I didn’t tell this to Barb but there was a part of me that thought (before we left Vancouver) that we had actually overdone it on the winter clothes packing. Barb and I had gone out about two weeks ago and bought some extra things in the warm weather clothes department like thicker gloves and socks. The socks that I bought are so thick that they make my foot about 1/2″ longer than normal while wearing them.

Today when we looked out the window after waking up, we saw what can only be described as blinding snow outside. My first thought was to stay inside the hotel room all day today but when you’re in a new town on vacation, you can’t let just a little weather stop you. After all, we had all of this great new warm weather clothes in our suitcases to put on.

By the time that we left the hotel room, we ended up putting on 4 layers on top and three layers on bottom. Every layer was put to the test within 5 minutes of stepping foot into the street.

The first thing that we noticed is that while there were tens of thousands of people on the street on Saturday and Sunday night, there were now about 100 people to be seen. We walked over to the Place Desjardins where we visited on Saturday and the place seemed to be abandoned. Since Barb and I were outfitted in our nylon snow pants, we went down the hill a few times in a rubber inner tube which were normally reserved for the kids but since there weren’t any kids to be found …

All I can say is that these kids know a thing or two about having fun in the winter. I did my best to slide down the hill behind Barb in her inner tube while holding a video camera the whole time.

We stopped for lunch at a place called Restaurant Le Cavour (44 Rue Saint-Louis) to warm up and I had a delicious cream of leek soup that really hit the spot. Finding a restaurant that was opened seemed to be more trouble than we thought. Many restaurants and shops had signs in the window stating that they were closed for the season and would open again around March. We can only assume that many restaurant and store owners closed down for the winter and probably went somewhere warm.

Memories in Oil Colours

When Barb and I went to France in 2002, we came across an art gallery that had a painting that we both loved but for a variety of reasons we didn’t buy it. To this day we have regretted that decision so subsequently on each new vacation that we go on we have kept an eye out for any interesting art work that catches our eye and are prepared to make a decision on it on the spot. This actually sounds a lot easier than it is as Barb and I more often than not don’t agree on art so it’s a rare surprise when we find something that we both like. On our 2nd trip to France we did just that and the first original painting that we own hangs in our living room that we bought in Provence in 2004.

While we were browsing through the shops of Quebec City, we happened to come across many art galleries and in one of them we found a piece of art that we both equally loved so we ended up making our 2nd art purchase yesterday. Unlike the painting that we bought in France, this one is not suitable to be brought home under our arm wrapped in protective bubble wrap so we have to have this one shipped home to us.

For dinner on Monday night, we were looking for something that would be expressive of a typical Québécois meal and we were able to find just the thing: Tortière.

The tortière is essentially a meat pie made with various combinations of ground pork, beef and veal and topped with a pastry crust. It is said that there are as many recipes for tortière as there are cooks in Quebec. The tortière that we ate on Monday was at a restaurant called Le Petit Coin Latin (translation: The Small Latin Quarter): 8 1/2, Rue Sainte-Ursule, Quebec City. The tortière that they served was not made with and of the above meats but with bison and was delicious. Given that it was both a Monday night and in pretty much blizzard conditions, it was understandable why we were the only ones in the restaurant that night. That notwithstanding, the quaint surroundings of Le Petit Coin Latin were basic but inviting nonetheless.

Approaching the 2nd Half of Our Quebec Adventure

As today is Wednesday, it is the last day of our stay in Quebec City before we leave tomorrow morning for the 2nd half of our Excellent Quebec Adventure. Today we did some shopping and took a few more pictures of the snow sculptures that are in progress at Place Desjardins. It’s unfortunate that we won’t be here to see the final completion of these sculptures as they probably won’t be finished for several more days.

Tomorrow morning we will pickup our rental car after breakfast and then head over to the other side of the St. Lawrence river before heading east to our next destination.

Stay tuned.

Baden

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I had booked our room at the Ste-Anne about 3-4 weeks ago and was one of the very first things that I accomplished when setting out to plan this trip. My primary choice for selecting this hotel is the general proximity to many of the events in the Winter Carnival – all within walking distance from where we’re staying.

On the taxi ride into the city, our driver told us that today’s main event for the carnival was the dog sled races through the middle of the town. Sure enough we saw a large track of fresh snow about 12 inches deep laid down on the middle of one of the main streets for the dogs to run on.

