Quebec City Trip

Originally this week was supposed to be the week we traveled to NY for me to run Twisted Branch 100k. Obviously, that did not happen given the hamstring injury. And while I am still looking forward to testing myself in that race, our alternate trip to Quebec City was a great success and we had a lot of fun together! It really did work out well. 💗

Worked on Monday, trying to get as much done as possible before heading home to take a walk around the block with Ryan before dinner and finishing up the packing. (2.0 miles walked)

Tuesday morning, I was up early for a run around Highland Green. Muggy. Just two short walking breaks; otherwise all running. Late summer is in full swing out on the powerlines, with viburnum berries turning blush pink and the asters and goldenrod in bloom. (5.0 miles run)

We headed out a little after 9:00 on the drive north. Rain started to hit the windshield not far up the road, and there were no views to be had as we drove along the Kennebec and up through the hills north of Jackman as we neared the border. Border crossing was fairly quick, and we stopped for a lunch of poutine in Saint George, before continuing on to Quebec City.

We had booked an Airbnb down along the river, just outside of the old city, but couldn't check in until 5:00 so we parked right near the building, hit a cafe for a warm drink and then set out on a walk. Hard to take in the views as we all had our hoods but, but we did realize right away that this city had some hills! 😆😆We walked up into Place Royal and were surprised to see a display of giant pink babies atop buildings in amongst the old, historic buildings so we decided to check out the public art exhibit. It was pretty funky! And it was fun to pop out on a side street or a square and see the pink babies in a tree or atop a building. 

Place Royal

From there, we wandered up and around the streets, taking in the Chateau Frontenac views before heading back to check in to our unit.

Chateau Frontenac view

Then it was back up the hill and into the old city for dinner. We decided on sushi, where I had a delicious poke bowl. The rain finally stopped, so we did more wandering through some shops, including a crazy Christmas shop, and to pick up macarons before we headed down along the waterfront and back in for the night. I only logged the 0.6 miles to dinner, so I am missing a whole lot of the walking for the day - I am sure we walked at least 2+ miles.

Place de Canotiers

Wednesday morning dawned cool, overcast and very windy but hey, it wasn't raining! After a big breakfast right down the street from the Airbnb, we drove to the Musee National des Beaux Arts, outside the old city at the far end of the Plains of Abraham. Once we parked, we took a hilly walk through the Plains, which is essentially a big grassy park-like area with numerous roads, walking paths, gazebos, statues and many tourists as well as people running, walking and biking, and out to the Citadel before returning to the museum to enjoy the art. We also walk down the Cap-Blanc Stairs, which was 387 steps, down to the Parc Bassin Brown out along the river, and then back up. Whew! (3.5 miles walked) 

Cap-Blanc stairs

Parc Bassin Brown - so windy!

Citadel

Beautiful flower garden along the statue of Joan d'Arc

Cool inuit sculpture of a mink

Neat stairs

Rooftop bee hive

Tiramisu tarte after lunch. We stopped partway through our museum tour for lunch and then went back to check out the last few exhibits

Beautiful impressionist paintings by Helen McNicoll

Then it was back to the city for an afternoon wander. We took the Funicular up to the Chateau Frontenac 🏰, stopped in many shops for Sam to enjoy all the knickknacks 😉😜, had delicious wood fired pizza for dinner 🍕and then walked some more to try the goats milk ice cream 🍦 for dessert (it was delish)! We got in our steps for the day (and then some) but it was a great day and we had a lot of fun together 😊❤️(4.5 miles walked for a total of 8+ miles for the day)

Blue sky!

One of the many cannons around the city

The Funicular!

Chateau Frontenac

Do you see the pink babies?!

Along the Durrefin Terrace by the Chateau

Tobaggan Chute

Look at my hair 😂😂 It was seriously so windy!

Cool Quebec sign!

Thursday dawned similarly in terms of weather. We started off the day with a delicious breakfast of crepes before walking back to the Airbnb and then down the street to the Musee de la Civilization, with our favorite exhibits being the ones on the history of rap and wrestling in Quebec.

Yum!

Wrestling!

Cool map of the world, made up entirely of garmet tags

Rap!

After the museum we wandered farther up into the old city to Le Chic Shack for luch and delicious milkshakes, and then down to the marina and back to the Quebec sign, which was in front of the train station with a neat fountain before stopping in the cat cafe for a drink and a delightfully odd but fun experience 😻

So good!

Cool fountain

Cat Cafe 💗

Look at this guy's ears and double paws. Very cool. A himilayan lynx is what the owner called him.

