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From Fur Trading to Fine Dining: Quebec City By Jan Butsch Schroder
“I love you,” he whispered in my ear, in his melodic French accent as he turned to make his exit to greet his thousands of adoring fans, who wildly applaud his every movement. A chance encounter with a French rock star? No, my newfound love was Bonhomme, the giant perpetually smiling snowman and beloved ambassador of the winter carnival in Québec City who had singled me out of the crowd to demonstrate his signature move of a kick with the right leg, followed by blowing a kiss. I may not have always attracted the men I wanted or gotten the jobs I coveted, but there has been one constant in my life: mascots love me. And I loved Bonhomme, and his hometown of Québec City. This charming city is celebrating its 400th birthday this year and there is no better time to take a walk on the French side of our continent. It was in 1608 that French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded this charming city on the St. Lawrence River and named it with a word meaning “where the river narrows.” From its founding as fur trading post, Québec City is now the capital of the province, although with just around 622,000 residents, it pales in size to Montreal, with its population well over three million. The only walled city in North America, Québec City was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985, which loosely translates to, “Hey, this old neighborhood is really cool, so let’s not knock it down and build a McDonalds and a Wal-Mart.” What it means for us is that the walled Vieux-Québec remains intact, with winding cobblestone streets, stone houses, colored roofs and a variety of architectural styles.
One guide jokingly told us that Québec City was voted the best place to visit to lose weight. That’s not a comment on the cuisine, which is stellar and a point of pride for this town, but rather, it’s about the amount of walking you do while exploring. This is a city best seen on foot, and you’ll burn even more calories going up and down the hundreds of stairs from Upper Town to Lower Town. In August, Route Verte, a bicycle route that links up to a 2400-mile trail, was inaugurated, offering even more opportunities for outdoor fitness and sightseeing. (www.routeverte.com) Other reasons a stop in QC is favorable: There is virtually no crime, food and lodging are quite affordable and if you have trouble remembering your high school French, just about everyone is happy to speak with you in English. Even the pigeons are treated well here — they are housed in their own pigeon condo in Parc de la Francophonie, which is heated in the winter. Okay, they do have birth control snuck into their food to control the population, but only for the Protestant pigeons, not the Catholic ones, as one guide joked.
Speaking of winter, Québec City is not called the snow capital of the world for nothing, and annual snowfall can reach close to 14 feet. But unlike my hometown of Atlanta, where schools close and grocery stores sell out of milk and bread when the forecast calls for just a few centimeters of snow, people here just shovel the white stuff away and keep going. Not even the entertainment moves indoors – sidewalk cafés transform to ice bars where fur-clad bartenders keep pouring drinks to red-cheeked and hearty partiers. Québec City actually is a year-round destination, although you may want to avoid November and March, according to Bard Nordby, Media Relations Officer for Ministere du Tourisme du Québec. “In November, it’s rather gray and dreary, and in March, we’re just weary of the snow,” he says. Here are some must-sees for Québec City, whether you’ll be packing your parka or your shorts — along with some highlights planned in honor of the 400th anniversary celebration. SUMMER IN THE CITY: The city celebrates summer every year with Québec City Summer Festival, now in its 41st year. Held the first two weeks of July, artists from every genre are present for concerts indoors and outdoors, along with street performers and children’s activities. Dates are July 3-13, 2008. (www.infofestival.com) Les Fetes de la Nouvelle France is August 1-5. It’s a celebration of QC’s unique history complete with parades and costumed townspeople recreating the 18th century. (www.nouvellefrance.qc.ca/) Other annual festivals include the Loto-Québec International Fireworks Competition, held July 19 to August 6, a ticketed event held in Montmorency Falls Park (www.lesgrandsfeux.com), and The Québec City international Festival of Military Bands, August 14-24,with performances from 20 bands to promote awareness of the history of military bands. (www.fimmq.com) But the summer of 2008 has an unparalleled calendar, with activities planned through October to mark the official 400th birthday. The summer celebrations kick off on June 3 at Espace 400e, a venue overlooking Louise Basin and Marina. That’s where you’ll find the heart of the festivities as the Louise Basin and Marina will host activities every day for 120 days, with more than 100 music or performance shows, 100 lectures and debates, 100 workshops for children and almost 2,000 street arts shows. It’s also the venue for the Image Mill, a media show that will be projected onto gigantic concrete silos nightly from June 20 to July 29. The Passengers Exhibition, open from June 3 to October 19, will turn visitors into passengers themselves as they journey through the history of Québec City with music and testimony of residents past and present, a tribute to the nearly five million people who have passed through Québec City the last 400 years. The Ephemeral Gardens will be created by 11 representatives from Québec, Canada; France; the United Kingdom and the United States; to bring nature into an urban environment. The official birthday is July 3, so spectacular events are planned for July 3-6, including a mass and ceremonies on July 3 and an Urban Opera with 150 professional performers. The city gathers for a giant picnic on July 6 on the Plains of Abraham, the city’s 108-acre park and an aerial photo will be taken as a legacy for the 500th anniversary. Founded in 1908, the Plains of Abraham is the site of two famous battles, but is named for Abraham Martin, an early settler who used the area to graze his cattle. (www.ccbn-nbc.gc.ca) The Walking Road is August 15, with an all-night event under a full moon with the theme “Meetings and Encounters.” The show, a celebration of the St. Lawrence River, will include a dance floor on the water, dancing, performances and acrobatics. Celine Dion, born in the Montreal suburb of Charlemagne, is set to perform a free public concert on Friday, August 22. The birthday celebration closes on October 19 with a special performance by Cirque du Soleil. For information on all events, visit www.myQuébec 2008.com FALL/WINTER IN THE CITY: Fall in Québec City is a stunning array of colors as the trees turn to rich shades of orange, yellow and red. Fall festivals include The Québec City Festival of Sacred Music, which is October 27-November 5 (www.festivalmusiquesacree.ca), and the wine festival, The Fete des Vignobles (www.vignerons-du-Québec.com).