As we were arriving so early, our room wasn’t ready for us so we dropped off our bags at the hotel and went out to explore the city.

As Barb and I had packed well for cold weather, we armed ourselves with the long scarves, toques, and thick gloves that we had and it made for a comfortable time walking along the streets. The weather has been about -5 degrees C and while this is cold by our Vancouver standards we have been told repeatedly that it is about 10-15 degrees warmer than normal for this time of year.

All of my research of the Quebec Winter Carnival that I did before our departure led me to believe that there are about a million visitors that come to the carnival. As such, I was somewhat disappointed to see very few people on the streets as we did our first walkabout through Quebec City that morning. It was only later that it occurred to me that it was 10AM on a Saturday and the vast majority of people were probably not even out of their hotels yet. It would only take a few hours to prove how true this was.

The first thing that Barb and I notice was how never before have we seen so much of a European flavour in a city in Canada as we’ve seen so far in Quebec City. It’s not only the architecture of the building that are so European (especially here in the old town) but it’s the fashions that are available in the stores and the food in the restaurants all remind of us our many trips to Europe.

This is definitely a city that we’re going to enjoy.

The first order of business that we needed to take care of was to get some breakfast (I’m sorry, petite dejeuner) and found a fabulous spot almost next door to the Ste-Anne called the Auberge du Trésor. We had a hearty breakfast of eggs, potatoes and some delicious toasted fresh bread and freshly made jam. Certainly a perfect breakfast to jump start our energy levels to get us through the day.

After breakfast, we made our way over to Place Desjardins which is one of the major spots of the winter carnival – mostly having a lot of the children’s activities.

Sidebar: While walking throughout the town, we couldn’t help but notice how many women are wearing full length fur coats here. In Vancouver it wouldn’t be practical purely from a weather perspective and personally I had thought that fur coats were a bit passé but clearly not here in Quebec City. In the first day alone we counted no fewer that about 10 women wearing full length fur coats. We also came across about 2-3 stores which specialized in fur coats any accessories. Obviously a market is here for these coats. If you happen to have a full length fur coat gathering dust in your closet, come to Quebec City as here seems to be the place to wear them.

But I digress. I was going to say that around the area of Place Desjardins there were of course tons of children – many of whom were being pulled along on some kind of sled by their willing parents. Most of the kids looked like that kid on the movie A Christmas Story where they were so bundled up that if they fell over they probably wouldn’t be able to get up again.

Without exception, all of the kids seemed to be having a great time going down the hill on inner tubes or taking part in the dozens of other outdoor activities in this area of the carnival. All of the kids were sporting red rosy cheeks from the cold weather.

While we were walking along the streets we passed by a small outdoor skating rink (also something that we would never see in Vancouver). I told Barb that this reminded me about how I used to play hockey outdoors when I was young in similar rinks. Barb asked if we got cold while doing so and I told her that our feet would be numb with the biting cold and that it would be excruciating removing the skates once we got home with near hypothermia.

Ah, good times.

Shopping and Art

As today is Sunday, we woke up to the sounds of the church bells of the church next across the street from our hotel. No matter where we have travelled in the world, Barb and I cannot ever get enough of the sounds of church bells. On a side note, our most memorable church bell experience is hearing them on New Year’s eve in Germany while staying with our friends Anette and Frank in 2001.

We took a stroll this morning from our hotel down the stairs to the lower town called Quartier Petite Champlain. It was here that in 1608, Samuel de Champlain started to build the first establishment in New France. Today, this area is filled with interesting shops, restaurants and galleries. If you happen to visit this area of Quebec City, be prepared to take plenty of pictures.

Barb and I finished our day outside today with a fabulous meal at a restaurant called Café de la Paix. We both enjoyed a succulent duck a l’orange and was accompanied by the most delicious orange-based sauce. If it weren’t for the biting cold on the walk home it would have made for a much longer stroll along the streets but as it was, we couldn’t have gotten back to our hotel fast enough.

With only half of our four days in Quebec City completed, we still have much to see and do before we move onto the second phase of our trip on Wednesday morning.

Baden

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Less of a Mystery than Planned

Those of you who have been reading the previous two installments of our “Mystery Adventure” will know that I had gone to great pains to take Barb on a vacation and have her not know where we were going until we got there. Unfortunately this was not to be the case. Not one but two of our friends ended up accidentally telling Barb that we were going to Quebec while talking to her over the past two weeks.

