GOOD FOOD TIMES IN CANADA - THE DESSERT

Day 17 Thursday 25th September

It was very wet in Quebec City, when we got off the bus. We took a taxi to the hotel, which turned out to be closer to the hotel than the taxi fare merited, but at least we stayed dry.

We dropped our cases at the hotel reception. We didn't need lunch as we had bought a sandwich for the bus journey. The thought of a beer was quite attractive, so we walked a few steps to the bar next door to the hotel. The barman was quite helpful and gave us some ideas of where we were and what might be worth visiting.

There was a lull in the rain and Sharon prevailed upon me to go and explore a bit. The barman had suggested the upper town. That was also where Michael and Cindy were staying and where we had booked for dinner this evening. The Upper Town it was, then.

The rain did not remain lulled for long! The Upper Town, really was up as well.

We came across a stone Celtic cross up the hill. It commemorated the role played by Quebecois in helping to alleviate suffering during the Irish Potato Famine and The Great Migration in the mid-19th Century. There is a significant Irish heritage in Quebec.

We unexpectedly stumbled on the ramparts and the cannons which guarded them. There is a bit of a story about the walls.

The French had built the first walls to protect the city at the beginning of the 17th Century. A service road and some houses were built here as well. The British seized the city and set about improving the defences. Between 1786 and 1811 walls of several metres height were built and cannon emplacements put in place. 60 years later, the British left and the citizens wanted the walls demolished. However, in 1872, the new Governor General of Canada, Lord Dufferin was appalled at the potential loss of the walls. He saw them as part of the city's heritage and, instead, lowered their height and widened the city gates to make movement easier. He thought, even then, that they would be an attraction to tourists. He was right!

Inside the walls it was attractive to the middle classes to build houses and the area prospered.

We found our dinner venue for tonight, BeClub. Sharon had a chat with the owner and her new baby. She was reassured that the baby would not be cooking and we could expect an excellent meal.

We then found that Michael and Cindy's hotel was a short walk away, so we retired to our hotel to dry out before dinner.

The restaurant when we got there later, was really a bit different and quirky, but very comfortable.

Most importantly, the food was outstanding.

Michael had onion soup - not French, but English, onions were used, as they are apparently better! The little cheese and onion toasties around the edge of the bowl looked fabulous.

Sharon had a bruschetta of tomatoes, goat's cheese mousse with honey and lemon. It was called Le Fermiere, the farmer, and was served on a shovel plate!

Cindy and I started with Guinea Fowl drumsticks in an Asian sauce with shredded vegetables.

Cindy and Sharon both had the main of Halibut, with a barley and pesto risotto, caramelised leeks and cashew.

Michael had the very tempting lamb shank special. 

I finally made up my mind and had the 24 hour smoked and braised bison rib with seasonal vegetables. It tasted exactly as I expected and wanted.

We had a little rest after that.

Then most of us dived into dessert.

Cindy had poached pear, with maple ice cream and crispy chocolate. Michael did not order dessert, but he did order a second spoon so that he could steal some of Cindy's.

Sharon had the white chocolate crème brulee, with caramelised cashews and blueberries. I had the sea buckthorn tart with caramel foam and chocolate crumble.

It was an outrageously good meal, with some very good wines to go with it.

We needed a bit of a walk after all that glorious food, so we went back along the street with Michael and Cindy, which was quite lively now that the rain had more or less stopped. 

Then we carried on to our own hotel.

Day 18 Friday 26th September

Breakfast came to our room this morning. Sharon didn't have to nip downstairs in her gown to get it!

It wasn't exactly fancy, but it was good - croissants, juice, muffin and an apple compote.

After breakfast, all four of us made our way beyond the city walls to pick up a rental car. Michael had organised that with a view to us visiting Baie St Paul. It wasn't far to our first stop - Montmorency Falls. These are pretty spectacular. Whilst not of the same grandeur as Niagara, they are very nearly a hundred feet higher than those Falls.

You can see how much tree debris they carry with them from further upstream.

There are options which allow you to get closer to the falls, but these tend to involve a climb back up as well as down. We declined.

The Falls are where the Montmorency River meets the St Lawrence. You can see the scale of the St Lawrence in the distance, along with Quebec City.