Sam was in heaven 😍

Then it was back to the Airbnb for a brief stop before walking back up the hill to a pub for dinner. Food was so so but the pamplemousse beer was delish!

And then of course, it was time for more walking 😂 We walked back up to the Citadel, down to the Chateau and to get more goats milk soft serve ice cream 🍦😋

Pretty sky

😂😂

Then after we all got in our showers, we headed up to the rooftop deck to watch the fireworks show! Another fun day, with a lot of walking, totaling 6.2 miles. 

Friday morning, I was determined to get in a run and headed out around 6:15 am. As noted, this is a hilly city, so I decided to start with the flat miles on the bike path along the river and took the Cap-Blanc stairs up into the Plains of Abraham before wandering back down through the city to the Airbnb. No one was on the stairs but the Plains was full of fitness 😜 It was a fun, mellow, touristy meander with a lot of photo and map stops. A pretty morning and nice to get out even if a bit creaky. (5.2 miles run) 

Moon over the Frontenac

River views

The horse sculptures along the bike path (there were six, I think) were really cool!

Up the stairs

Grateful for the water fountain at the top 😂

Out to the Terrasse Grey viewpoint

Looped back through the Plains

Then it was back to the Airbnb for a quick shower, a walk up to a cafe for pastries and coffee for breakast and back to the car for our drive out of the city to the Parc de la Chute Montmorency. Very cool, very touristy, park just 15 min from the city with a huge waterfall, a 487 step staircase up the cliff, and a zip line that Ryan and Sam zipped across. We also took a short walk on a trail along the river above the waterfall for a bit of solitude. There were an insane amount of people there, but it was definitely worth the visit, and of course Sam and Ryan had a blast on the zip line! As for me, the exposure going up and down the stairs on the side of the cliff was more than enough excitement 😬 (3.5 miles walked)

The waterfall was seriously huge!

And the stairs were insane!

Cool rainbow from all the spray coming off the water

Happy zipliners ready to zip!

Zipline view

Happy!

💗

Trail out through the woods along the river

Cool river views with some neat rocky ledges out into the water

Then it was back down the stairs...

Sam is done! 😜

You can really see the steepness here...

One final waterfall photo before we headed out!

From the park, we headed across the river to Ile d'Orleans for lunch and to drive around the island and check out the views. Very agricultural and rural. We stopped at an observation tower at the far edge of the island and climbed up to check out the views. Yes, more stairs 😂😂

Then it was back to the Airbnb to shower and relax a bit before we headed out for dinner. Delicious pizza and salad followed up by Mary’s popcorn (which we’ve passed about 6 times and which has always smelled delish) for Ryan and Sam, and back along the river. Beautiful night. (1.5 miles walked)

 

These umbrellas lining one of the pedestrian roads was so cool!

Sunset across the marina

We went back up to the roof deck to enjoy the sunset

I actually had fully intended to get in a run on Saturday morning but I turned off my alarm and then promptly went back to sleep for another 2 hours, so I guess I needed it! 

We headed back across the street for a final big Quebecois breakfast and got the car all packed up before heading out for a final walk through the city. We walked up to Notre Dame to check out the church - impressively ornate, up to the Parliament building and the Fontain de Tourny, back out along the edge of the Citadel and down the Governor's Promenada, a long set of stairs and walkway down to the Frontenac. By then, it had gotten quite warm out and we were all tired. We stopped at Baguettes & Chocolat for a cold drink and a final meal of crepes and then made our way back to the car and headed out. (2.9 miles walked)

Cannons along the Rue des Ramparts

Notre Dame

Fontaine de Tourny

Loved the frogs shooting the water in the fountain!

Accurate representation of how everyone was feeling 😆😆

All in all, it was an amazing trip and I feel like we crammed a whole heck of a lot into the time we were there! We certainly saw everything we wanted to see in the old City, and the trip out to the waterfall was a fun addition. We also all really enjoyed the food - lots of delicious fries, pastries, pizza, crepes, a few yummy salads for me, surprisingly delicious and rich goats milk soft serve ice cream, and more. IT was definitely a good food trip! All told, we walked 25+ miles between Tuesday afternoon and Saturday morning, and we could tell 😅😉, but it was a whole lot of fun and a very successful urban adventure together 💗💗 

This morning, I headed out on the powerlines for a run. Legs were definitely creaky, but I just took it nice and easy and enjoyed being out. (5.2 miles run) And with that, it's back to reality!