After leaving Montréal, we followed the St. Lawrence River Northeast to Québec City, another city full of French looking architecture, French tasting food, and a French sounding language - maybe it was French; I wouldn't know. Part of the city is still enclosed with a series of stone walls and gates that were designed to protect the city from attack, and within these walls lie the old city and an inordinate amount of tourists. We stayed for two nights in an impressive hotel atop the hill overlooking the city, Hotel Château Frontenac, and then we stayed a third night in a small hotel on a pastoral, Nantucket-like island called Ile d'Orléans, just North of the city. The island maintains a rustic feel and a much less hectic pace than the city across the river. Also, we were able to enjoy the last day of a city-wide music festival, though we missed a performance by Calexico a few days earlier and a performance by Damien Rice the evening that we left. C'est la vie.

 

The Hotel Château Frontenac dominates the hilltop of Old Québec. We stayed there for two nights.

Enjoying an Italian dinner in an open-air restaurant featuring Dad, Roger, Jess, Victoria, Craig and me.

Montmorency Falls just outside of the city stand tall at 83 meters, nearly 100 ft taller than Niagara Falls...making Niagara something like - 17 ft? Hmm, I think I did that wrong.

You can faintly see a series of stairs to the top of the falls to the right of my head, but we opted for the cable car to the top of the falls. Some may call it lazy; I call it resourceful.

St. Jean Street was closed for a festival. The samba rhythms and African drum beats didn't quite fit in with the whole French atmosphere, but we chose not to mention it, as we didn't want to embarass the residents.

Just down the road we came across one of the five main music stages just in time to enjoy the sultry Cuban beats of Sierra Maestra. We actually listened to the concerts from the top of one of the old protective walls around the city.

Just because the horse rides were way too small and we had to fight off a few feisty toddlers doesn't mean that we couldn't also enjoy the attractions of the park.

Craig shows off a bit as I hold on for dear life. As you can see, we had a great time on these. Did you notice Roger's sunglasses in the last picture? We're still confused about that.

One of the gates of the walls around the old city at dusk.

Our hotel peeks over the waterfront shops and restaurants.

Québec City was full of Old-World, European charm...just like me.

A peaceful house and adjoining wheat field on the Ile d'Orléans. Ahh, the tranquility.

A panoramic view of pretty much the same thing as you've already seen...but wider.