We were heading further East and the trees were noticeably showing autumn colours.

Michael had held out the tantalising prospect of a cheese tasting at a creamery.

They did have lots of cheese and other good foodie stuff.

They even had black pudding, but it wasn't from Stornoway!

What they didn't have, was tastings!

We did buy a few things, but decided it was time for lunch, so we drove to Le Mouton Noir in Baie St Paul. It looked interesting from the outside.

It was even more interesting inside, and not just because it had some nice cold beer.

The food was really good as well. We had a selection of the starters to share between us all. We did take two of the Gazpacho, so that we wouldn't end up dipping spoons into the wrong couple's soup!

There was a tartare of Arctic Char, house fries with garlic mayo, air dried ham with compressed melon, a mix of local heritage tomatoes, pate with pistachios and gazpacho. It was all delightful and just what we needed after being denied the cheese tasting.

After our delightful lunch, we went for a wander around Baie Saint Paul, which is known for being a bit on the bohemian and artistic side. It is certainly very pretty, and the number of art galleries is astonishing.

We did spend a bit of time in this gallery, but the paintings were a bit big to get into a suitcase.

Cindy and Sharon certainly walked the streets with a bit of purpose!

The Cidrerie looked interesting, but we didn't go in as Michael had promised us a visit later in the afternoon.

Another church and another pair of tin spires.

Once we had had a good look around and managed not to buy any art, we set off for the cidrerie that Michael had carefully chosen.

The place was guarded by a very strange bucolic chap.

I don't know what he was guarding against, as the cidrerie was closed, so the promised cider had gone the way of the promised cheese tasting.

We all felt sorry for Michael, but we certainly didn't let him know that.

Without a reason to stay, we drove back to Quebec City. The trees seemed to have become more colourful in a matter of hours.

We took a more direct route and were back in plenty of time to hand the car in, From the rental office, we walked back past the city walls.

Then we passed through the Kent Gate, which was built in 1879 and was named after Queen Victoria's father, Prince Edward Augustus and he was the Duke of Kent.

We all went back to Michael and Cindy's hotel, where we got some wine and sat with that and cheese and meats that Cindy had bought at the creamery.

After that, we needed a bit of a walk so we decided to explore a bit, partly to check out the dinner choice for the evening.

This sculpture is called La Vivriere and commemorates the founding in Quebec of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations in 1945. The statue recalls the figurehead of a bygone sailing ship, recalling the times when the St Lawrence River ran up to this street. The bricks on the pavement represent the waves lapping the shore. The woman is carrying food from all continents.

The sculpture is also a homage to Lester B Pearson who was instrumental in setting up the FAO. He was the Canadian ambassador to the UN at the time and later became Prime Minister and was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. Toronto airport is named after him.

We carried on up the street and round the corner, to be surprised by this enormous mural!

It is a trompe l'oeil, which means it is designed to trick the eye into believing you are looking at three dimensions rather than one. It is quite remarkable and it depicts a number of people who are famous Quebecois or have influenced the city in some way.

There are some very nice buildings next to the mural and the positioning of the church to create a visual stop at the end of the street entices you to walk down.

It was well worth the short walk, because you find yourself in a lovely little square. You really could have been in France.

We went downhill close to the riverside frontage where we found this huge picture frame, which captures a view up the hill to Chateau Frontenac, which dominates much of the city.

There are also more reminders of the city's turbulent past, and signs of a growing future.

There really are some fine buildings here.

This Titanic photo opportunity was outside the Museum of Civilisation. It was closed, but it has a pretty colossal name to live up to! After surviving the iceberg, we went back to the hotel to get ready for dinner.

Dinner was not far from our hotel at a place called Chez Rioux and Pettigrew. It was busy and cosy, and promised another good meal.

We started with cocktails and fizz and some very good bread and butter.

I had a great starter of veal carpaccio with tuna mayo, spinach and croutons.

Cindy controversially started with cheese!

Sharon started with scallops with cauliflower four ways. Cindy had the same dish as a main. Michael had the gravadlax special starter, but I didn't get a photo of that, nor did I get a picture of his quail main.

