Québec (Première Partie)/ Québec City (Part 1)

Bonjour readers!

Last week I had the privilege of going and spending a few days in Québec City. Québec City is the capital of the province and one of the oldest cities in North America. It is a popular tourist destination and one of Canada’s most important economic centers. It takes about 3.5 hours to travel there from Montréal by train, the easiest and greenest way to go. VIA Rail is the national railroad company and their fares are much cheaper than AMTRAK. Their customer service on the train is very good, but you might get stuck with a very small uncomfortable seat (as I did on the return trip). The trip between Montréal and Québec City goes through many small towns, scenic forest (it is especially nice this time of year with the foliage) and across the Saint Lawerence.

The bridge over the Saint Lawrence towards Québec City

The train station in Québec City (Gare du Palais) is on the riverside very close to the Old City (the original walled settlement) but it is not easily accessible just by walking, so you must take either a city bus or a taxi (they do have Uber in Canada, but I do not use that service, both for my safety and because they do not pay the people who work for them fairly).

I stayed at a small inn a little outside of the Old City. The price was very reasonable for the amount of time I spent and breakfast was included. The hosts also had a very cute dog (always a selling point for me!).

The neighborhood around the inn had some interesting shops and restaurants around. I particularly enjoyed a small shop that sold pre-owned books and music (mostly in French) at generous prices. I was shocked to still see cassette tapes and VHS being sold!

I’ll finish off this first post with a couple pictures from the Musée des beaux-arts de Québec, the city’s art museum. The collection is mostly contemporary art, which, I admit, I don’t really like, but it is worth the trip for the architecture of the building (one part of the museum is in a former prison and the other in what appeared to be a former courthouse) and the historic Québécois art.