Montreal and Quebec City

We are driving from Mont Tremblant to Montreal on their great roads trying to avoid the many potholes... We quickly drop our hitchhiker and drive to the botanic garden for the afternoon before settling in our Airbnb for the next 3 nights.

Our hosts Ben and Nick tell us about Montreal and some good places to visit and a few good addresses for a great meal.We wake up the next morning and start walking in the direction of the city center. We are about an hour away. We finally reach the center, walk past the Gay district, follow the St. Laurence river onto the city center. We visit the gorgeous St. Patrick's Basilica, it's beautiful but quite expensive for a 15 min visit...

We also meet Maxime, one of Alban's friend from Limoges who has been living in Montreal for a few years at festival mondial de la biere (a beer festival) to share a few craft beers from around the world.We spend the 3rd day biking along the Lachine Canal and follow the Lawrence river back up north until Saint Helene Island which is more or less under construction :(. The entire island is being worked and there is no way to enjoy the view (the biosphere is also closed)... We head back to the bike shop just before it starts raining, stops at the Atwater market quickly before taking the metro back home.

It's already our last day in Montreal. We have our train to Quebec around 6 pm. It gives us the morning to visit Mont Royal and wander around the train station.You can actually leave your luggage at the train station, It doesn't cost too much and it's really handy if you want to visit the city without carrying all your gear. You just need to be able to prove you actually have a train ticket the same day.

It's 6 pm. time to jump into the train to Quebec City for a 3-4 hours long ride. We arrive just in time to catch a bus which drops us 2 min away from our next Airbnb. Going to sleep straight away since there is only one day to visit Quebec City.The day starts with a walk through Parc du Bois-de-Coulonge towards the city. The first stop is at La Citadelle de Québec which starts with a guided tour. The tour takes about an hour.

We spend the next hour walking around the city center, admiring the view on a beautiful sunny day. The Fairmont Le Château Frontenac is stunning. It is right in the city center. It's a hotel and I don't think it's possible to visit unless you have a reservation.

We stop at La Dominicaine for lunch, a nice small restaurant slightly outside the city center with some more affordable dishes. It has the advantage of being next to the Market of the old port, our next stop.From the port, we follow the river down to Place des Canotiers which gives us another great view of the castle. the way back to the city center is through the old city which consists of small streets - Place Royale with an old looking building. It's a nice busy walk that brings us back to the castle.

Finally, we slowly begin to walk back home passing by the old fortified wall. That's the end of the day. We wake up the next morning and go to pick up our new rental car. It's hiking day and time to discover Jacques Cartier National Park. Unfortunately, it's too early in the season and most of the trails are still closed. We decide to go for the 3 hours loop trail going up the hill first and then heading back down and following the river back to the parking lot.

We decide to go to Île d'Orléans and stop by Montmorency fall. The fall is quite impressive and it's a nice surprise. The Orléans island is beautiful. There is a wonderful chocolaterie south of the Island. It's too late for the chocolaterie but their café is open and offers yummy ice creams.