I am in love…..

with Quebec City!!  Of all the cities we have been to, both on this trip and others, Quebec City is the best at entertaining visitors.  We arrived early enough to our hotel that we had time to walk down to Quebec’s largest independent toy store, Benjo.  The hotelier laughed when he found out that one of the reasons we chose his hotel was the close proximity to this children’s store.  Similar in size to a Toys R Us, this toy store was right downtown and was a much more hands on kind of a store.  The boys had a blast trying out the swords and shields. 

The fountains!  I love the public fountains in Rome.  On our stroll through Quebec City, we passed two such fountains.  The boys were drawn to the water likes moths to light.  I have to admit the cool water felt nice on my itchy and bitten feet.  The public art in this city was fantastic, too.  Art is at its best when given freely, and not hidden behind locked doors; opened only with an expensive admission fee.  I didn't have my camera for the evening, so I had to rely on Kim taking photos for me.  He didn't capture nearly enough flower and art photos as I would have liked.  Men.  Sigh.

                                                                              

We then found a chic little eatery and the boys indulged in their first poutine, which turned out to be not what we expected.  The gravy was much thinner, almost like an au jus, and the potatoes were smashed and then fried, not French fries.  Different is good, though…we had a great supper.

We then walked down to the water through Old Quebec City, which I found magnificent.   It was as though we were in Europe; with the cobblestone steps, narrow streets, and gorgeous flowers draping from the window boxes.  We strolled by patio bistros serving gelato and chocolate, smelling the rich espressos from within.  Europe, without the trans-Atlantic flight.

                                                                             

Levi spotted this man and yelled out, "Don't Jump!"

From there we made our way to pier 21.  Along the waterfront Cirque de Soleil (which originated in Quebec City) had set up a giant stage, complete with a full size crane.  Tickets for this outdoor performance were...free!!  Neither Kim nor I had ever been to a Cirque de Soleil performance.  I had assumed that they would just do a quick sampling, but this was a full on event.  It was breathtaking, and not just from the evening chill.  The St. Lawrence glistened with the spotlights, all of the old buildings were lit.  If watching Cirque de Soleil in the open air in the heart of Quebec City is not on your bucket list, it should be!  The night did not end there, though.  As people left the event, the city also sponsored an arthouse film that was projected onto the old grain silos along the port.  It was late and the kids were cold and tired, so we couldn't stay to watch the entire film, but we couldn't help ourselves to stand and gaze at the giant black and white images strewn across the city.   And all this was completely free!

                                                                           

                                                                                                                      Not a real bear!!


We pulled another 2 km walk back to our hotel, again carrying the boys.  At least the poutine should have been worn off!