I now have a new favorite city: Quebec City. We've lived five hours away from this amazing place for almost two years and never made the trip! Thanks, Howard, for springing for the hotel and giving us a reason to visit. I think this is the first of many wonderful weekends there.There are so many highlights I'm not sure where to begin. The kids would probably say the ferry ride across the St. Lawrence River was one of their favorite parts. It was pretty fun.
But close behind that would have to be the Cirque du Soleil open-air performance we happened upon our first night there. It was held under a highway overpass -- seriously! The Cirque du Soleil comes from Quebec and they're very proud of their home-grown show. The kids were entranced (though Gavin thought it was a little spooky at first.)
Plenty of wanna-be Cirque performers showed off their stuff in the town square. These acrobat / fire jugglers were pretty good, but did they really need to be in their underwear? I'm not sure it helped their act.
The people I found most fascinating were fully dressed -- in period costumes, no less, from the 17th-18th century period when Quebec was the capital of New France. There was a Nouvelle Francaise festival going on, which I guess gave everyone the excuse they needed to put on their best outfits and go promenading around in the streets. "I see George Washington!" Gavin kept shouting. At least he got the time period right.
Lots of other folks looked like they'd just escaped from Captain Jack Sparrow's pirate crew. Including my kids, who proved they had what it takes to climb the yardarm. Ahoy, mateys! Aargh!
I loved that Quebec has European-style bakeries with yummy chocolate croissants and gelato. Yummmm! That was the best part for me. The desserts alone made the trip worth it. Even though on the way up to Quebec we had to learn a new French phrase: "mon pneu et la plat" = I have a flat tire. Lucky we had the French phrasebook along (and Gavin, who is convinced he speaks French.) There don't seem to be any English-speaking mechanics in Quebec. Fortunately, they were all very patient and nice and we managed to get new tires and on our way without too much hassle! We refuse to be disuaded by a "pneu plat" -- we'll definitely be coming back soon.