When the snow starts, Québec City dons its winter blanket of white, but is no less desirable to visit, even for those of us with thin blood. My visit here was in the middle of February, with snow piled practically up to rooftops, yet just about every walkable surface was cleared and easily navigable. As for clothing? I learned it’s all about the layering, proper boots and fleece mittens. QC’s biggest event of every year is the Winter Carnival, held during the first two weeks of February. Started back in the late 1800s, it was held sporadically until 1954, when a group of business people relaunched it and it is now the world’s largest winter carnival. They also created my friend Bonhomme, who has his own ice castle, which is open for tours and the scene of night dance parties. One of the carnival highlights is the Night Parade, held each weekend when hordes of layered-up (and some liquored-up) people line the streets and cheer on the floats. The official drink of the carnival is caribou, a potent mixture of port, brandy and maple syrup, often drunk from plastic canes sporting Bonhomme’s image.
Other events include a Dog Sled Competition that winds through the city, and the International Canoe Race, during which competitors sometimes find it necessary to disembark and drag their canoes through the ice. If you visit from January to April, be sure to tour Ice Hotel Canada, about 30 minutes west, which is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Built of filtered ice from a factory in Montreal, so it is crystal clear, the hotel has 36 rooms, 2 cafes, a disco and a chapel. The site of 150 weddings a year, one of the more unusual ones involved a groom in a kilt, whom I can only imagine choose to remain standing for the entire ceremony. If you choose to stay here, you’ll snuggle down for the night in a sleeping bag where guests claim they stay toasty warm, despite the foundation of the bed being a block of ice. (www.icehotel-canada.com) The Ice Hotel is located on the grounds of Station Touristique Duchesnay, a resort on Lac Saint-Joseph, this is also your place to dog sled, snow mobile, skate or cross-country ski in the winter, or go swimming or canoing in the summer. (www.sepaq.com/ct/duc/en/) QUEBEC CITY 411:For general information, visit www.Québecregion.com. Sleep Live out your Cinderella fantasies with a stay at The Fairmont Chateau Frontenac, housed in a castle that is the symbol of Québec City and is a favorite of movie stars and other rich and famous travelers. It even has a canine ambassador, Santol, who greets visitors from his “office” in the lobby. (www.fairmont.com/Frontenac/) We stayed at Hilton Québec, and although not high on the charm scale, the location is perfect and our view of the city was lovely. (www.hilton.com) For a more intimate stay, try Auberge Saint-Antoine where the rooms are modern, yet still charming and luxurious. (www.saint-antoine.com) For an experience that is easier on the budget, try the Auberge Internationale de Québec , a clean and spacious hostel right in the heart of Old Québec. (www.cisq.org) travelgirl tip: One of our tour guides mentioned that many Americans fall in love with Québec City and have purchased condos downtown as rentals. I checked www.vrbo.com and found lovely condos for rent starting at $130 a night. Eat If you visit in the summer, one of the top ways to while away the time is to dine at one of the many sidewalk cafes. One of the hippest spots any time of year is Voodoo Grill, where you can order from an eclectic menu in the shadows of giant African sculptures while watching the skinniest belly dancers you’ve ever seen perform. (www.voodoogrill.com) Sitting under the huge skylight eating onion soup and salmon at Restaurant Louis-Hébert is a perfect way to warm up — you’ll be cozy at this charming restaurant tucked inside an historic inn. (www.louishebert.com) My group had an exquisite meal at La Crémaillere where specialties are rack of lamb, pastas, veal and seafood. (www.cremaillere.qc.ca) Québec ’s celebrity chef and author Executive Chef Jean Soulard runs things at Fairmont Le Château Frontenac’s restaurants: Le Champlain and the Café de la Terrasse. Lucky enough to dine at Le Champlain, we enjoyed our meal served to us by waiters in period costumes. Do not miss the desserts. I generally take one bite of a dessert and declare it NWC and PTIT (not worth the calories and prettier than it tastes.) There was not one gram of sugar left on my dessert plate here! (www.fairmont.com/frontenac/) Shop A two-block area of Rue Saint-Jean, right outside the walls, is where the locals shop. J. A. Moisan is a gourmet grocery, established in 1871 (www.jamoisan.com), and chocoholics won’t want to miss Choco-Musée Érico, which has more than 200 objects relating to the history of chocolate, and of course plenty of products for purchase. (www.chocomusee.com/) The revitalized St.-Roch’s district is home to many artists’ galleries and avant-garde shops. Mademoiselle B carries a fun collection of costume jewelry, half of it from France and Italy, and the rest locally made.
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