Walking Old Quebec City

While the carful of kids are staying with their grandparents, we are exploring Old Quebec City in Canada. In the province of Quebec, this namesake city is the best example of a fortified walled European city in North America, earning it a UNESCO World Heritage Site designation.

We wake up and enjoy breakfast at our hotel, Chateau Frontenac, before meeting a local tour guide for a walking tour of Old Quebec. We walk down the Dufferin Terrace to Parc des Gouverners with the Wolfe-Montcalm Monument.

As we continue to stroll the streets of Old Quebec, we pass the Maison Jacquet, the oldest house in Quebec from 1677. Passing the Place d'Armes, we walk down Rue du Tresor, artists alley, on our way to Notre-Dame Basilica-Cathedral and Seminary.

We pass City Hall, the Anglican Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, the first Anglican cathedral built outside of Britain in 1804, and Ursuline Chapel. Then our tour guide stops to show us the cannonball stuck in the tree.

We continue on to the Ramparts of Quebec, the fortified wall that surrounds part of Old Quebec. We pass through the St. Louis Gate, a National Historic site of Canada, and the old horse troughs used for water.

The Hotel Du Parliament, home to the provincial assembly, is next on the walking tour then we proceed down the Grand Allee. Along the way, we have to stop for a quick sample of the signature dish of Quebec--Poutine, French Fries with a brown gravy and cheese curds on top.

We walk down the L'Escalier du Casse Cou or Breakneck Stairs to continue our tour in Lower Town Quebec. At the bottom of the stairs is Rue du Petit Champlain. It is a pedestrian walkway with quaint shops on both sides--it should not be missed.


On to the Place Royale, the original marketplace of the colony of New France, it is another quaint area not to be missed. We continue to the Maison Lambert Dumont for the trompe l'oeil mural depicting early settlers.

We have to say goodbye to our tour guide and board AML Louis-Jolliet for a lunch time tour. The riverboat departs from the Chouinard Pier and cruises north on the St. Lawrence River while we enjoy a lunch buffet. The tour takes us pass the Montmorency Falls to the Ile d'Orleans Bridge before heading back.

After disembarking from the riverboat, we head back to Rue du Petit Champlain for some shopping. Then we find the lower terminal of the Funiculaire, the cable car linking the lower and upper parts of Quebec, and ride it back to our hotel.

We have to get to our dinner reservations at le Chemin du Roy, a traditional sugar shack, located in a maple forest. We are learning all about maple syrup from the tree to the candy with a traditional Quebecois meal and music to finish off the experience.

If it seems like we eat all the time, we do. My traveling companion and husband is a trained chef.

Up Next: Saint-Anne-de-Beaupre, Ile d'Orleans and the Montmorency Falls