Sharon had a mushroom risotto for main.

I had sous vide halibut with polenta and tomatoes four ways. It was delicious.

It was all excellent and nobody could manage a dessert, so we went for a wee walk before retiring for the night.

Day 19 Saturday 27th September

Today, we had planned to do some sightseeing around the city in the morning. Michael and Cindy met us at our hotel and we took them to see what we had found yesterday evening.

They liked the mural and even knew some of the famous people depicted.

We moved on to the square, where we had this photo taken, before Sharon and Cindy disappeared inside some shops!

We waited dutifully outside while they browsed.

Further on from the little square we came across Umbrella Alley, which is a riot of colour and a sure fire place to spend some time taking lots of photos.

Especially when the sky is so blue.

I would have to say that the whole area is quite charming.

There is even another mural. This represents the various stages in the development of the port area of the city by illustrating these in different rooms of the same house.

Opposite the fresco is a witch, or three!

We went back to the picture frame and had a photo of the two of us taken. 

Cindy and Michael did the same thing.

We did not have lunch as we were going to the Chateau Frontenac for afternoon tea. This would necessitate a change of attire, so we went our separate ways to achieve a degree of sartorial elegance.

Sharon and I went up the hill by funicular and we were at the hotel before Cindy and Michael. Chateau Frontenac is, frankly, enormous, and perhaps a tad overblown.

It opened in 1893 and occupies the site of the houses of previous French and British Governors. It was built for the Canadian Pacific Railway and was one of a number of such hotels built in this Chateauesque style. You will, of course, remember the Chateau Laurier in Ottawa built by the Grand Trunk Railway, which had followed the same trend.

It has over 600 rooms and everybody who was anybody has slept there. It also hosted important meetings between Britain, America and Canada to discuss the prosecution of World Ward Two.

 

Well, now, it was getting ready to host us for afternoon tea.

Cindy and Michael were there as well.

Just in case you didn't know how to make tea, they had a tea timer on every table!

There was a menu of 12 different teas and we each had a different flavour.

There was a very pretty selection of sandwiches and cakes.

It really was all very elegant and extravagant!

It was all as you might expect. Even the lifts and the post-box were a bit on the shiny side.

After tea, we explored the area around the hotel. This is the Monument of Faith and it celebrates the 300th anniversary of the arrival of the Recollect Missionaries in Canada from France. These were a branch of the Franciscans and they arrived in Quebec in 1615.

There is a little street of stalls showing off the work of local artists. Sharon didn't get very far along the street before she had to stop. Michael and Cindy looked on patiently.

By the time we got to another shop, Michael had completely lost the will to live so much so, that he had found the fly crawling along the pavement more interesting!

We then had a look at the somewhat starkly attractive seminary of Quebec. Much of this dates from the 17th Century and I do like the severity of the white walls within the vast courtyard.

The seminary was originally founded by Francois de Laval, the first Bishop of New France in 1663 to provide priests for the French missionary effort. Later that century, the French decided to impose French language and culture on the indigenous population. The seminary expanded its operation to allow the local populace to be educated as priests.

After all our exploration, we needed to sit down for a drink.

The Café Terrasse La Nouvelle France fitted the bill perfectly.

We spent some time there sipping wine and chatting away. Eventually we did get a bit hungry and went to find something to eat. We found Portofino close to Michael's hotel. It was very, very busy, but eventually we were shown to a table.

I had a very nice carpaccio.

Sharon had a good linguine, pesto and pine nuts.

Just what we needed to finish the day. 

All that remained was to say goodbye to Michael and Cindy, who were going home in the morning. Then we headed off to our separate hotels after another good day.

Day 20 Sunday 28th September

We were up after breakfast - literally up. We used the funicular railway to get up to the Chateau so that we could go for a walk on the city walls and then out to the Plains of Abraham.

The funicular brings you out at the chateau and the statue of Simon de Champlain, the founder of Quebec and the bringer of all the monks and missionaries.

Really unexpectedly, we came across a monument before we got to the city walls. This was erected to remember "Those sons of Quebec who gave their live fighting for the Empire in South Africa". It was a Boer War memorial. It just makes you realise the reach of Empire.

