Quebec Canada Carnival 2017: 1. Getting there and early days

Saturday, February 4, 2017

The Winter Carnival in Quebec City is something Marilynn and I had talked about attending several times, and as she had been in Victoria, Canada, for the month of January with her mother, it seemed a good time to meet in Quebec City. Arranging accommodation and flights went smoothly.

I woke up at 2 AM and checked my flight status. There was an email only a few minutes old from Marilynn saying her flights had been cancelled. Yesterday she had phoned to tell me that it was snowing heavily in Victoria, which seldom sees snow, so to ensure she could get to the airport she moved into a hotel for the night, however now she can't leave Victoria until tomorrow.

My United Airlines flight left early from Costa Rica. The 7:30 flight was scheduled to board at 6:55 AM, but when I arrived at the gate everyone had already boarded, and we were in the air by 7:25. Not a flight to have been late for! In Houston things reversed when the Air Canada flight was delayed, not unusual for Air Canada. I was concerned about my connection to Quebec City in Montreal, but needn't have worried as that flight was delayed also.

A nice Moroccan taxi driver got me to the fabulous Saint Pierre Auberge, located right in the centre of the lower old city of Montreal, an area of shops, bars and restaurants. It was snowing and about minus 12C. The temperature was no problem as I had my Quark Expeditions parka from the icebreaker cruise. The room and hotel in general were far above expectations, there was nothing more I could have wanted. I slept for 12 hours in the comfortable bed!

Sunday, February 5, 2017

A big breakfast from an extensive menu is included in the room cost. Our friends from Sherbrook, Quebec, Pierre Morency & Johanne made the two hour drive to visit. Pierre was born and raised in Quebec City and proved to be a great guide. We walked for miles in the snow through the narrow streets of the old city, then rode the funicular up to Dufferin Terrace were a line of old canons peeked out of the snow and screaming participants rocketed down an icy slope on sleds. Pierre also knew great restaurants for lunch and dinner.

In the afternoon we drove to the airport to pick up Marilynn, only to find her Air Canada fight had been delayed. After a wait we took her luggage to the hotel and walked to another great restaurant for dinner. After a fond farewell we headed for bed and they drove back to Sherbrooke. We'll see Pierre and Johanne towards the end of the month when they make one of their frequent visits to Costa Rica.

Monday, February 6, 2017

Marilynn isn't much into breakfast so I ate alone again. The concierge at the hotel managed to get us tickets to a food and beverage event tomorrow night that was sold out. The Saint Pierre Auberge Hotel really is highly recommended - the staff are great, and the price reasonable - $144.13 ($US 109.80) including a full, served breakfast in the white tablecloth restaurant from an extensive menu.

We walked to a glasses shop, where Marilynn got a pair of glasses repaired at no charge, then back past the hotel and through the streets of the old city. No crowds like yesterday, and no one was on the funicular - however somewhere along this stretch a lens fell out of my prescription sun glasses, so I had to buy a cheap pair of ordinary ones. We walked towards the St. Louis town gate where we had a much larger lunch than I had counted on, then back down the funicular and to the port to catch the ferry to Levis on the opposite side of the river. It was a great platform for taking photos.

I assume the ferries have ice strengthened hulls, as we were breaking ice most of the way. The river is kept open, as there are two ferries and they run every few minutes. The river here is tidal - the ice flows opposite directions depending on incoming or outgoing tides.

Marilynn did some shopping, while I took advantage of lawn chairs gathered around an outdoor gas fireplace in a small park, where there were also more ice sculptures, including one of a convertible car that the kids were having a great time playing in. We headed back to the hotel for a rest before heading out for a light pub dinner and a lot of drinks.

Tuesday, February 7, 2017

I took a taxi to a good photocopy place to get 100 copies made of some documents. When I returned Marilynn discovered the sole of her boot had separated, so boot shopping rose high on the todo list. We both worked to put the copies into envelopes and get them addressed, then trekked to the funicular to get up to Dufferin Terrace, close to a post office. The post office staff were great - I needed stamps on three envelopes, but the rest of the stack were postage free, addressed to various members of parliament as part of my battle against RCMP Commissioner Robert Paulson.

The people in the post office were helpful in directing us to a nearby boot shop, where Marilynn traded her old boots for a new pair. Today we have howling wind, with icy snow stinging the eyes. We walked and slid downhill to find a pub but walked for miles without finding an open restaurant or bar, amazing for this city. Eventually we joined a couple from Boston who were on the same quest, and located a great little pub with a cheery wood fire and a barmaid who was happy to learn how to make a hot buttered rum only a couple of blocks past our hotel.

>From there it was back the way we came to get to a cocktail party being hosted by the restaurant association of Quebec City. It was $25 per person entrance, which included two tickets for wine at any of the booths sponsored by wine companies (other tickets could be purchased), and all you could eat from dozens of restaurant booths that had samplers of their signature or specialty appetizers. There were also servers circulating with trays of more snacks, and various tables were loaded with cheese and grapes. We left unable to eat another thing, having enjoyed some amazing gastronomic flavours.

Once back at the hotel we went to the bar in the adjoining Hotel 71 for a glass of wine before bed.