We took the train from Montreal to Quebec City for a long weekend. The train ride was about 3 hours long and made brief stops at several stations in small towns along the way.
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| Train station in Montreal, Gare Centrale |
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| All aboard! |
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Quebec City train station, Gare du Palais
The park across the street from the train station, Gare du Palais
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Quebec City is a beautiful city on the St. Lawrence River. It is one of the oldest European settlements in North America. It was settled in 1608. Quebec's Old Town (Vieux-Quebec) is the only North American fortified city north of Mexico whose walls still exist. It is a UNESCO world heritage site. It is the capital of Quebec province and like Montreal, French is the primary language.
Vieux-Quebec has a distinct European feel with its stone buildings and winding streets lined with shops and restaurants.
We stayed at Hotel Le Germaine in the heart of lower Vieux-Quebec.
Lower Vieux-Quebec is on the riverbank and has many shops, restaurants. Here are some pictures of lower Vieux-Quebec...
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| Notre-Dame des Victoires Church |
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| The village square where they have re-enactments... |
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| ...in French so we didn't know what they were saying! |
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| Wall mural depicting Quebec City's history |
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| Crowds were really thick in the middle of the day! |
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| We rode the Funicular up the hill to upper Vieux-Quebec |
View of lower town from top of the hill...
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| Up we go to the top of the hill to upper town |
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| View of lower town from the funicular |
Upper town is just a beautiful as lower town...
We stumbled upon a street of restaurants...
We walked by the Citadelle of Quebec, the largest active fortress in North America...
We walked on the boardwalk built on the edge of the cliff with beautiful views of the St. Lawrence River. The boardwalk was right in front of the massive Chateau Frontenac Hotel, the most photographed hotel in the world.
And, we visited Notre-Dame de Quebec Cathedral, mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Quebec. In 2014 the cathedral celebrated its 350th anniversary.
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| Could not get a close-up of the altar because it is undergoing renovation |
Time to walk back down to lower town and have a well deserved dinner at a sidewalk café!
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| That's me enjoying a glass of wine! |
Forgot to take pictures of our delicious entrees but here's what we had for dessert...
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| Chocolate mousse |
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| Crème brulee |
On our last night there were fireworks on the riverbank and luckily we could see them from our hotel room because I was too tired to take another step (and it was a rainy night)!
Quebec City is a beautiful city. We enjoyed our visit there and will always remember its beautiful architecture and history.
