Why Here

"Mom's birthday in the Paris of Canada… Quebec City" Feb 2017.

Getting There

My mother lives in Montreal, so I flew to Montreal airport, and she picked me up, and we drove (in a blizzard) from the airport about 3 hours north to Quebec City.

Money Exchange

I didn't exchange money. I was able to use credit cards.

Visa

Not necessary for US Citizens

Hotels

We spent our first night at an Airbnb in the suburb of Levis.

This was booked in advance when we thought we would need to bring my mother's dogs on the trip with us (turns out they didn't come). The place, though large, would have been ideal if we had dogs with us, but we didn't, so it wasn't. They get a lot of snow, as you can see from the picture above, the house was behind all that snow. Luckily it was only one night

Hotel Vieux Quebec, an average priced boutique hotel in Old Quebec. It was located in the immediate city center. There was a very nice restaurant attached, perfect for dinner and people watching passers-by on the streets. 

No pictures of this one.

What to do

You'll often hear how this capital of the Quebec Province is like the next best thing to Paris (and much closer and cheaper to visit for Americans), and I'd have to agree. While there is no substitute for the real Paris, this city should have notoriety on its own rights and be at the top of any francophile's list. 

The Quebec City Winter Carnival. This is a very child-friendly event with lots of activities for the tikes. We arrived on the last days of the carnival. We explored the free sites such as ice and snow sculptures.

and were lucky to see the finale parade

We picked a viewing spot on the steps of Ophelia, where we had dinner.

We took a day trip to the Ile d'Orleans, an island in the Saint Lawrence River, about 5km from downtown Quebec City. The island is full of shops selling berries, jams, cheese, and wineries. Unfortunately, around this time of year, the island is pretty dead, although we did visit a winery and a few shops. The one winery we did visit was Cassis Monna, and Filles has a vineyard with blackberry currant from which they make their wine and other specialties.

Although the vineyard wasn't open to tour, the shop was open and amenable to exploring their goods, and we did a wine and vinaigrette tasting. 

As you might imagine, black currant makes for a very sweet red wine, but the liqueur is excellent with cocktails.