Friday 10/3/08
Down the St. Lawrence
We're off this morning along the north shore of the St. Lawrence to Old Quebec City. It was a very easy morning as John updated this blog while Mary made three trips to the underground parking garage with our luggage. Everyone has a job. We noted that it is so much easier driving out of a strange city than driving in. Without regard to time of day there is just a certain familiarity that you acquire after just a few days that increases the comfort level. There is also the fact that you are well rested and not crabby in the morning.
We start the trip this morning on the Freeway to get some miles under our belt before we return to our touring mode. We pulled over at 12:30 for some lunch at Restaurant la Belle Province which is a Quebec chain, order-at-the-counter sort of place. Mary is immediately disheartened and orders a hot dog. John is encouraged because he sees Poutine on the menu. In fact it comes in different styles and sizes and students can get a special of petit poutine and pepsi for $6. Poutine is the dirty little secret of Quebec and is a plate of french fries, topped with a handful of cheese curds and a large ladle of gravy. What could be so bad? We now know that the quality of the poutine is in direct relationship to the quality of the gravy. We have Pepcid in the glove compartment.
We get off the freeway in Trois Rivieres and take local roads the rest of the way right along the river to Quebec City. This is wonderful country with a lot of turning maples and small towns and farms along the St. Lawrence. An occasional large ship passes by heading up river to Montreal. The weather continues to be the same; alternating cool, cloudy, sunny with spits of rain. We don't miss a beat as we two step around some freeways and city streets and hit our Clarendon Hotel in Old Quebec at about 4:30.
We visited Quebec City about 20 years ago and it immediately became one of our favorite North American cities. That hasn't changed. It is certainly the most European of all of America's cities and this year celebrates it's 400th anniversary with a year-long party. Our hotel is the oldest continuously operating hotel in the country but has been nicely updated and we even have internet access in our small room. We take a re-introductory walk around our neighborhood and up to the Chateau Frontenac, our hotel on our last stay. The Frontenac is a huge old chateau overlooking the St. Lawrence and is in every picture or painting you will ever see of Quebec City. It dominates the riverside skyline. It is now a Fairmont Hotel and at 400 bucks and up per night is no longer on our itinerary. Since our last visit, and perhaps because of the anniversary celebration, it has become a HUGE tourist attraction with guided tours of the building and swarms of folks wandering around. We are happy to be staying where we are.
We grab some info from the Tourist Center and stop in the lounge in our hotel for a beer and make reservations for dinner tonight. A little sit-down is in order.
The dining room is pretty busy when we show up, but service seems pretty good and our waiter is pleasant. Since our last visit the Canadians have fully embraced the "tipped" mentality and expect gratuities at least as generous as in the States. Their service level remains the same as it always has, however, and our waiter tonight has probably 10 tables, or twice as many as he would have at home. We have the three course option and Mary has the brothy potato-leek soup, crispy shrimp appetizer and cornish hen. John has the soup, a fois gras flan, and rabbit. Everything is OK, not great, and we top it off with a little after dinner beverage in the lounge with some jazz guys playing. It is a nice end of the day.
Down the St. Lawrence
We're off this morning along the north shore of the St. Lawrence to Old Quebec City. It was a very easy morning as John updated this blog while Mary made three trips to the underground parking garage with our luggage. Everyone has a job. We noted that it is so much easier driving out of a strange city than driving in. Without regard to time of day there is just a certain familiarity that you acquire after just a few days that increases the comfort level. There is also the fact that you are well rested and not crabby in the morning.
We start the trip this morning on the Freeway to get some miles under our belt before we return to our touring mode. We pulled over at 12:30 for some lunch at Restaurant la Belle Province which is a Quebec chain, order-at-the-counter sort of place. Mary is immediately disheartened and orders a hot dog. John is encouraged because he sees Poutine on the menu. In fact it comes in different styles and sizes and students can get a special of petit poutine and pepsi for $6. Poutine is the dirty little secret of Quebec and is a plate of french fries, topped with a handful of cheese curds and a large ladle of gravy. What could be so bad? We now know that the quality of the poutine is in direct relationship to the quality of the gravy. We have Pepcid in the glove compartment.
We get off the freeway in Trois Rivieres and take local roads the rest of the way right along the river to Quebec City. This is wonderful country with a lot of turning maples and small towns and farms along the St. Lawrence. An occasional large ship passes by heading up river to Montreal. The weather continues to be the same; alternating cool, cloudy, sunny with spits of rain. We don't miss a beat as we two step around some freeways and city streets and hit our Clarendon Hotel in Old Quebec at about 4:30.
We visited Quebec City about 20 years ago and it immediately became one of our favorite North American cities. That hasn't changed. It is certainly the most European of all of America's cities and this year celebrates it's 400th anniversary with a year-long party. Our hotel is the oldest continuously operating hotel in the country but has been nicely updated and we even have internet access in our small room. We take a re-introductory walk around our neighborhood and up to the Chateau Frontenac, our hotel on our last stay. The Frontenac is a huge old chateau overlooking the St. Lawrence and is in every picture or painting you will ever see of Quebec City. It dominates the riverside skyline. It is now a Fairmont Hotel and at 400 bucks and up per night is no longer on our itinerary. Since our last visit, and perhaps because of the anniversary celebration, it has become a HUGE tourist attraction with guided tours of the building and swarms of folks wandering around. We are happy to be staying where we are.
We grab some info from the Tourist Center and stop in the lounge in our hotel for a beer and make reservations for dinner tonight. A little sit-down is in order.
The dining room is pretty busy when we show up, but service seems pretty good and our waiter is pleasant. Since our last visit the Canadians have fully embraced the "tipped" mentality and expect gratuities at least as generous as in the States. Their service level remains the same as it always has, however, and our waiter tonight has probably 10 tables, or twice as many as he would have at home. We have the three course option and Mary has the brothy potato-leek soup, crispy shrimp appetizer and cornish hen. John has the soup, a fois gras flan, and rabbit. Everything is OK, not great, and we top it off with a little after dinner beverage in the lounge with some jazz guys playing. It is a nice end of the day.
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