Quebec, Parlez-vous français?

The drive out of Toronto was easy. We stopped for supplies and our first oil change for Hank at a place called Pickering. An hour later we were back on the road. On the way we stopped off at a place called Kingston for lunch. A historic city that could have been the capital of Ontario, it was small but full of historic buildings.

In total it was about a 5-hour drive to Montreal, but it flew by after all the driving we had done. Quebec was really weird because it was so familiar like Canada but everything was in French, e.g. KFC was PFK for 'Chicken Fried Kentucky'. We were staying in a hostel again which we found pretty easily with help from the GPS.

Day 1: We headed out for the day to explore the city. Hired the Bixis (bike share) again and made our way to the Gazette and the tourist information building to find out what we should do for the next 4 days. The tourist information was extremely helpful, after we left first stop was Mount Royal the highest point in Montréal. It was a big up hill walk but really nice through the trees. Once at the top we had a pretty good view of the city. 

 




Afterwards we made our way for Poutine at  La Banquise. Ordered the pizza Poutine that was delicious. 

The afternoon we rode the bixies to little Italy and a food market to pick up some fresh food for dinner. After some chocolate banana strawberry crapes Marc found some mushrooms for dinner, and I found some yummy fruit and cheese to snack on. It was a long ride there and back but cool to see the houses in the suburbs surrounding Montreal. Most of the houses had multiple stair cases out the front to access multiple apartments it was really different. 

Day 2: Quiet start to day 2, after so many days of travel both Marc and I are really tired so I updated the blog and Marc read his book. After lunch we headed out to walk around old Montreal. The weather was still really hot and the humidity still high. Old Montreal was very touristy which we had been warned of. We wondered around saw the old streets and the ‘Notre dame’ church that you had to pay to go and see so thought we would give it a miss. After a few souvenir shops (to find the perfect magnet), we came across city hall and decided to go in to escape the heat for a bit. There was a free tour so we joined. Marc was extremely board on the tour but I found it interesting as we got to go into the chambers where the mayor and council sit to debate. The tour guide was really bad he had a very monotone voice and did not seem to interested in what he was showing us. An added bonus at the end of the tour we got some free Montreal city pins that was cool (I love free stuff). 

 After the tour we were back in the heat. Both Marc and I were a little grumpy so we decided to go and find Chuck Hughes restaurant to see if we could get a booking for dinner. The restaurant was in a different part of old Montréal, which I preferred as it was not as touristy and had more of the old town feel. Le Garde Manager was tucked away with no front sign. We went in and asked if anything was available for the next few nights and met a really nice guy called Tim; a fellow traveler and cute too! He said we could come tonight but the only available space was at 6:30 at the bar Marc and I were stoked to get a booking and locked it in.

That night we hired Bixi bikes to get up to dinner as it was too hot to walk. After a nice ride back into old Montreal it was dinner time. We sat at the rear of the restaurant at the back bar, it really was a cool place, loved the décor and had fun trying to dissect the French menu. Marc ordered the snow crab bloody Cesar and I got the cocktail of the day which was delicious. To eat we had the Lobster poutine to start, then for mains I had the lobster risotto and Marc had the scallops. Everything was superb and so very happy that we got to go. Chuck was not there but the guy who booked us in Tim aka the ‘Night Cheetah’ was really nice and chatted to us for the whole meal (his best mate was also from Australia). Tim even shouted us 2 rounds of hot shots which was sweet. 










 

After dinner we made our way down the foreshore to go and watch a big fireworks show that was on that night. After riding the bixies to the bridge we found a spot and waited for the show to begin. The fireworks were amazing, they went for 30 mins to the soundtrack of the wizard of OZ. After the fireworks we rode the bixies back home, it was so much fun riding in the designated bike lanes back to the hostel with about 50 other people on bikes, great way to end a great night.

Day 3: We decided to Bixi it out to the Olympic stadium, we had heard it was going to be a hot day so we got some bixi bikes early to try and beat the heat… with not much luck. It was about a 40 min ride from the hostel to the park and boy was it hot both Marc and I were dying from the heat but we continued on. The Olympic stadium was pretty cool for something that was built for the 1976 Olympics. It looked like a huge spaceship. Marc picked up a model of the stadium and when you turned it upside down it looked like starship enterprise. We decided to give the tower ride a miss and continued on to try some smoked meat at schwartzr’s. It was a really long hot ride back, but by the time we made it to the other side of the city we were extremely hot and sweaty. Luckily because it was 2pm we did not have to wait for a seat. The food was ok after trying about 3 different smoked meats in different cities we were a little disappointed by how dry the meat was, however the service and atmosphere were good.

