Quebec my Love

... or rather "notre amour". We both got to know and love Quebec. We weren't in Boston, which is perhaps a competitor in North America, but Quebec is certainly the most European or French city in Canada - and probably the most romantic too. In that respect, Quebec was the right choice for our wedding day.

Quebec is a really beautiful city with buildings that are very old, European-looking and playful by American standards. (Fortress, churches, hotels, residential buildings) This also attracts many tourists who have the old town firmly in their hands, so that in some areas there are almost only souvenir shops and restaurants. Although the vegan and vegetarian options in Quebec are rather modest, the cuisine is overall much better than in Montreal or even on Long Island. In any case, we had a great meal on our wedding anniversary.

The tourist shops have everything you would find in Montreal, except that it says “Quebec” on it, but there is also a lot of really beautiful handicrafts instead of just the usual kitsch.

Both the upper town, which is really up there, and the lower town, which can be reached via stairs or the cog railway, offer charming highlights in the city center. In the immediate periphery, things are more alternative and a little more casual. Here we found a very nice ice cream parlor with mini treats for dogs, free offers for dogs and, in addition to normal ice cream cones, the smallest ice cream cone of our lives. There is also a very charming shop with a colorful, bizarre mixture of art with a homoerotic, pornographic touch and beautiful, opulently decorated or simply kitschy collector's cups that are filled with candles, so that you buy a candle and then keep the collector's cup. The seller, who had lived in Cologne for a short time, was already the second North American we met who was kindly happy to use his dusty German skills - although there is a world of difference between him and the neighbor Springsteen and Trump voters. Both linguistically and politically.)

Outside the city center, beyond the city walls (yes, they do exist here), the city quickly becomes more American, but remains greener and has slightly less bombastic cars. Off the tourist trails, you can no longer rely on everyone switching to English with good intentions. Here, unlike in bilingual Montreal, you can really put your shaky French skills to good use. The relatively clear Canadian French is comparatively easy to understand for beginners.

Nevertheless, Quebec can never deny - not even in the city center - that it is an American city. This is still evident in the many four-door pick-up trucks, mountains of meat, paper cups instead of mugs and much more. What also seems very French, however, are the cabaret artists and the flowers everywhere in the old town. But you can also get an impression from the many pictures we took of this city.

If you are in Quebec City for more than a day, you should definitely visit the Montmorency Falls, which plunge 83 meters into the depths. Of course, the whole area is open to tourists, but fortunately there aren't 50 shops offering indoor fountains to visitors. The experience of the falls was impressive for us - and also quite wet at the bottom by the naturally installed rainbow. However, if you want to go down from the bridge over the waterfall and don't want to pay extra for the cable car, you should be aware that you have to climb the 490 steps again... Back at the top, however, we were greeted by rather excited and fidgety chipmunks and a much more relaxed-looking woodchuck. The English name "groundhog" is a bit more appropriate here. Although it really is a marmot and not a "hog", these marmots prefer unforested flatlands.

After the waterfalls, we were drawn back to the old town, which we left somewhat wistfully in the direction of our auberge. The next day we would drive up to the green, sparsely populated north in our rental car. We will always remember Quebec Ville fondly. We have fallen in love with this city. What better place for a wedding anniversary could there be?