Magnifique

Day 13

We are in love. Well, yes, with each other, but I mean with Quebec City. This is the most romantic, low key, majestically beautiful city that I have ever visited. I don't think I'll be able to leave.

Our morning begins with a stroll to the Walled City in search of breakfast. We head out via rue St. Joseph again, and this time we visit some design stores. The morning is glorious; cool and sunny. We walk under the highway and admire the graffiti, and up another version of the nose bleed staircase we took yesterday. Before long, we are headed through some ancient stone gates, marking the old-old part of the Walled City. The streets get even more narrow, the doorways even tinier, and the scene even more quaint. Most windows have charming little shutters and window boxes. The signs for the businesses hang unassumingly from an iron rod over the door; most are hand painted with gold lettering. The street are surprisingly uncrowded.

The river front is breathtaking. There is a wide boardwalk lined with many park benches over looking the expanse of the St. Lawrence river. Every so often there are gazebos with broad green and white striped roofs. The view is of not only the river, but the distant rolling mountains, the impressive bridges and the town across the river. Along the river front is a massive stone hotel with copper roofing; many pointed gables like the Biltmore House. Some of the roof is being replaced, so there is the new shiny copper beside the older roofing with green patina. There are old couples strolling hand in hand, families video taping the kids, tourists taking pictures, street musicians and us. Still, it is uncrowded.

We decide to skip breakfast and have a hearty lunch. We settle on the Aux Anciens Canadiens, the place were headed to last night. The building is adorable. A steeply pitched, bright red roof with tiny gables and white stuccoes walls, it distinguished itself from all of the gray brick buildings around it. It's a little touristy, the servers are all women who wear the peasant-shirt-with-bustier reminiscent of many a french maid Halloween costume, but with a longer skirt. Undeterred, we settle in and choose a lunch special called the “Quebec tasting platter”. It begins with leek and potato soup, and then amps up right away to a huge platter of meat. The Pirate has died and gone to heaven. There are meatballs with gravy, pig knuckle ragout, a wild meat pie with pastry, maple-y baked beans in pastry, a domestic meat pie with pastry, pork cracklins and homemade ketchup and exactly one boiled potato. It's beautiful and delicious. For dessert, there is maple pie with unsweetened whipped cream; it's amazing.

After lunch we walk down to the very oldest section of the city. It's right by the river, out of the Walled City, down many, many steps. On each landing of the long stairway are alfresco dining areas for tiny restaurants, all full of flowers and hanging baskets. The narrow streets are lined with shops which are all very touristy, but the buildings are really striking. The city has put a lot of effort into beautiful plantings, which are everywhere. We pop into to shops, sit on most of the park benches offered, and eventually manage to circumnavigate the entire Walled City and make it back to the hotel. The Pirate thinks we might have walked about 5 miles today, a good bit of it stairs. My awesome blue shoes I bought have come in handy. This is a great city for walking. I will say that this city is expensive. If you plan to visit, plan to walk and spend money.

After a little break in the hotel room, we head back out for sorbet and the free Cirque de Soleil show. It's right around the corner, staged beneath the highway overpass where we walked this morning. The show is Les Chemins Invisibles, and it was apparently designed just for Quebec City. This is the fourth year they've done it, and it always free. We arrive just a little early, and make our way thorough the gates with the rest of the crowd. For the next 90 minutes, we are spellbound by this beautiful show; clever costumes, remarkable live music, and acrobatics that took my breath away. I love a good Cirque du Soleil, but this one was really stunning. The most amazing thing was that it was all under the highway overpass, which, in most cities, is a foul, damp-ish unofficial homeless shelter at best. In Quebec City it is clean and decorated with atristic, colorful graffiti that has clearly been approved by the city.

Though this city is expensive, the friendly, low key vibe, polite people and remarkable scenery make up for it.