We finally took our first family vacation. We packed up the Honda Pilot and drove 7 hours from Boston to Quebec City. All four kids behaved wonderfully and the drive went without a hitch.
We stayed at a lovely place called Les Lofts on Rue St. Joseph which is in the up and coming St. Roch neighborhood. In just two days (the other two were mostly for travel), we were able to do and see so many things without feeling rushed.
Day 1: We drove to "the wall" and parked ($10) inside the old city under the city hall. We walked to Chateau Frontenac and walked around inside and used the ATM to get cash for the faniculair. The kids were impressed by the castle and the view on the boardwalk outside. We also checked out the crazy toboggan track outside, but decided there was too much risk for injury on our short trip and skipped it. We took the faniculair down to the lower part of the old city and had breakfast at Le Couchon Dingue (I highly recommend the breakfast poutine, the flower waffle, or the oatmeal and you MUST try an authentic bowl of cafe au lait. Can you tell I've been here before)?
After breakfast, we showed the kids the ferry boat port, but didn't venture across the river to Levis this time. Instead, we headed back to our hotel so our youngest could take a nap. While she was napping, the husband walked down the street to get us traditional smoked meat sandwiches from Joe Smoked Meat for lunch and cafe lattes from Cafe Roma.
When the little one got up, we spent a couple of hours exploring the St. Rich neighborhood. There were many shops, including two music stores, many boutiques, a pharmacy and many eating spots. The favorite spot was, unanimously, the giant toy store on our street. Benjo Inc. was filled with toys for people of all ages. Our favorites were the life sized robot that squirts water and the huge race track. On the way back to the hotel, we ate supper at poutineville which had very good poutine-one of the best this trip. Then we settled into our loft and visited with relatives for the evening.
The next morning the boys (dad included) walked to the Metro grocery store less than ten minutes away and we made oatmeal and raisin toast in the loft for breakfast. Following that, we drove to Les Chutes de Montmorency, a beautiful waterfall, where we enjoyed a cable car ride to the top. At the top we walked on the suspended bridge over the falls and stopped in to the little museum and gift shop. The falls were one of the major highlights of our trip.
We then drove to marche du vieux port de Quebec which is a huge market filled with many different vendors. We spent a while there and then found street parking in the old city and walked around a bit before heading to my favorite lunch (or dinner) spot, Le Chic Shack. If you go here, split a burger and a poutine with someone so you can try both and a milkshake is a must-have (My better half loves the stout milk shake).
After lunch, we happened to catch the St. Patrick's Day parade which had marching bands from NYC and Boston. We all loved this, especially since it was a surprise. Unfortunately, it was about 3 degrees Fahrenheit with wind and we couldn't stay for too long, so we headed back to the hotel. Before going up to our room, we stopped at Maison de The Chamellia Sinensis, a lovely tea store. After making tea in our room, we spent the evening at a relatives house before settling in for our last night at Les Lofts.
Taking a four day (two days of travel) trip to Quebec City was better than we could have imagined. The children appreciated the rich culture more than we could've anticipated and we fit so many things in, seamlessly, that it felt like we took a week's vacation. Staying at Les Lofts provided the space (two bedroom loft with large kitchen and living room) and comforts of home which also made the experience as enjoyable as it could be. We will definitely be making future trips to Quebec with the kids!
