Thick stone walls surround Vieux-Québec, Québec City’s old town, preserving four centuries of history. The only fortified city in North America north of Mexico maintains the appearance of a European city. Narrow cobblestone streets are edged by 17th to 19th-century churches and buildings now housing museums, bistros and art galleries. Dog sled street races and canoe races over the St. Lawrence River’s ice floes are among events at the world’s largest winter festival, “Carnaval du Québec.”
Warm weather brings three major festivals. The Québec City Summer Festival showcases local and international musicians. Women in elegant ballgowns and men in tight breeches parade during the New France Celebrations. For the International Festival of Military Bands, martial music echoes through downtown, reviving the city’s military past.
In Artillery Park, costumed interpreters represent the original French builders and the later British inhabitants. Troops perform the Changing of the Guard Ceremony summers in the Citadel, the star-shaped still-active military base.
The city’s religious heritage is told at the sound-and-light show in the imposing Notre-Dame-de-Québec Basilica, the Ursuline convent museum and Holy Trinity Anglican Cathedral.
The Amérique Française museum focuses on the city’s history.
The Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac with its copper-covered turrets and towers sits on the cliff edge dividing the Old City into Upper and Lower Towns. A funicular speeds passengers down the cliff.
Stone buildings and the city’s oldest church enclose the city’s original marketplace, Place Royale. In the original business district, the city’s largest museum, Musée de la Civilization, focuses on the province’s natural resources and people.
Outside the walled city, the Renaissance-style National Assembly, the province’s Parliament, overlooks the National Battlefields Park where the British defeated the French.
Most restaurants, naturally enough, specialize in French cuisine. The best in Lower Town are L’Initiale and the dockside bistro, La Café du Monde. À la Bastille Chez Behüaud in Upper Town has a delightful garden. Aux Anciens Canadiens, built in 1687, specializes in traditional Québec dishes.
Inexpensive sidewalk cafes line Lower Town’s St-Paul Street. Others are located on Grande Allée near the National Assembly and in the newly trendy St-Roch area.
Written by: Mary Ann Simpkins
