We started our day in Quebec City with a guided tour of the Old Quebec. Here’s an abridged version of what we learned:

• Quebec City was founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain. The French built fortified walls around the city to protect it against the British.
• The French and the British had a war in 1759. Britain won and took over the colony. FYI — The final battle lasted 20 minutes and the generals from both sides died.
• The British built more walls to protect themselves against the Americans, who tried to annex Canada twice and failed both times.
• After the war of 1812, more colonists came over and the city expanded. Canada became an independent country in 1867.

Voila! Now you’re up to speed on the Quebec history.

After a traditional Québécois lunch, i.e. meat pie, we strolled through the old town and happened upon an outdoor concert. It turned out that it was part of a 10-day music festival. Side note: It seems that we’ve chosen the right time to visit Canada as we’ve been able to enjoy part of the music festivals in both Montreal and Quebec.

One of the four gates remaining in Quebec City

On Friday we went to Parc de la Chute Montmorency (Montmorency Fall), just 20 mins outside of Quebec City. At more than 270 feet high, what makes this waterfall special is the bridge that allows you to walk across it and look over the edge. Definitely not for the faint-hearted!

From the waterfall we drove to Îl d’Orléan, a farming community known for their local jams, ciders, and cheeses. We drove around the island, stopping along the way to sample the local specialties. As we were driving we kept asking each other “What is that? Should we stop? It looks interesting” and wishing we knew more French. (Jenny took 3 years of French in high school; unfortunately, she has forgotten most of it.)

For our last full day in Quebec City we walked to Citadelle of Quebec, built in 1673 Today, the citadel is still an active military base with the only French Regiment in the Canadian military.

We decided to end our last night in Quebec City with a bang. We had drinks at the historical Fairmont hotel (virgin for Jenny of course), before heading to a classic French Canadian restaurant, known for their rabbit and duck, for dinner.