The city is home to European-inspired architecture, some of the most wonderful French cuisine this side of the Atlantic and also home to two of the greatest events in North America, Winter Carnival (Mardi Gras on ice) and the Fete de la Nouvelle France in August.
A few years ago the management team that runs Winter Carnival was brought on to take over the Fete de la Nouvelle France. The results have been a resounding success, to the surprise of very few. The festival celebrates the French heritage of Quebec City with unabashed pride and enthusiasm. It is an event that utilizes hundreds of volunteer performers and artists. This year some 200,000 people attended the event over four days, featuring some 350 volunteers, according to Patrick Lemaire, the press director.
The Fete kicked off with one of Quebec’s famous night parades down the Grand Alle from the Lowes Le Concorde hotel to the Chateau Frontenac. This year’s event was spectacular, featuring the “giants” (a custom brought from Europe to Canada featuring large parade characters on wheels) as well as marching bands, stilt walkers and more.
After the opening night, all the action takes place in basse-ville or the lower village directly on the water. The narrow cobblestone streets of basse-ville serve as the stage for endless performances from the 350 volunteer musicians, actors, artisans and genealogists. To see this great event at its best, next year make sure to go over the weekend, as that is when the full complement of volunteers is present and participating.
Guests at the Fete are charged $10 Canadian for a medallion that allows entry to all activities plus puts them in a drawing for some great prizes. Tourists are also encouraged to dress up in the typical garb of the 17th century, which is the theme, and join in the fun. There are numerous shops that will rent costumes of your choosing.
If you are of French-Canadian heritage, this is a must-do event. There are booths set up with genealogy experts familiar with many of the original family names of 17th-century Quebec City settlers. The entire program is in French, but most everyone also speaks English and is more than happy to explain what they are doing.
While in Quebec City find a great French restaurant and treat yourself to a memorable dinner. This trip we chose Bistro Chez Boulay for “cuisine boreal,” food from the north. Chef/owner Arnaud Marchand, born and trained in France, has created a masterpiece menu from locally sourced, mostly organic ingredients, and will not use anything that is not native to Canada. He reaches out to British Columbia and Alberta for bison meat; most everything else comes from the province of Quebec.
He has substituted some very original local vinegars for citrus, as well as delicious, locally made sunflower oil for olive oil, since neither citrus nor olives are native to Canada. Marchand has created a very family-oriented atmosphere in his restaurant. This applies to both staff and customers, all being viewed as his family and treated as such. Only one year old, Chez Boulay is destined to become an icon of Quebec City gastronomy.
To get your bearings before going, go to nouvellefrance.qc.ca, the Fete’s official website. Once in Quebec, there will be stands selling the medallions all over old town, both haute-ville and basse-ville. They all have pamphlets outlining the program and a map of the sites and facilities, in both English and French.
If you can’t wait for next year’s Fete to visit Quebec City, head up for Winter Carnival next February; it’s the 60th edition and should be pretty spectacular. The official website, carnaval.qc.ca, already has an outline of major events posted. Winter Carnival has morphed over the past 35 years into a very family-friendly event. We refer to it as the Greatest Show on Snow.
Events not to be missed are one or both of the night parades, which are really amazing. There is a canoe race down one of the streets near the old city, again at night. The canoe races across the semi-frozen St. Lawrence River are nothing short of unbelievable. There is the ever-present carnival icon, Bonhomme, the snowman with the perpetual smile attending nearly all events. Don’t forget to get your Bonhomme “cane” and have it filled with some nice warm Caribou (adults only) at numerous locations, to fight off the Quebec City winter chill.
Charlie and Karen Tufts are owners of Coldwell Banker Team Real Estate in Windham, freelance journalists and restaurant critics.
Getting to Quebec City is half the fun. Get on to Route 201 in Waterville and proceed to Jackman, passing through the beautiful countryside of Somerset County. The drive takes you through Skowhegan and Bingham and follows the Kennebec River on the route that Benedict Arnold took in 1775 on his expedition to Quebec City.
After passing through Jackman you will cross the border into Canada in the town of Armstrong. According to Marco Lessard, the Armstrong border crossing director, the heaviest travel period is July through Labor Day, with from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. being the hours with the heaviest traffic.
According to Lessard, the most trouble-free crossings occur when you have your travel documents ready and declare certain things you have with you, including: items you intend to sell or use in your business, gifts for friends, things you intend to sell or dispose of in the country, items you bought in duty-free shops, and medicines. You must also declare more than $10,000 in Canadian dollars. If traveling with children, make sure you have custody documents, if applicable. Lessard noted that you must be aware of what is in your car. As long as you declare and know what you are carrying, you should have a smooth, quick crossing.
Once across the border remember that most signs are in French and the speed limit is in kilometers per hour, not miles per hour (100 kph = 66 mph). Most other rules of the road apply the same as in the U.S. Once you leave the border crossing you will travel through the countryside of Quebec province and pass through several townships and the city of St. George prior to getting on the highway to the city.
As you near Quebec, when you cross the St. Lawrence River be sure to exit right onto Blvd. Laurier and keep going straight for Vieux Quebec. The beginning of the old town starts about 5 miles down on Blvd. Laurier. Street parking is very tight and not recommended. This is a city that was essentially laid out in the 1600s and is tight. There are numerous parking garages and your hotel may have a garage or valet parking.
We have two GPS units; one works like a charm in Canada and the other is clueless. Good advice in general would be to bring an atlas or map and/or directions with you, just in case.
When you return to the U.S. and enter at the Jackman border crossing, many of the same rules and advice apply, according to Assistant Port Director Ed Cuddy. You should have Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative documents for all members of your party. These include your choice of a U.S. passport card, enhanced driver’s license or a U.S. passport. As far as what you can bring back into the U.S., Cuddy recommends that U.S. citizens find the Know Before You Go information package that can be found at the cbp.gov website.
One of the most common things that go wrong at the border is people refusing to answer questions from Customs and Border Protection agents. Not a good idea to refuse to cooperate with the CBP officers. They are there to help protect us, and we need to help them do their job. Cuddy said the best place to put goods purchased in Canada is in your trunk, where they can be quickly and easily checked by an officer. As with Canada, the advice is to declare all goods you are bringing in, if any, for a stress-free border crossing.
* Fete de la Nouvelle France: nouvellefrance.qc.ca
* Quebec Winter Carnival: carnaval.qc.ca
* Border crossing info: cbp.gov website
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