Quebec, The Canadian Gem

If you can’t make it to Paris this year, head to Quebec. This Canadian city is very festive, incredibly French and partying all year.

You can show your love for our Canadian neighbor by attending the biggest birthday bash on the planet. Quebec, the oldest and most European city in North America is celebrating its 400th birthday. So, if you’re the type that wishes the party never ended, here’s your chance!

The trés Français city kicked off the festivities on January 1st of this year with citywide fireworks. They raised their glass, and have continued to tip back and kick up throughout the city with an endless series of festive events throughout the year from The Winter Carnival in February (think Rio with a chill and a city mascot that kicks high and left), The World Hockey Championship in May, the official citywide celebration on the exact birth date of July 3rd, and an enormous floating dance floor for 2,500 that set sail on the St. Lawrence River in August. Ravers beware!

Yet any time is a good time to visit the picturesque Quebec, where the eye is forever inspired with the old world architecture and the incredible charm in the walled city. Throughout Quebec, on both sides of the wall, there are several stunning churches, endless galleries, chic boutiques, European sidewalk cafes and countless top-notch museums.

For a quick cultural hit, head to their National Museum, the Musee National des Beaux– Arts de Quebec on the edge of Battlefield Park on the Plains of Abraham. On weekends, locals cross-country ski or jog through the park (depending on season) en route to the Museum to add some physical to their cultural. There’s a wide range of local celebrated Quebecois (their counters to the French impressionists) and international artists as well as an Inuit Art Collection.

The Museum has as series of special exhibits running through the anniversary year. We caught a special Picasso exhibit, a series of his work, 55 pieces, paintings, sculptures and sketches created while he was in Chateau d’Antibes. Exquisite! As if his work doesn’t feel visceral enough, we caught the photographic shots of Picasso taken during that period, at the Chateau that took us right back there. It was a spine tingling moment.

Another must, The Musee de la Civilization, is a Quebec can’t miss with a handful of very diversified exhibitions. Each one is compact, yet complex. I especially loved the photography exhibit, bright horrifying shots of landfills and the families that live off of them in Asia, Africa and Mexico. The photographer spent five years of his life on this work. It was shocking!

That was countered with pop culture exhibit, a retrospective of Quebec cinema, Urbanopolis, an informative and entertaining display about population control or the lack there of, Encounters with (Canada’s) First Nations and the People of Quebec Then and Now. It felt like five or more museums in one, an excellent use of time and money. I loved it as it left me with a true sense of the city’s history, past and present. The two museums were the perfect balance of emotional and intellectual.

Things in Quebec citywide are inherently French, including their language, so travel with a fluently French friend (I did) or dust off your mime. There’s plenty of English being spoken, but it definitely doesn’t hurt to know a few basics.

The food, also French in nature is fab, from simple to sublime, its spot on. For casual bites try the local institution Le Cochon Dingue for the casual local vibe and the Croque Madam, which is rich enough to split or Pizza D’Youville for their caramelized onion and chorizo sausage pizza. It’s so good; we craved it for days after. Finally, for the best crepe in Quebec, hit Casse Crepe Breton, in the heart of the tourist district. It’s bit kitsch while still remaining authentic. You can watch your crepe being made by the young local girls.

For evening eats, try the hip and delish La Cremaillere, where the presentation is as exciting as the bites, or the Voodoo Lounge for dinner, where there’s an assortment of excellent Canadian wines with some belly dancing on the side. The noise level is loud, but who’s talking?

For a truly regal evening, hit the historical and stunning Fairmont Le Château Frontenac for the ambiance and the view overlooking the city. We finished off with a nightcap at our hotel, The Hilton. Quebec, the biggest maple makers in the world take their syrup seriously. It finds its way in to many things, including your cocktails. Try the Hilton’s Maple Syrup Cosmo. It’s the perfect balance of syrup and spirit.

If you didn’t make the summer soirée, head north for their winter, where everyday is Christmas and every night is New Year’s Eve. In Quebec, you don’t dress to impress. Every one in town in winter is Michelin-made, walking around the city center for winter festivities, the ice sculpture garden and Winter Carnival, in top to bottom ski ware. There’s no slope, just a city with kids being pulled in sleds instead of strollers. So grab your silk long johns and layer up a lot!

If you want to take the winter thing up a notch, you can. Head 30 minutes outside the city, to Duchesnay, to the Hotel De Glace, (The Ice Hotel). It is one of only two in the world. It takes six weeks to build in January and a few hours to melt in April.

If blocks of ice don’t make for sweet dreams, grab a day pass as the visit in is well worth the look. Each room is designed like piece of ice art inclusive of a Gaudi inspired room and many Quebec and French Canadian inspired works of art and history (all ice of course) on the wall or on the headboards. It is what one could only imagine and could only hope for in a winter wonderland.

Slip in to the N’Ice Bar, complete with disco balls where drinks are served in ice glasses with a bit of Maple. (It‘s everywhere!)

Our night in, the hotel was full, so they built igloos to accommodate our overflow. Knowing how impressive this would be for my niece and nephew, who love my Auntie Mame monologues, I embraced my igloo room and roughed it out. It was old world warm in a sleeping bag made for 50 below and wildly inspiring in the cool silence. 

Don’t leave the area without a visit to the Aventure Nukshuk. I was wrapped in a bundle of blankets, calling it in while my athletic guide worked our dogsled complete with eight ambitious, beautiful huskies. It was then, in that moment, as we raced through the cold, snowcapped hills of Canada, with husky bums ahead of me and my LA life behind me that I felt that true disconnect that you get when you travel, where you finally find your sense of place in your new space.

As my dogs rolled their beamy faces in the snow, mid ride, as they couldn’t contain their canine joy, I thought, I couldn’t have said it any better.

Who better than Canada’s own Cirque de Soleil to say Happy Birthday to their French gem at the close of the festivities on October 19th? Joyeux Anniversaire Quebec! Obviously 400 is the new 40, as you’ve never looked better. Merci!

By Karen Loftus

For more info: www.myquebec2008.com

PS The dollar is a wee bit stronger in Canada than it is in Europe. So, you may consider heading north before heading overseas.