C'est What?

Last week we went to Quebec for a short holiday that involved a lot of walking, sightseeing and eating. We decided to fly to Quebec City with Porter airlines and then make our way to Montreal and back to Toronto by the Via rail system. The small 75-seater Porter plane departed from Toronto Island, which was pretty cool as we see the flights take off and land over Lake Ontario all the time from our apartment.

After a short in-flight nap, we arrived at Quebec City. It was lovely to wander through the beautiful and historic streets of Vieux Quebec (old Quebec), stopping every so often for refreshments (crepes et cafe au lait, naturally). My favourite was Rue St Jean, a long and winding street full of many people, shops and restaurants. At night the road is reserved for pedestrian traffic so all the cafes and restaurants bring out patio chairs, tables and umbrellas onto the footpaths. We really enjoyed the 'terrasse' (outdoor dining) experience - good food and great people watching, what more could you want?

It was also my first opportunity to practice parlez-ing some Francais. While we seemed to get by okay with the basics, there reached a point (sometimes fairly early on) in each conversation where English was clearly easier for both us and the person we were speaking to. I have tentatively checked this one off my list, however I'm going to keep practising for next time!

Between espresso and patisserie pit-stops, we saw the Chateau Frontenac, a beautiful hotel dating back to the 19th century, Parliament House and the historic Citadelle and stone city walls. The 'lower town' area is home to a maze of quaint cobblestone streets called Du Petit Champlain. It was a bit rainy the first day we were there, but the seemingly endless stretch of charming gift shops, chocolate and sweet shops, cafes and restaurants provided more than enough motivation to keep exploring. We joined a food tour to visit some top-rating restaurants and sample tasty morsels such as salmon tartare, rabbit terrine, local cheese, delicious Breton-style buckwheat crepes and ice cider. The tour also included a visit to the maple syrup store and chocolate museum. Wow, I'm even making myself hungry with this description! On our last night in Quebec City, we saw an awesome (and free) Cirque du Soleil show that plays to a huge audience every night under a highway overpass - very cool.

Next stop was Montreal - our visit coincided with the Just for Laughs Festival, so we went to some comedy shows and wandered around the Festival grounds at la Place des Arts. There were lots of free outdoor performances too, such as an alien puppet marching band, dancing white balloon-people and a surreal hedge maze that contained some interesting characters. For dinner we had a duck confit and brie grilled cheese sandwich from a food van. Tres bien!

After wandering around old town ('Vieux Montreal'), the port and the trendy Plateau area during the day, we caught up with a local and his friends for dinner and drinks. The multicultural group's conversation was an interesting mix of Paris-French, Quebec-French and Tourist French (i.e. us), which revealed how out of depth I am in this language. Fortunately for us, the local Quebecois are able to slip between languages effortlessly (and often in the same sentence), so not too much was lost in translation. Naturally, we reciprocated the cultural exchange by educating our new friends about the infamous Australian drop bear. After dinner, we made our way to a japanese cocktail lounge that was so hip and underground that there was no sign anywhere near the entrance (an unassuming red door hidden between take-away shops). After more stories and drinks, we relinquished to peer group pressure by trying some greasy poutine. We've actually tried a couple of poutines since we've been in Canada, but we were assured that true Montreal poutine was simply an experience not to be missed! After experiencing it I would tend to disagree, but I can understand how the patriotic symbolism of a food can be strong enough to change one's perception of its taste (e.g. vegemite). For the uninitiated, poutine is a pile of french fries covered with gravy and cheese curds. Mm, sounds delish! I'm told that to truly appreciate poutine, it is best eaten after a long night out, similar to a kebab.
The next morning we visited the scenic Parc du Mont Royal. After ascending countless steps in high humidity to reach the 233m high lookout, were rewarded with a great view of the city and a well-deserved ice cream. The sporty types we saw running up and down the steps repeatedly didn't stop for caramel drumsticks, but then they didn't look like they were having much fun either. On the east side of the park, we came across the Tam Tam (drum) players, a hippie collective that meet up every Sunday afternoon to create catchy rhythms. Sadly it was BYOB (bring your own bongos), so we made our way back on the subway to see another comedy show.

I enjoyed our Quebec break, but alas the holiday time is over. We're well and truly back to reality now as Shane starts his job and I begin my job hunt in earnest - wish me luck!