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Preparing our trip with snacks from my favorite nut brand: Krispy Kernels!
Preparing our trip with snacks from my favorite nut brand: Krispy Kernels!After ringing in the new year in Montreal, we spent the first week of 2019 in Quebec City, a destination we often visit whenever we are on vacation, as my husband’s family lives there.
I dearly love Quebec City for many obvious reasons: with its gorgeous 17th and 18th-century architecture and its narrow cobblestone streets that teem with stunning art galleries, cafés and restaurants, the “City Museum” could easily win the award for the Province’s most charming town. The other reason why I’m always bursting with excitement whenever we get to visit Quebec City, is that its proximity with nature makes it the ideal location for anyone who loves the outdoors.
One thing I always love to do, since I’m now familiar with Quebec City, is to stay in a hotel in the Old Town, spend the day in nature around the city, and come back to town toward the end of the day for a stroll, a drink, and dinner. If you’re thinking about visiting Quebec City this Winter, here are some details on what we did, where we stayed and where we ate in town for inspiration.
What we did:
We took a late night stroll in Petit Champlain, the most popular quarter of the Old Town. The Christmas decorations were still up in the streets and made for the most enchanting decor to take a walk in, despite the freezing temperature.
If you live in Montreal, you may have noticed the terrible lack of Christmas decorations in the streets this year (there weren’t even Christmas music playing in stores and cafés, what in the world happened???), which I thought was so sad since it’s such a magical time of the year. So being able to see all the beautiful decorations in the streets of Quebec City made up for the lack of Christmas spirit in Montreal.
We spent an incredible afternoon dogsledding with Aventure Inukshuk. It was my second time dog sledding and I must say, this is an unmissable Winter activity if you’re visiting Quebec City.
Located just a 40-minute drive from our hotel in the Old Town, Aventure Inukshuk will make you live the adventure of a lifetime in the white-coated forest, with skilled guides and beautiful dogs. I loved being able to learn more about the way the dogs are trained from the day they turn one year old, which is quite fascinating by the way, how they each have specific roles in the sled and find out more about their behavior. For an hour and a half, we sank deeper in the majestic forest, accompanied by our guide and the ever so strong dogs that listened to Nathan, our guide’s words of encouragement which we were told the dogs love to hear, and directions.
Take your snowshoes and get lost in the forest! I have a confession to make: for a couple years since I settled in Quebec from France, I categorically refused to go snowshoeing because I was traumatized by my first experience here. Snowshoeing in France, pretty much feels like walking on a beaten path with some strange thing that you get used to quite easily attached to your feet. Easy, breezy. Snowshoeing in Quebec was an entirely different story. The first time I snowshoed here, my heart sank multiple times as I fell or found myself covered with snow up to my knees. I had silently sworn NEVER to go snowshoeing again. However, we went snowshoeing again this year for the first time in three years and I LOVED it. So much so that I want to do it more often. It’s a great way to enjoy nature and be active. I would love tot ry a challenging hike at some point and see how I like it. 🙂
Where we ate:
Dinner at Chez Muffy, Auberge Saint-Antoine’s restaurant. What a fantastic experience. I loved everything from the stone walls, to the subdued lights, the fire in the middle of the room, the amazing playlist of Old School Soul music playing smoothly in the background, the delicious cocktails, the succulent food and the impeccable service. I highly recommend the Aphrodite cocktail, a sour drink with Vodka Absolute Mandarine, Soho, Grapefruit, Lime and Ginger. Absolutely delicious! The leek velouté tasted divine and the grilled scallops were simply sensational. And the cherry on top was the chocolate soufflé with ice cream and a delicious coffee at the end.
Dinner at Nicky Sushi. If you think about it, there aren’t many options for healthy eating in a great restaurant. I find that Sushi is always a great option for that matter. But with so many restaurants dedicated to the Japanese dish, you have to make sure you pick the right one not to be disappointed. After a long day out in the cold, dog sledding and having a magical time the other day, we were craving some relaxing time in our hotel room and found this incredible Sushi restaurant that offered take-out and home delivery: Nicky Sushi. Instead of having the food delivered to our hotel, I chose to go pick it up because I’d heard the restaurant was popular for their “Sushi River” and cocktail bar, and my curious self wanted to see what it was all about. I LOVED the Sushi River concept: you basically sit around a huge bar, while small boats serving as plates “flow”. If you see a sushi that looks tempting to you, you simply pick it up from the bar. How cool!? You also have the option of sitting on a table if you prefer. As far as the gorgeous cocktail bar is concerned, I haven’t tried it myself, but I’ve heard it serves some pretty incredible drinks! After clicking a few photos of the bar, we grabbed the sushi we had ordered beforehand and devoured them in our hotel room. The quality of the food is simply insane. I don’t know how else to describe the fantastic culinary experience we lived. I absolutely love how creative the Chef got with the ingredients and recipes. The fish was fresh and tender, the presentation was beautiful and made for one of the most beautiful nights of our stay in QC!
Breakfast at Chez Muffy: Breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and I couldn’t have dreamt of a better one than at Chez Muffy. The restaurant offers two options: you can either order a meal (the duck eggs Benedict were incredible) or eat as much as you want from the buffet. The buffet offers a great variety of options for all types of eaters, whether you like sweet treats (pancakes, French toasts, muffins, cakes, pastries, a fruit salad and fruits, cereals), salty food (sausages, bacon, salmon, cheese, eggs, ham, turkey slices, prosciutto). Freshly pressed grapefruit/orange juice and delicious coffee. Needless to say I ate abundantly and most of my plate was filled with sweet treats. Yum! 🙂
Where we stayed:
We spent two out of five days at Auberge Saint-Antoine, a boutique hotel that also happens to be a museum hotel located in the heart of the Old Town, close to all the attraction the tourist attractions, restaurants, cafés and shops. I must say that this has been one of my favorite hotel experience, partly because of the beauty of the hotel and all its incredible amenities that I wish I’d had more time to explore (such as the incredibly well-equipped gym, that also happens to be the most beautiful hotel gym I have ever seen!). I will dive deeper into our stay at the hotel in a separate post, but Auberge Saint-Antoine is the ideal place to stay at for an unforgettable experience in Quebec City. If you want to book your stay, the hotel offers up to 25% off if you book your stay on their website.
Then it was time to pack and head back home!
Here are some of my travel bag essentials!
