Old downtown Quebec City is quite a charming place to be!  It definitely has a European vibe, which I love.

The day we spent downtown was extremely hot and with very little shade we were definitely warm.  We managed to walk a long way, though.  Peter and I just wanted to wander around and enjoy the sites of the bustling little city.

I love the boutiques, patisseries and street performers!  It’s such a great city.  If it weren’t for the crazy cold and snowy winters, I could see living there.  Oh, and needing to have much better French than I do, but whatever.  Details, details.

{This is me and my beautiful sister-in-law (my husband’s brother’s wife), Rachel!}

As we wandered through, we ended up trying maple syrup on a stick!  Sounds sticky…but what they do (apparently) is boil down the maple syrup so that it because much thicker.  They pour it on the snow, use a stick to swirl it up, and eat it!

I guess that’s what all that snow is handy for in the winter!  It was SUPER sweet, but oh-so-delicious!!

After successfully wandering around downtown we stopped by a local market.  It had pretty much everything you could want!  Fruits, vegetables, oils, vinegars, jams, spreads, local-made alcohol, pastries, etc.

They also had a yummy assortment of nuts!  I got these fabulous lemon sea salt pistachios.  SOOO tart, but so amazing.

In one shop they sold a wide variety of teas and spices, and I thought it was so neat how they organized them in little cupboards! Too fun.

On another day, not quite in the old downtown area of Quebec City, we went to a provincial park that had a swimming pool, tons of green space, a few parks, picnic tables, a maze, and a small butterfly conservatory. They keep the butterflies for a season and then release them at the end of the season. They were so gorgeous!

It’s a bonus having family in such a great city!  Even if you don’t know anyone in Quebec City I highly recommend it.  I totally think it’s the Europe of the north.

Stay tuned for an update on our time in Montreal!