Things We Did In Quebec City Day 2
After breakfast, I headed over to the concierge desk to borrow couple of umbrellas due to raining outside. I was told that all umbrellas were already gone but I was offered three rain ponchos which I accepted. We headed outside onto the boardwalk trying to manage best I can to take pictures without getting my camera wet. I brought one collapsable umbrella with me which I used for preventing my camera from getting wet. It was a challenge holding the umbrella with one hand and then taking pictures with the other.
After taking pictures of the
Chateau Frontenac and the other side of the St Lawerence River, we headed on town to Petit Champlain Quarter. We walked down break neck stairs and joined the throng of cruise and tour bus passengers while at the same time not trying to loose an eyes with all of the umbrellas. After walking down Rue du Petit Champlain, we headed over to the bank of the St Lawerence River or at least the closest that we could get to it.
We headed back up to the upper city and walked down Rue Saint-Jean to the Quebec Fortification Walls before turning back for lunch at
Paillard. Based on my research, there were lots of rave reviews about the pastries at
Paillard so the Foodie in me didn't want to pass it up. When we arrived, there was a guy playing live music with his accordion wearing a beret and all like what you might see in Paris. After finding a table to sit at, I went over to the pastry section and ordered couple of croissants and coffee. I dropped the order off with my parents before heading over to the sandwich section of the bakery and ordered roast beef sandwich.
The croissant was very good! Flaky and buttery, Paillard's croissant just jumped to the top of the best croissant we've eaten before. The roast beef sandwich was delicious as well. European in taste vs your typical American style sandwiches. Anyone who visits Quebec City should not miss Paillard on Rue Saint-Jean.
Since the rain had let up a bit, we headed back down to Petit Champlain to try and get a better look without focusing on staying dry. At the end of Rue du Petit Champlain, I saw a sign at a maple syrup vendor offering
maple taffy made on snow for $2.00 dollars a piece. Since we came all the way to Quebec, I had to try the
maple taffy, which I've seen on enough travel shows. I went inside the store, paid $6.00 for my parents and myself and the girls working jumped into action heating up the maple syrup mixture. I waited over by the box of snow and when the maple mixture was ready, one of the girls brought it out and poured it over the snow in a zig zag motion.
Now, I paid the $2.00 per person for the taffy but also for the photo opportunity. What really bugged me was once the tour bus tourists saw that the maple taffy was being made, they all jammed around the snow box getting in the way of my pictures so they could get their pictures in. Some people even leaned over blocking my shot while the shop employee started to roll the maple taffy on the popsicle sticks. Just as the employee put down the rolled maple taffy on the snow and told me to let it cool for a bit longer, one of the tourists grabbed it and just a centimeter before it entered his mouth, the maple syrup shop employee who was rolling the rest of the maple taffy, told the guy thats not free! The tourist looked shocked and put it down back on the snow. Luckily there was enough maple syrup poured to make a replacement maple taffy for my parents and myself.
Just as we were enjoying our maple taffy, the rain started to pick up again. We decided to head back to our hotel and dry off and relax before dinner tonight. I wanted to take the funicular back up to the hotel but the line was way too long so we walked up all the stairs back up to the
Chateau Frontenac.
When it got close to time for our diner reservation, we donned our rain gear again and headed out to
La Buche which is located a short walk from the Chateau Frontenac on Rue Saint Louis. Since we are in Quebec, I wanted to try some real
Quebecois cuisine before we left tomorrow. When we arrived, we were given a table in the back with a clear view of the open kitchen. As soon as your seated, the first thing that is brought out is their signature pork cracklings with maple syrup. Our waitress came over shortly and then explained the menu to us and their specialties. I went ahead and ordered their house Poutine, (pronounced like the Russian President's name) and a bottle of red wine to start. After the wine arrived, I ordered the main courses which was the black pudding and tomahawk pork chop. The waitress asked me if I knew what black pudding was and when I told her that I knew it was blood, she smiled and went off to put in our order.
La Buche also serves pickled beets and bread after placing your order. The sour taste of the pickled beets went well with the hearty meaty dishes that we ordered. While all three dishes that we ordered were good, the three of us agreed that the house poutine was the winner of the bunch. Personally, I thought the blood pudding was better than the blood sausages that I've had before. It was a little more minerally than say Argentine blood sausage, but I thought the firm texture was better than some Argentine blood sausages that I've had. The pork chop was good with the mustard sauce but I didn't think it anything special.
For dessert, we ordered the "poor mans pudding," which was recommended by our waitress. I liked the dessert, but it was too sweet for my parents. The restaurant itself is decorated like a sugar shack inside and the walls were made of stone. The lighting, the decorations, the historic building plus the drizzling rain outside made for a great warm cozy feeling.
After paying the bill, my parents headed outside while I went downstairs to the bathroom. Lets just say it was an interesting facility.
