Road trip to PEI: Quebec City

Left Ottawa bright and early in a slightly sour mood because the property manager had apparently forgotten that I had scheduled the final apartment inspection that morning, so I ended up having to call the emergency after-hours phone line and then waiting for someone to come by.

It looked like we left just in time. On the highway, we kept seeing police cars for the highway going back towards Ottawa, and wondered at all the police presence (speed traps?). It wasn’t until we turned on our phones that we realized that something bigger was happening. Namely, that we had left the city about an hour before the city was in lockdown because of a shooting at Parliament.
By the time we arrived in Quebec City, I had received a number of texts from friends asking if I was okay and if I had been near the hill (assuming I was still in Ottawa).

Lunch was at Le Billig, a place specializing in crepes. We tried both the savoury and sweet versions. The crepes were crisp, and the toppings went well with each other so I really understand why the man exiting the restaurant as we were entering turned to us and said: “tres bon!”

I’m a dessert crepe fan at heart, and the sweet poached pear, almond, dark chocolate was my favourite of the meal.

After that, we just walked around Old Quebec. To me, this is the city in Canada that comes closest to feeling like a European city. Maybe it has something to do with narrow winding cobblestone streets. It would have been better in the summer no doubt, when shops are all open, and everyone is in a festive mood, but that morning, the wind was biting, the sky was grey, and tourist season had clearly ended. Still, it was easy to see the charm of this city.

To make up for the lack of things to do, we splurged on the other thing Quebec City was famous for instead : its food. We ate dinner at Le Lapin Saute, a fine dining establishment that specialized in rabbit dishes. All I can say is that the French are famous for their culinary expertise for a reason!

I had a stew of rabbit leg and duck sausage on white beans.

But also got a taste of another popular dish too: rabbit in mustard sauce and rabbit in honey and rosemary sauce

After dark, we found a glowing garden! By day there seemed to be many plastic spikes in the ground, which didn’t look particularly appealing. But by night, they turned different colours every few seconds. This was probably the most visually stunning view of Quebec City we had, with the glowing garden surrounding us, looking up to the Chateau.

We took a walk through the Jeanne d’arc gardens of the Plains of Abraham….which was kind of strange. It was decorated, as per Halloween theme, with ghosts and figures. Plaques explaining the different legends and historical events that happened on the Plains were placed along the edge of the garden. I learned that duels used to be conducted (illegally) on the Plains as a means of resolving disputes.
We weren’t in the mood to be scared though, so we didn’t go through all the plaques, and headed back to the bed and breakfast to rest for the night.