Quebec City and the Gulf of St. Lawrence

Leaving the beautiful Laurentians behind, we said goodbye to our hosts and headed back towards Montreal and then towards Quebec City along the St. Lawrence River valley.

We arrived in Quebec City in the early afternoon and after a quick bag drop off at our very pretty little hotel (literally “Au Petit Hotel”), we headed straight out to explore the city.

Starting by looping along the city walls and past the Quebec National Parliament Building we headed away from the city and into the Plains of Abraham parkland.

The city takes its name from an Algonquin word Kebec, which means “where the river narrows” and it is also where the Saint Charles River flows into the Saint Lawrence. Both features make it an important strategic location leading to a history full of battles in the 17th and 18th centuries, and includes a final decisive British victory over the French at the Plains of Abraham in 1759.

The plains are an interesting mix of a terraced clifftop landscape peppered with cannons, woodlands full of the history of French-Canadian ecology, along with the main recreational park for the locals.

From here we headed back in towards the city and past the Citadel, which is still a military garrison today and houses the only French speaking battalion in the Canadian Army. From the far end of the Citadel there’s a fantastic view of the city, the river and the Château Frontenac, the world’s most photographed hotel. It’s an absolute monster and towers over the Old Town and there’s no wonder it’s the world’s most photographed. You almost can’t take a photo in Quebec City without getting the hotel somewhere in the background!

In front of the hotel is a large wooden promenade that looks over the Lower Old Town and forms the end of a toboggan run during the winter, as part of the famous winter festivals of Quebec City. If only we’d come in December!

We finished the tour by exploring the very pretty, but also very touristy Lower Old Town and then heading back up hill to our hotel.

The following day we woke up and the forecast was pretty shocking; a high chance of rain all day! We considered staying in the city and scrapping our plans to visit further along the Gulf of St. Lawrence, but a break in the rain and Claire’s optimism meant we decided to go for it.

As the rain bucketed down and the Canadian roadworks started to draw on we started to wonder if optimism was the best strategy. But as we arrived in Baie St. Paul, our first stop on the north shore of the Gulf, the rain eased and we were able to get out and wonder down the charming main street and out to the Marina and the bay.

Gareth’s highlight of Baie St. Paul was the bike hire system – Baiecycles!!! Ha ha ha! Hilarious! Top punning from the town council there. But the view of the bay was also pretty good too.

Further along our route was a scenic trip around the coast, which avoided the main highway inland and gave some good views of the sea (and the closest we will be to the East coast of the Atlantic on our trip) along with a excellent coffee and pastry stop in La Malbaie and also some very pleasant views of rural Charlevoix (the name of the region). Some of the farms looked a bit like they’d come out of a children’s story book.

On our way back to the city we squeezed in wander around the impressive Les Chutes de Montmorency and their precarious wooden viewing platforms, before saying goodbye to Quebec province the next morning. On we go to Toronto!!