Our last full day in Québec City!
Very overcast weather today. We enjoyed our usual awesome continental breakfast at the hotel, then walked down Rue Saint-Jean for a little retail therapy. After shopping, we ventured further into the old city to check out the canons on the Ramparts of Québec City:
The rain then started yet again (just enough to be annoying and distracting) but thankfully tapered off after about 10 minutes.
The weather was not cooperating this morning so we decided to check out the Musée de la civilization (Museum of Civilization) for a couple of hours:
From there we went to Rue du Petit Champlain in the lower town to revisit some of the shops:
After lunch we visited the Hotel Frontenac. The lobby and hallways are public spaces where wandering is welcomed, so we gave it a try. Very impressive and beautiful building:
After slumming in the Frontenac we climbed up the hill to a little park where the views of the city were (reportedly) incredible. This park had been recommended by our tour guide Anne from Tours Voir Québec earlier in the week:
From that vantage point we climbed further up to the Citadelle (also known as La Citadelle):
The Citadelle is an active military installation and the secondary official residence of both the Canadian monarch and the Governor General of Canada. When we reached the entrance of the Citadelle the host at the gates told us that, as it’s an active military base, the only way we can enter is with a guided tour. The next tour was 10 minutes away and would take over an hour. It was late in the day at this point and we were tired from all the step climbing and walking, so we didn’t pursue it any further.
We walked back to the hotel via Grande Allée at about 4:00PM. We rested for a while (not used to all this exercise!!), then at 6:30 went to Ophelia (634 Grande Allée E.) for our last – and special – meal in Québec City. Ophelia came highly recommended to us by an American woman we came to know in our hotel’s dining room. This seafood-steakhouse restaurant was quite high-end and expensive but worth it >> utterly delicious. Vince had the Filet Mignon and I had the New York Steak, accompanied by wine and later, the desserts. The desserts were a work of art in themselves – they were chocolate bombs with ginger and sweets inside, which were revealed after the waiter poured hot caramel sauce over the bomb to open it up >> Sheer Heaven.
We got back to the hotel at 9:00 with full bellies and aching feet. Time to rest up in preparation for leaving Québec City tomorrow. It was another early night.
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