Centre
• Notre-Dame-des-Victoires church
• The Citadel
• Artisans du Bas-Canada

A short drive

• Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré Basilica
• Montmorency Falls
• Ski resorts
• Traditional Huron Site (Wendake)
• Ile d’Orléans
• Village Vacances Valcartier
• Atelier Paré
• Albert Gilles , Copper Art
• Musée de l'Abeille
• Erablière du Cap
• Illusions Réelles
• Le Chenil La Poursuite
• Canyon Sainte-Anne

More later.

L'Hôtel du Vieux Québec, charming and right in the old part of the city. More later...

We're taking a nice long weekend trip to Quebec City -- more later, just getting this set up.