After lunch the heat was sweltering (we did not know at the time we were experiencing a huge heat wave that was effecting the east cost), we made it back to downtown Montreal but were dying. To try and escape the heat we decided to find the underground malls. At this stage I was really hot and tired due to the heat so the air conditioned malls were amazing. We found our way around ok and also found some goodies. That night we were exhausted so had an early night after an extremely hot day.


Day 4: Last day in Montreal the weather was still hot so we decided to catch the subway to try and stay a little more comfortable. We started the day with traditional Montreal bagels from St Viateur. Unfortunately the bagels were a little too sweet for our liking. For lunch we made our way to another place for some poutine, another disappointing meal as it was way too greasy. For the afternoon I wanted to go for a swim at a local beach and had been told that we could find one on the Island ‘ile notre-dame’ so we caught the train to the Island. 

The Island was really nice and while walking around we worked out that we were actually walking the Montreal Grand prix racetrack! After jumping a couple of fences we finally made our way off the track and to the lake beach. Somehow we ended up on the wrong side of the fence, I did not want to have to walk all the way back around so Marc and I managed to make our way around the fence. We stopped and had a swim to cool down and relaxed by the water for a little while. When we left  we found out that it was not a free public beach you actually were meant to pay to get in…  oops.

Last stop for the day was at a local brew house ‘Dieu du ciel’ for some micro brewed beer and local food. It was back up the other end of town. After another subway ride and a little walk we were drinking and eating again. The food was really good and the beer was tasty as well. 

Last night in the hostel was also pretty quiet, all the activity was finally catching up to us. It was hard to catch up on all the missed sleep and just let our bodies recharge (Not that I am complaining).

Day 5: After packing up our rooms and picking up ‘Hank’ we made an early start to Quebec City our next stop. At the tourist information place in Montreal we were told to take the 138, which followed the ‘St Laurent’ river all the way to Quebec City. We were so pleased we did, as the drive was really pretty through all of the towns along the river. We saw loads of little cottages scattered along the banks and even stopped off at a little farmers market along the way. 


We arrived in Quebec City mid afternoon checked into the Hostel and parked Hank. I could not believe that out of all the cities we had been to that Québec was the most expensive to park the car. Originally we were going to stay in the hostel for 4 nights and three days but after being told we would only need a day to see the city we changed our booking to only stay 2 nights.

The afternoon we were quiet again after the 4hr drive. I had a nap and then we did some groceries and laundry. That night while cooking dinner Marc met a fellow Australian who was traveling all over Canada with his wife and 2 friends at the young age of 60 something. Marc and I were in ore and wondering if we were exhausted how the hell where they coping so well!

 
Day 1: Quebec City was beautiful; a huge wall surrounded it as it used to be a fort. We walked down to the edge of the wall and saw the Fairmont hotel then made our way around the edge of Citadel and enjoyed the views. We continued on into Citadel and saw the changing of the guard and inside the fort walls. 

 
 

For lunch we stopped at ‘Paillard’ and shared a sandwich, an éclair and some macaroons which was all delicious.

 

 In the afternoon we continued looking around the city checking out the shops and old streets. I really liked Quebec City and it’s old world charm. That night Marc made us dinner at the hostel again and we sat and chatted with our new Aussie friends and caught up on all the gossip from back in Aus.


That evening Marc and I went for Ice cream and Gelato at Paillard’s again. Oh my god it was the best ice cream we had ever had. Afterwards we wondered around Quebec city again because it really was alive at night with loads of buskers and markets.

 
Day 2: After a really short stay in the hostel it was time to move again. This morning we had a free breakfast at the hostel as the other Australians we met did not have time for breakfast in the morning so gave it to us.

To start we drove to an Island called Île d'Orléans about 15 mins south east of Québec City. It was a really nice drive around the Island that was full of holiday cottages and farming. We stopped at a lookout to take some pictures and then we were off again. We were also going to stop at the ‘Montmorency Falls’ however you had to pay to get in and after being able to see the falls from the road we decided to give it a pass.

 
On the way out of Quebec City we stopped in at Premont Harley Davidson to get dad a souvenir. Next stop was Levis a city on the other side of the Saint Laurent River. We stopped to try and get some lunch but unfortunately we could not find the city centre so after a lot of one way residential streets. We stopped at a look out to take some photos of Quebec City but never found the city centre so decided to keep moving. 

Overall we loved Quebec and I still wish I could speak french... don't tell my year 8 French teacher!