Trifter

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It’s the end of summer.  Maybe you want to squeeze in a little extra vacation time before you head back to work, maybe you’re looking for an adventure in a faraway land…

But with this nasty recession, not everyone can afford to just jet off to Paris.  I have a great idea: come visit Eastern Quebec.  I swear that it’s BEAUTIFUL.  When people ask me “What does it look like where you live?” I always say: “You know in the movie Lord of the Rings…you know the Shire, where the hobbits live? Rolling green hills, lots of trees, golden light? Yeah, I might as well live in the Shire.”  Once you get east of Quebec City, that’s where you get into the really small (and oftentimes unbelievably charming) towns of eastern Quebec.  From Quebec City, if you drive for approximately eight hours, you’ll hit the end of the Gaspe Peninsula, and you’ll be at the end of the world (figuratively).  Here are some of the highlights of the picturesque region…

Quebec City: How could I leave this one out? I LOVE Quebec City!! It’s a great place; not too big, not too small.   It’s the capital of the province of Quebec, and one of the oldest cities in North America, having just celebrated…get this: it’s 400th birthday.  There are lots of beautiful side-streets to get lost in, and the old city, “Le vieux Quebec” looks like someone lifted up a neighborhood in Paris and set in down in Canada.  If you go to Quebec City, get directions from your hotel down into the old city, park (beware though…parking can be a pain.) and take a walk.  A long walk.  You should see a massive castle-like building.  That’s the Chateau Frontenac, a beautiful 4-star hotel that dominates the skyline.  If you’re staying in this hotel, well…lucky you!! You’re in the center of “le vieux Quebec”, not to mention staying in probably one of the best hotels in the country.  In the summer, there are usually quite a few street performers (musicians, break-dancers, you name it…) that pepper the wooden walkway in front of the Chateau.  There is a staircase that goes down from the wooden walkway, and that takes you further down into the “basse-ville” or, the Lower City.  Still definitely part of the “vieux”, this is where my favourite bakery is (Le Petit Cochon Dingue.  For melt-in-your-mouth authentic French deliciousness, try the almond croissant) , and it’s also where you can find a ton of other stuff…go explore!! Down here there’s also the Musee de la Civilization.  They have great exhibits on everything having to do with human civilization…very cool.  Also, in Quebec City, don’t miss the Musee des Beaux-Arts de Quebec and the surrounding area, especially Rue Cartier.  Coming out of the museum, take a right (just walk, it’ll be easier) and you’ll see it to your left.  Cartier Street has a ton of cool restaurants and shops…beware though, some of them aren’t as good as they look.  An excellent one, if you like Indian food, is Garam Massala, on the left side of the street, and down in the basement.  Best Indian food in Quebec.  If you want a real french bistro experience at it’s finest, eat at Le Cochon Dingue.  It’s the big brother of the little bakery, and they cook a mean “steak et frites” A few other culinary suggestions that you might have to look up in a phone-book or ask the locals: Le Cafe du Temps Perdu (they have a whole three pages of menu with nothing but beer on it, and they make a wicked Nicoise salad), La Cremaillaire (haute cuisine.  awesome, but expect to dish out 200$ for 2 people)

Now that you’ve had your fill of the city life and culture for a few days, let’s move on to the rolling fields, shall we? right this way…

The road to, and through, eastern Quebec is a piece of cake.  Take the Pont Pierre Laporte/Autoroute 20 exit out of the city…once you get onto Autoroute 20, just drive in a straight line to the next destination on your French-Canadian road trip: Rimouski.  It’s about 3 hours away from Quebec, and there’s really not much between there and here, so just drive.  By all means, though, get out every once in a while to check out the scenery.  On the way to Rimouski, you can stop and see the sights in Riviere du Loup, a pretty town that should be good exploring. 

