Je t'aime, Québec
On the way to meet friends in Québec City for a long weekend, we of course had to spend the night in Montréal.
Montréal
Stay
We stayed at the Château Versailles Hotel — it was fine, nothing special, very European, good breakfast.
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We usually opt for the walking tour, but in Montréal we decided to be more adventurous and register for a bike tour of the city. The Fitz & Follwell “south” bike tour was excellent — highly recommend. We also enjoyed boutique shopping in the Mile End — I bought a killer LBD with a map of the city on it and pockets (!) from Onze, strolling through the McGill campus, and exploring the Jewish Quarter. Our favorite spot was the Jean-Talon Farmers Market… purple bell peppers, anyone?
Bike tour stop at Place d'Armes
Jean-Talon Market
“Smoked meat” sandwiches!
Eat
The first night we had a sushi dinner date at Sho-Dan, it was pretty good. And the next day we ate our way through the city. We had a smoked meat sandwich at Schwartz’s, croissants at Christian Faure Meilleurs, bagels at Fairmount, and coffee and sandwiches for the road on our way out of town at a little, less touristy, boulangerie — La Boulangerie de Froment et de Sève.
We had a long list of other restaurant recommendations that we didn’t get to:
Régine Café (brunch)
Modavie (French)
Il Focolaio (pizza)
Larue & Fils (coffee)
Replika (coffee)
Café Humble Lion (coffee)
Le Moineau (coffee)
St. Viatear (bagels)
Québec City
Stay
In effort to maximize our hangout time with the friends we were traveling with, we chose to rent an Airbnb. The two bedroom rental was between Saint-Sauver and Saint-Roch and worked out well for our three-night stay. It allowed us to get some exercise as we walked between the apartment and Old Québec (about 1.5 miles each way) while also letting us explore some of the more local, less touristy spots nearby.
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Lucky for us, our friends are also into the walking tours! We headed out on our first morning attempting to do a self-guided tour as we walked from the apartment to Old Québec, but opted for the real tour experience later in the weekend.
All smiles inside the walls of the old city
We spent a couple days roaming around Old Québec. We toured Citadelle de Québec, watched a magic show near Dufferin Terrace, we browsed (and bought — I snagged a single flower vase from Morin Choinière Montréal Inc. that I absolutely love) some art on Rue du Trésor, strolled along Quartier Petit Champlain, and took a pit stop inside Château Frontenac.
Photo op at Citadelle de Québec
Picturesque streets in Quartier Petit Champlain
Escalier Casse-Cou (Breakneck Steps)
Old Québec
We also ventured outside of town to visit Montmorency Falls and spent the afternoon driving around and eating (see below) our way across Île d'Orléans. The waterfall was lovely, but living 20 minutes away from Niagara Falls usually leaves me feeling underwhelmed when visiting other waterfalls around the world. The island, however, is a must!
On our last night in Québec we explored the Old Port, stumbled upon a wine festival, and bought last-minute tickets to an outdoor, cirque du soleil-esque show. Cirque du soleil actually started in Québec in the 1980s so it was an apropos thing to do while in town.
Montmorency Falls
Montmorency Falls
Acrobat show
Eat
Old Québec
Generally I think going to the same restaurant twice while traveling is a big faux pas, but we wound up at Le Chic Shack twice on this long weekend. Their vegetarian madras poutine — basically Indian food + poutine was to die for, though I’m not sure it’s still on their menu. They also have milkshakes and scratch-made sodas, it’s a win-win-win.
Côtes à Côtes Resto-Grill — decent lunch spot while shopping in Quartier Petit Champlain.
La Fudgerie — sweet spot for a snack or pick-me-up while trekking through the city.
Chocolato — Same.
Mary’s Popcorn — Savory spot for a snack or pick-me-up while trekking through the city.
Le Café du Monde — not as exciting as the one in New Orleans, but a nice little spot in the port.
Friends devouring their ice cream dip at the chocolaterie
Île d'Orléans
La Confiturerie Tigidou — perfect for brunch, lunch or snack on the island and I was stoked to buy some locally made jam to save for the next Purim holiday to use to bake hamantaschen.
Chocolaterie de l'Île d'Orléans — I’m not a huge fan of the soft serve dip, but the one at the chocolaterie was the best I’ve ever had. It was so good.
La Nougaterie Québec — sweet tooth pit stop while cruising around the island.
Around Town
Boulangerie Pâtisserie Le Croquembouche — nice, local spot. Good pastries.
Le Hobbit — this was our fancy dinner night. It was pretty good, but in hindsight, I usually prefer the more casual hole-in-the-walls.
Recommendations We Didn’t Get To
Le Billig (crêpes)
La Pizzaio (unique, thin-crust pizza)
Paillard (bakery, sandwiches)