February 2011
Quebec City is beautiful -- cobbled and hilly and crowded with cafes and bistros. Perhaps in the summer season it might tip over the edge and become precious, but in February post-Carnival, it isn't at all crowded. What it is, is cold. Cold as in, you can't walk up the cobbled hill the 5 blocks to get to the fort museum without popping into one store to purchase lined hats for the teenagers who were too cool to bring them on the trip at all because who wears hats in Connecticut and New York; and then again into another store two blocks later to purchase long underwear for the eight year old, who did remember and wear her hat, but didn't think she needed long underwear for a five block walk.
Really, really cold. Daytime temperatures ranged between 10-20 F (-12 to -7 C); and it was much colder than that after dark; and I hate to be a wimp, but it did affect our experience. Ordinarily, we like to poke around galleries and shops, peer into fifteen restaurants before selecting one, soak up sidewalk ambiance... There was none of that. We selected a destination and marched directly to it, and jostled at the door to get into the foyer first.
Ironically, given this reaction to the cold, the purpose and timing of the trip was to go to the Ice Hotel. Which was amazing. We all made it through the full night (even my sister in law, who wasn't at all convinced), and even the surliest of the teenagers briefly laid down the cool to whoop down the ice slide. Everyone should experience it once.
(And, having experienced it once, I personally am prepared to say, Check! Done that!)
What We Did:
Accomodations:
2 nights at Le Saint Pierre Nice brick-walled rooms in terrific location; good breakfast.
1 night at Hotel de Glace: A night to remember.
See:
Vieux Quebec (walk from Le Saint Pierre)
Morrin Center (old prison converted to library)
Citadel fortress
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