Mental note: If I ever try and do the Mystery Adventure thing again in the future, I have to learn from this and not tell anyone where we’re going – not just the people who I assume will never speak to Barb before we leave.

Although Barb knew we were going to “Quebec” before we left yesterday, she actually only assumed that it was the province of Quebec that people were talking about and not Quebec City. As such, some of the Mystery remained.

Going back a few weeks, the only thing that I told Barb was that she needed to pack for cold weather. Realistically it would have been mean to not give her this clue as much of the things that I have planned on this Adventure will be outdoor activities – in the freezing cold (not the +10 degrees C that we get in Vancouver this time of year).

While we were packing our suitcases over the two days before we left Vancouver, I was reminded about how much extra space it takes to travel for a Winter vacation. Bulky sweaters and other warm clothes really make you wish that you were carrying your biggest suitcase with you so forget about that smaller carry on sized luggage.

Red Eye Express

I had deliberately planned on leaving late on a Friday night and arriving in Quebec City the following day in the early morning. I figured that as long as we could get some sleep on the longer flight to Montreal we would end up arriving here and have virtually a full extra day to spend here. Any other option would have us arriving in Quebec City in the late afternoon and ending up with pretty much of a whole day lost to travel.

As it turned out, I was about to sleep for about 4 hours on the 5 hour flight but Barb not so much. This was the first flight that I used the inflatable neck pillow, the ear plugs and the eye covers to help me sleep on a flight. I have to say that these things really helped me and I slept way more than usual. I highly recommend these things if your catching a flight where you really need to get some sleep.

We arrived in Quebec City and once we got to the airport and got our bags, I finally disclosed to Barb that we were here for the Quebec City Winter Carnival.

Her first reaction was “is that on now”? Based on this response I concluded that there was still some hope for keeping the mystery in our Excellent Quebec Adventure.

Stay tuned for the next chapter as I describe our first day in Quebec City as we start to explore the unique events of the winter carnival…

Baden

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While this lasagna recipe takes a long time to make, over 3-4 hours from start to finish – although much of that time is spent simmering on the stove or in the oven, I think that the end result is quite good.

After resting for about 10-15 minutes out of the oven before bringing it to the table to serve, this dish has a good presentation factor when served as nothing beats that great smell and the bubbling cheese looks great. True it can be a bit messy when serving so I suggest putting down a tea towel to catch the spills.

My recipe for Lasagna Fantastico can be found here. Enjoy.

Baden

To be honest, I haven’t done a lot of Italian cooking other than the usual pasta dishes like spaghetti, lasagna and manicotti which are a staple for Barb and I. As such, when I was thumbing through the book looking for a recipe to try out, I came across one that caught my attention : Zuppa Rustica (or Peasant Soup). The soup was a very simple recipe with mostly just vegetables but the addition of lima beans and Italian sausage made it an intriguing mix which I decided to try.

I scaled the recipe up by 50% as it said that it served 4 and we were planning on having Peter and Liz over to try it out with us. I’ve found that it’s always good to have leftovers for later for a few days.

Up until a year or two ago, I probably would have used canned lima beans in this recipe but I started looking more and more at dried beans back then and this is what I chose to use for this recipe. Cooking with dried beans requires that they be soaked overnight in water so this step can’t be missed. Once I made a batch of Easy Palese Split Pea Soup and forgot to soak the peas overnight and the recipe just didn’t turn out well. My advice is if you forgot to soak the beans overnight, do a different recipe. In the end though, “real” beans and not canned brings a better flavour to the dish.

I used one of my biggest stock pots to make this soup and after I had finished chopping all of the vegetables and adding them to the pot it was filled right to the lid. Most of the room in the pot was taken up by the chopped cabbage but once it started to simmer, the cabbage reduced down and with the chicken stock, formed most of the hearty soup base. The sausages were only added in about 40 minutes before the soup had finished simmering and added some additional flavour. On the subject of Italian sausages, I strongly recommend that you get your sausages from an Italian store that actually makes them on site. The pre-packaged sausages that are widely sold are, in my opinion, just not worth the trouble and the taste is not comparable with the real thing.

Along with a few slices of your favourite bread, serve up some zuppa rustica in a large bowl and enjoy.

The recipe that I used for Zuppa Rustica can be found here.

Baden