We got onto the walls at St Louis gate and we walked northwards, with some fine views all around.

We even got to see a pro-Palestinian demonstration in front of the Quebec legislature

The views were really good.

We came down from this section of the walls at Saint Jean Gate. This gate has had a number of incarnations, being in slightly different locations and having been built, demolished and rebuilt more than a few times. This gate actually dates from 1930, when it was rebuilt to better resemble the remaining original gates.

We walked along Rue St Jean, which was really quite interesting and quirky.

We turned into Avenue Cartier, which has a reputation for being artistic and Bohemian. It certainly had the best street lights I have ever seen.

Even Bohemians need a wee cake now and again!

Then we arrived at the Plains of Abraham. These are named after Abraham Martin, who was a fisherman and river pilot, who had emigrated to Quebec from Scotland in 1635.

The Plains are more famously known as the site of the eponymous battle, which took place in September 1759. We only missed the 266th Anniversary by 15 days!

The battle was a very short conflict between British and French troops. The British, under the command of General Wolfe, climbed the cliffs in the dark and surprised the French. One volley of gunfire was apparently sufficiently deadly to put paid to resistance and the fighting was over in 30 minutes. Victory for the British allowed them to capture Quebec and from there, to control Canada within a year.

We took the opportunity to have a cup of tea and conquer a very good cherry cheesecake.

The park here is large and you can walk through and back to the Citadel and Old Quebec. The remarkable thing is that since the battle, development of Quebec sprawled all over the battle site without hindrance. Hundreds of acres were developed. It was only by 1901 that the Crown bought up some land to prevent some further development. Other development did continue, however, when a huge rifle production factory was built. The factory used a  Martello Tower at the site as a water tower to service the factory. This seemed to galvanise public and official desires to see the battlefield site given protected status and to become a national monument. 

Somewhat weirdly, the water tower had a much later successor when all of the soil on a huge area of the site was removed and an underground water reservoir was built about 2 metres under the surface. The soil was replaced and you would never know that the reservoir was still there and functional.

There are now lots of reminders of the military past of the Plains.

You can see the strategic importance of the Plains, with their commanding views over the St Lawrence river.

It even works for picnic benches!

General Wolfe and his men scaled the cliffs at Cap Diamant and the site now has two large works of art made by indigenous artists. The works were unveiled in 2024 to mark National Truth and Reconciliation Day. This remembers the loss of identity and culture undergone by indigenous children who were forcibly removed from home and educated in residential schools. Many of those who died during this period are buried in unmarked graves.

This piece is called Remembering through Beads by Ludovic Boney. The rings represent Wampum beads, which were made with seashells and were strung together to make necklaces and belts. They were often given to seal alliances between peoples and nations.

The Three Watchmen was made by 7IDANsuu Chief James Hart, a Haidi artist. The three watchmen are guardians of the Haida Nation. The four rings on their hats refer to their lucky number meaning good luck.

We said goodbye to the art... 

...and had a look over the edge to the river.

We were heading towards the Citadelle, whilst taking in views of the city and some very fine cloud streets. These are formed when there is a significant difference between wind speeds at lower and higher levels. Basically, the low winds allow warm air to rise, then the higher speed winds arrange the resultant clouds into streets.

The citadelle was built by the British between 1820 and 1850 and was intended to be a key defence against American invasion. It is remarkably similar in design to Fort George outside Inverness. This is not really surprising given military architectural trends. Fort George was completed about 50 years before construction of the citadelle began. Both are still active military sites.

(Note the cloud streets).

Walking along the walls of the citadelle, you can realise how close we are to the old city.

On the north wall, there are good views of some fine houses and, of course, the chateau.

The chateau just dominates everything.

There is a cruise ship in port and we made our way downhill to the terrace in front of the chateau, to take in the views and watch the people. There were a lot of them taking in the sun.

All that walking and sun, meant we were feeling a bit thirsty.

We were hungry as well. Luckily a little Italian place came to our rescue. We didn't need a huge meal as we had our last supper to look forward to fairly early in the evening. We just coped with some nice olives, arancini, salads and bread.

Perfect.