The highlight, though, besides Quebec City, is the coastal town of Rimouski and it’s surroundings.  It has a nice cultural aspect, but what it really has is amazing nature activities.  There’s a boat service that goes out to L’Ile St-Barnabe (St-Barnaby’s Island), which is right across from the town.  You can go up for the day and take a picnic, and walk around the island.  That’s a lot of fun…if you’re lucky you might even see some whales!  Take advantage of the great downtown atmosphere of Rue St-Germain and Cathedrale.  The two streets intersect at the bottom of the city, Cathedrale going straight up from the seaway into the residential areas, and St-Germain running parralel to the water.  On St-Germain, stop and have a coffee and a piece of cake or a muffin at La Brulerie, right on a corner…you can’t miss it.  Right off St-Germain, there’s a brewery called Le Bien et Le Malt, which is AWESOME.  There’s just no other word to describe the goodness of their home brewed beers.  The munchies they serve are also all local, organic things that taste super good.  You’ve gotta go, it’s one of my favourite haunts.  Now, walk up Cathedrale, and there are a couple more culinary gems I have to share (as you might have noticed, eastern Quebec has pretty good food) First of all, there’s a genuine French bakery called Les Baguettes en l’air, right next to one of my favourite local restaurants, Le Crepe Chignon, which serves crepes with every filling you could possibly imagine, and it’s all good, so even if you can’t read the menu, just pick something that looks appealing, it’ll probably be delicious.  As for that bakery, they make the best bread I’ve ever had, and it’s great to take on a picnic.  Get a baguette and a bottle of wine and some cheese and you’re all set.  Oh, one more thing: You cannot, under any circumstances, visit this province without tasting it’s favourite food: POUTINE.  OK, don’t get grossed out, just trust me when I say that fries, cheese and gravy is the best. combination. ever.  And us locals know there’s only one place that makes it’s poutine out of local, freshly-cut potatoes, locallly made cheese curds (and it’s a special kind of cheese that’s only made in eastern Quebec, by the way) and their own gravy.  La Cantine de la Gare.  Keep walking up Cathedral, and it’s a green-roofed building with a couple picnic tables outside with green and white umbrellas attached.  It’s right next to the train tracks…prepare to be blown away by the yumminess.  Just don’t eat it every day, OK?  As for the surrounding area, about 15 minutes out of Rimouski, back towards Quebec City, is the Parc du Bic.  You want beautiful? I promised you beautiful…here it is.  OK, park the car, get on your tennis shoes, and take the trail towards Cap a L’Orignal.  This is my favourite spot in the region.  It’s a cliff surrounded by roaring seawater, the top covered with the sweetest-smelling grasses and moss you could imagine, and in the spring, around June, there are also irises that bloom.  The sun sparkles off the gray, choppy water, and the smell of the salt mixes with the sweetness of the grasses.  Honestly, I could sit there all afternoon.  So take your time and enjoy.  We’ve also got some of the most beautiful sunsets in the world besides maybe places like Fiji, as you can see in the photo above.  They tend to be nice mixes of coral, orange, grey and purple that look really nice over the water.  I’m pretty sure you’ll be impressed. 

A few notes: Eastern Quebec is pretty much totally French-speaking.  So if you don’t speak any French at all, bring a bilingual dictionary and learn how to say hello and thank you in French before you come.  The people are really nice, but they do expect you to at least try and speak their language, since you’re the one visiting.

Oh by the way: Quebec is one of the main producers of maple syrup in the world, and you can get it for real cheap around here.  So stroll into a grocery store and buy a few cans; your pancakes will taste much better with the real thing than with that corn syrup fake stuff. 

If you want to venture even furthur out into the wilds, there are a couple places I want to mention before I sign off: The Parc Forillon, a wild national parc close to the end of the world that has the highest concentration of black bears (not the scary Grizzly kind…) per mile in the world.  And, the Rocher Perce, out in the town of Perce, which is literally a rock that has a hole in it.  It’s way more impressive than I make it sound though.  It’s HUGE, with a massive hole in it that has been carved out by the ocean currents.  It’s quite nice, although the town itself is TINY and doesn’t have much else in it.  Venture out to the very edge, to the town of Gaspe, and see more pretty parts of Eastern Quebec.  Have fun guys! Send a postcard of your awesome French-Canadian vacation to your friends and make them all jealous!