Quebec City: Part 1 {Taking in the beautiful sights}

We arrived in Quebec City, on Tuesday February 21st 2017, at Couette et Café Le 253 after a 3 hour drive from visiting our family in Laval. 

The B&B we stayed at was very comfortable and cozy and happen to be vacant from other visitors at the time. The hosts were extremely helpful and took care of answering all our questions.  Upon our arrival, the host took our bags and we had a bit of an incident, paralleling parking. I almost crushed my husband’s feet with the car! Besides that, it was trouble free and we were ready to begin our adventure in Quebec!

 

Once we were checked in, we decided to venture out and visit Old Quebec. 

It was only a short, but steep walk from the B&B. We made a quick stop at the bank and actually were within walking distance of Chocolats Favoris. The ice cream is covered in a quick drying mountain of flavoured chocolate that makes you feel like you’re eating a chocolate bar. If you’re in Quebec (locations are spread across the province), you should definitely do yourself a favour and check out this chain. 

We enjoyed 2 scoops of the most amazing vanilla covered ice cream (red velvet and coffee).

Afterwards, we made our way slowly through the ascending streets of Quebec city to one of the entrance ways of the old town. As soon as we arrived in the more narrow streets and cobbled sidewalks, it felt like we were transported back to Europe. The buildings were old fashioned, adorned with small market shop signs and people walking around, giving you a strong sensation that you’ve been transported out of America and into the European continent. 

By the time we arrived it was early afternoon and we had yet to grab lunch! We had a suggestion from my sister to check out Aux Anciens Canadiens. 

While located in a touristy area, it wasn’t overpriced, and as you can see, we had fantastic food and felt like home. The restaurant had a cellar-type design with a fireplace, wooden paintings adorning the walls, giving it a charming old European feel. The menu consisted of a 4 course meal for only $20, including an alcoholic beverage, pea soup grand-mère (which is extremely popular in Quebec), Quebec meat pie for me and Lac St-Jean meat pie made with wild meats (tourtière style) for Jason. The two meat pies we had tasted like Quebec home-style food and if you’re in Quebec, you owe yourself to try it!

As it as our first day, the desserts we had were one of the highlights of our trip. We had the Maple bread pudding and maple syrup pie. The bread pudding was drenched in a sweet maple syrup which was completely absorbed in the bread pudding, allowing it to solidify to its deepest core. The maple pie, while not as sweet, complimented the over-sweetness of the pudding. 

Once we were done, approximately around 4pm, we continued our journey by doing an initial tour of the town. We walked the streets, discovering the cute small shops and took in the atmosphere of the area. Afterwards, since I had a cold, we decided to turn in early so that I could rest up and be ready for Wednesday’s adventures.