We went back to the hotel to pack, have a wee doss and then get smartened up for dinner.

Our hotel entrance is on the left of the building in the photo. The restaurant, Legende, is the door on the right, so we did not have far to go. We had booked the hotel without realising that the associated restaurant held a Michelin star. Clearly our last dinner in Canada would have to be there.

The restaurant was busy despite this being the first evening sitting, but the service was very attentive. I don't recall ever being offered a choice of scented hot towel to freshen up with before eating. We both chose lemon, thinking that lavender might just induce slumber.

A little amuse bouche arrived. 

This must have taken ages to make. The shell was designed to look like a mussel and was made from flour, vegetables and charcoal. It was crisp and as light as a feather, tasting of the sea! Inside was lobster, mussel, daikon and a garnish of marigold leaves.

It was a very good omen for the rest of the meal.

Both of us had the the same starter. It was heritage tomatoes that had been marinated for 24 hours in a saffron and herb broth, then barbecued. They were topped with a feta and hazelnut crumb and served with an aromatic tomato broth. It was heavenly and the accompanying bread with butter infused with shallot and honey was perfect for mopping it up.

Sharon had pasta with a morel and vermouth sauce and a cheese crumble. It was delicious.

I had perfect duck with a fermented prune glaze, filo pastry and a Labrador herb tea cream and, to Sharon's horror, seared foie gras. It was fabulous.

I had a honey cake, topped with a haskap compote and finished with cedar infused mascarpone and a honey tuile. Haskap is a sharp, native berry, and very tasty it was. The sorbet was also made from haskap berries. The crumb under the sorbet was crumbled homemade filo pastry.

We had a selection of wines with the meal and ended with ice cider. Ice cider was invented in Quebec and is made from frozen apples, resulting in higher sugar levels in the fruit and higher alcohol strength - typically between 10 and 15%. It was truly delicious. 

The whole meal was wonderful and all the more so, considering that almost everything we ate was from Quebec province!

A great way to end our last full day in Quebec City and Canada.

Day 21 Monday 29th September

We had a bit of time before our train journey to Montreal airport. We went for a walk about and checked to be sure that we could easily walk to the station from the hotel rather than get a taxi for a very short journey. We also bought some food for the journey.

The answer was, yes we could, so we did.

The station is another example of railway chateauesque building style. It was built in 1915 by Canadian Pacific.

Perhaps, unfortunately for us, it was undergoing huge renovation and there was very limited seating and baggage checking space. We coped nonetheless, but it was a signal for a tricky journey for the rest of the day!

We did get on the train, which was very busy. However, the luggage cage was already full by the time we boarded. The assistant wanted us to lift our luggage onto the overhead racks, which was impossible for us. She said she would get help later. I took my case to our seat and was helped up to the rack by a very big strong guy. Sharon's case had somehow been squeezed into the cage. Sharon was less than pleased, given we had paid in advance for luggage space.

Off we went across vast acreages of farmland and mighty rivers and industrial canals..

The river was the ever-present St Lawrence.

This was a view of Montreal skyline from the Victoria Bridge as we crossed the St Lawrence river. The bridge we were on was designed by Robert Stephenson, who was the foremost engineer of the age in Britain. He designed the Rocket steam engine, which formed the prototype for steam locomotives for the next 150 years. It revolutionised railway transport throughout the world. The Victoria Bridge was completed shortly after Robert Stephenson died in 1859.

Bizarrely, Robert Stephenson also walked 500 miles from New York to Montreal via Niagara Falls in the 1820's!

Most people disembarked in Montreal, whilst we stayed on to get to Dorval, where the airport is located. I thought it a good idea to take my case to the cage and reunite it with Sharon's as I expected there to be plenty of space. There was plenty space, but no suitcase. The staff had helpfully assumed we would be leaving the train and Sharon's suitcase was sitting on the platform and only spotted by me by chance!

We got to the airport with all our luggage. The flight home was more or less on time and we arrived in Inverness later the next day where Elain was waiting to take us home.

We did have a fabulous time, we got to see people and places that we will remember for ever. We got to eat some stupendous food. We did not have a bad meal in all our time in Canada. We had some excellent wines. It was really a fantastic holiday.