If you ever wanted to get to Europe by car, keep driving north on New York Route 87 and you end up in France. Well, French Canada, but honestly, going to Quebec City feels like transporting to a different place and time. Some provincial French city circa 1890.
A year and a half ago Gabby and I went to a networking event where she won a two night stay at Hotel Frontenac in Quebec City. Life being life, time kept passing by and the next thing we knew our trip was about to expire. Well, technically it did expire, but Gabs is clutch at getting extensions.
So, this past weekend we piled in a rental car with snacks and ipods stocked with The American Life podcasts for the 9 hours drive up to Quebec City. We were caught off guard when we stopped for lunch at McDonalds and the menu was not in English, but I enjoyed pulling my high school French up from the recesses of my mind and dusting it off. A bit. The great thing about French Canadians, as apposed to French French, is that when they speak to you in French and your eyes begin to glaze over in ignorance, they quickly and graciously switch over to English.
We took a guided tour of the city and discovered how “very special” everything about Quebec is. Due to our tour guide’s limited English vocabulary she described everything, from the numerous Catholic cathedrals to the local waterfall to the active army citadel to the cite where Benedict Arnold and the Americans tried to invade and take over Quebec, as “very special.” So, if you are the type to site-see on vacations, there are many historical sites in Quebec City–it sort of made me want to learn about Canadian history.
It was a “very special” trip. The people were nice. The architecture was charming. The food was delicious. It was everything we both needed to turn off our over analytical brains and just enjoy the moment: starting the days off in front of a lovely fireplace eating breakfast buffet, sitting on a patio looking down on the street below eating french onion soup, tucked in a booth at a quaint Swiss restaurant eating the most amazing fondue ever made. I think you get the gist of our trip. So by enjoying the moment I meant eating our way through the city, my favorite kind of travel. Gabby, thanks again for bringing me along.
I’m jealous! It looks beautiful.