Québec City, or simply Québec, was a place that I knew little about when planning this trip. I had a vague idea that it was not a typical North American city but not much else. A found a city with more character and history than just about anywhere else in North America.
Québec City was a quick three hour drive from Montreal. I opted to take a slightly slower but more scenic route alongside the Saint Lawrence River. I arrived late afternoon and headed toward the Old Town (Vieux-Québec in French) where my hostel was located. Driving in old Québec is not easy with very narrow streets and steep hills. Getting checked in and parking the car was a bit of a mission but I managed to find a underground building just outside the wall (more on that later). I had two full days to explore the city.
The architecture was very European
Québec is one of the oldest European cities in North America and the entire Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The city has a long and complex history. It was founded by a French explorer in 1608
as part of the French colony of New France. It was the centre of French power during a number of wars with the English North American colonies. The city eventually fell to Great Britain after a battle on the Plains of Abraham just outside the city walls. New France was ceded to Britain and would eventually become the colony of Canada. Québec City was attacked by American revolutionaries during the American Revolution in the hope that Canada would rise against Great Britain but this attack was defeated and the colony remained loyal. The city served as the capital of the Canadian colony for a time before independence and continues to be the capital of the province of Québec.
The next morning I took a free walking tour around the old town. The guide spoke in both French and English and took us around many of the major sights and explained their history. There was a bike race going on through many of the streets so more than once we had to wait for swarms of bikes to pass before moving on. This made things seem even more European. Some of the highlights of the tour were:
The City Wall - Québec City is the only city in North America will a wall (some other cities used to have walls). The wall surrounds most of the Old City with four different gates surviving. The wall surrounds the upper part of the Old Town known as Haute-Ville.
Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec - A cathedral located within the Old Town. This is the oldest church in North America outside of Mexico and celebrated its 350th year in 2014. A holy door was constructed for this event. This was the first time that one had been constructed outside of Europe and was only the 7th ever built. The interior was amazingly opulent with gold and marble statues, stained glass windows, and paintings.
Château Frontenac - Probably the most famous building in the city, the Château dominates the skyline. Built in 1893 it continues to operate as a luxury hotel. There were a number of bars and restaurant that I imagined would be pretty amazing to visit. Sadly I didn't have the money or the attire to try any of them out. The Château Frontenac is reputedly the most photographed hotel in the world and I can see why. It constantly draws your attention, both day and night. I could not stop taking photos of it and yet I don't think I managed to get any that really do it justice.
I spent most of my time in Québec City just wandering around and taking in the sights. The whole feel of the place was so different to the rest of the places I had visited. I found a nice boulangerie not far from my hostel and ended up going back every day for croissants and pastries. I also at a the oldest restaurant in the city and had traditional Québec dishes. 
Three nights was probably about the as much time as I needed in Québec. It was a strange to think that this was my last touristy stop on the trip. I had been going for such a long time by this point that this did not sadden me. I had covered so much ground and seen so many places and I was ready to move on. I had one final stop before London and that was Boston. I had a few less than exciting things left to do there such as selling the car and getting rid of all of the excess gear that I had accumulated. Next time on the blog...