La Citadelle de Québec

Since we had been to The Citadelle previously I was looking for something different to do there. I found it.

When I was researching what we could do differently in The Citadelle I came upon the Grands Feux Loto-Québec (fireworks). The Governor General of Canada has a residence in The Citadelle and would invite 100 people to watch the fireworks from his terrace. I submitted a request and we were accepted. We got a parking pass that let us park inside The Citadelle and pretty much had free run of the new part of the residence. We seemed to be the only ones there speaking English.

I got an amazing photo of the Château Frontenac.

Slide show

Vieux-Québec

We've been to Quebec City several times before and thoroughly enjoyed it each time. For this trip we had a couple of "favorite" things to do but there we had some new things on our list as well.

Slide show

In spite of the negative press we had great flights on United. Budget even upgraded us for free to get us a car with a built-in GPS.

We always stay in Vieux-Québec, the old walled city. We tried an Airbnb (Old Quebec) for the first time. Built in 1654, it was just across the street from Hôtel de Ville (town hall). The host has a coffee shop (La Maison Smith) with pastries next door and a gift shop downstairs (Le Sachem).

I took my morning walks on Terrasse Dufferin, just up the hill beyond the incredible Château Frontenac.

Vieux-Québec is full of monuments. Some are surrounded with gorgeous flowers. Some are used by street entertainers. Some are just pretty.

The night we arrived it was raining so we ducked into the first pub we saw, Pub St-Patrick. That was not a mistake.

Just a block in the other direction is Le Chic Shack which came highly recommended. It was amazing.

Two blocks away was one of our favorite restaurants, Aux Anciens Canadiens.

On the way to Aux Anciens Canadiens was a little grocery store, Epicerie Richard, that made us feel like we were in Paris.

Like any European city Vieux-Québec is full of churches that are open and alive. We dropped in several and stumbled on an organ concert.

Quartier Petit Champlain is the lower part of Vieux-Québec and best reached via the Funiculaire, reminiscent of several I've ridden in France.

La Citadelle de Québec is active military installation and the official residence of the Governor General of Canada. We got to watch the Grands Feux Loto-Québec fireworks from there.

On the way to the Citadelle you pass an old tree with a cannonball entwined in its roots.

We took a day trip to Baie-Saint-Paul, about an hour's drive out the St. Lawrence. It is known for its art galleries, shops and restaurants.

On the way back to town we made an unplanned detour by Chute-Montmorency and then explored Île d'Orléans.

We topped off (literally) our visit with a sunset dinner at Ciel, a revolving restaurant.

This won't be our last trip to Quebec City.

Halifax Citadel

Similar to Quebec City, Halifax has a star-shaped citadel. The Public Gardens are just to the southwest (you can see the red gazebo). Here's where my pictures of the gardens start.

Quebec Citadelle

There's a huge citadel at the end of Terrasse Dufferin in Quebec City. wikipedia has several articles on it and here's one of them. Here's my picture of one of the members of the Royal 22nd Regiment stationed there.