Bonjour!  When visiting a French speaking state such as France or Quebec, it is customary to greet each other before engaging in conversation. A couple of years ago, we made a trek to Montreal and fell in love with this beautiful city to the north. Since then, we’ve often commented that we needed to visit Quebec as well, and see the marvelously maintained old city on the St. Lawrence River. Columbus day weekend provided the perfect opportunity.

We booked a hotel across the river from Quebec in Levis, because I’m frugal, and I like free parking.  Little did I know that not only was this line of thinking cheaper on the wallet, it also provided us with an additional adventure, a ferry ride to Quebec. The ferry docked a couple hundred feet from a river cruise vessel that we had booked a four hour dinner cruise. As soon as we stepped off the boat, we knew the weekend would be magical.

Our dinner cruise was scheduled to depart at 7:00 PM, however when the Queen Mary 2 decides she needs to depart, all other boats wait their turn. The meal was awesome and we were entertained by gymnasts and aerialists throughout the trip.

The next day we ferried back to the city and began to explore the shops and the sites of the old city. Quebec is truly a unique place in North America. It has that old world charm of Europe that completely transports you across the pond. A marathon tied up many of the streets as we journeyed through town. This made crossing streets somewhat difficult, but we were able to navigate a path that allowed us to visit shops and galleries.  Not only were runners in the streets, but two cruise ships were also docked at the pier for a day of sight seeing.

The Chateau Frontenac is a 19th century railroad hotel that towers over the city and is the icon of the town. It’s beautiful to see, and it provides a great marker to keep a tourist from getting lost. After a lunch snack, we boarded a tour bus that provided us with the history of the city and some remarkable views. Our guide is truly proud of his city and showed us many of his favorite places including the Field of Abraham where a spider menacingly attacked a guard tower :-).

Before departing Sunday morning, we made a quick detour to see this magnificent waterfall, Parc des Chutes-de-la-Chaudière.

Quebec is a beautiful place to visit. I’ve rarely seen any place so beautifully clean, and the people so friendly. I liked visiting in the peak of autumn and seeing the dazzling colors. I don’t know how soon it will be before our return, but I’m so glad we added this to our list of must see items!

“Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all.” – Helen Keller