Quebec

A Québécois delicacy

/ Greg / Leave a comment

Pretty high up on my “must do” list for Quebec City was a return to a fast food chain I spent some time frequenting in my younger years: Chez Ashton.  Poutine, one of the significant contributions of Quebec to the world of food, can be found in all kinds of elevated forms – with lobster, with fois gras, with heirloom potatoes and grass fed dairy cattle organic cheese curds, or a host of other riffs on the basic dish.  I have nothing against those.  In fact, I’m a big fan of many.  But the truest interpretation of the dish is the variety made in casse-croûtes across la belle province.

So, harkening back to my younger days where a poutine and a Pepsi at Chez Ashton held a dear place in my heart, my first meal on my return visit to Quebec was exactly that:

Chez Ashton poutine

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The Château in photographs

/ Greg / 1 Comment

It’s the most photographed hotel in the world for a very good reason.  Over my five days in Quebec City, I’m proud to have helped add to the total.  The Château Frontenac is striking.  When you think of Quebec City, it’s the visual image that pops to mind first.   Even if I had no intention of pulling my camera out as I walked past, the hotel seemed to will it into my hand for another picture – a different angle, a different light falling across its spires, a different scene playing out in its shadows.  It’s a landmark that begs to be photographed.  Here are a few of my favourites from more than a hundred pictures I took of it on my recent trip:

From the Terrasse Dufferin

From the Terrasse Dufferin

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Nordiques everywhere

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I fell in love with Quebec City in my teenage years.  Summer vacations spent roaming the streets of Vieux-Quebec will do that to an impressionable youngster.  At that time,  I was also in love with the Quebec Nordiques.  They were truly mine; I didn’t know another Nords fan in my junior high or high school.  My hockey heart was first broken by their escape to Denver then completely destroyed by them winning a Stanley Cup in their first year away.

Although the team left the city, it’s clear the memories remain.  Fast forward almost twenty years, and there it was in all its glory throughout the streets of Quebec in so many shop windows – the big “N” and hockey stick logo and that most appealing shade of blue:


If that weren’t enough to re-ignite my passion for Quebec City, I saw this in a shop.  Maybe when you lose your favourite sports teams you’re more sensitive to this kind of thing.  It made me smile, recalling the time before two of my three teams departed me:

Nordiques and Expos

Raising a glass to good memories

/ Greg / 1 Comment

When I learned that this year’s national medical education conference was taking place in Quebec City, the first thought that crossed my mind was “I need to have a drink in the bar in the Château Frontenac.”  An odd first thought?  Not really.  Here I must pause to make a confession.

The only bar I’ve been kicked out of in my life was the Bar St-Laurant in the Château.

When I mention this to those who know me well I get a puzzled look as I’m a pretty quiet, tame fellow by any standard.  But it’s true.  Earlier in my life, it was made known to me in no uncertain terms that my presence in that bar was no longer accepted.

The punch-line?  I was 13 or 14.  I was with my Mom, Dad and a friend of our family from Quebec City.   A very formal waiter with a white towel over his arm leaned in to our table and in a quiet voice reminded my Mom and Dad that I was too young to be in the bar.  With that, Dad put $20 into my hand and I was off into old town Quebec to make my own fun for a couple of hours.

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Bonjour Quebec!

/ Greg / Leave a comment

I’ve recently returned from five (mostly work-related) days in Quebec City.  Unfortunately, the last time I spent any substantial time in this beautiful city was in the winter of 1993 when my Dad and I braved a couple of blizzards to take in a Nordiques game during my university winter break.  Working around a demanding conference schedule on this trip, I tried to make up for lost time.  I rediscovered a guilt-inducing fast food restaurant from my childhood, sat in the shadows of the Chateau Frontenac listening to a sax player as the sun set, wandered around quaint streets until my legs hurt and generally tried to eat as much splendid French food as one human can (truth be told, if you tested me right now I fear I would be at least 10% butter).

Coming up over the next little while will be stories and pictures from my rediscovery of a great Canadian city.  This guy was more than happy to welcome me back:

Bonhomme

Revisiting familiar places

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My next two trips are return visits in many ways.  Next week I’m heading to Toronto to visit my sister.  It’s a place I’ve visited almost an uncountable number of times; a place I’ve lived and worked in.  Next month, I’m heading to Quebec City.  Although not recently, it’s another place I’ve spent some time in owing to family friends, a relatively manageable 11 hour drive and my earlier-life passion for my beloved, but now extinct, Nordiques.

What to do when heading back to places this familiar?  For both it’ll be a mix of revisiting old favourites and finding a couple of new experiences.  In Toronto, I’m excited by the new: dinner reservations at Ruby Watchco, in what seems like a city with no end to dining choices.  I’ll also be tempted back to some old favourites – peameal sandwiches at the St Lawrence Market, a beer or two at the Rebel House, and perhaps some El Salvadorian food at Tacos El Asador.   In Quebec City, wandering around the old town and sitting down to a heart stopping poutine at Chez Ashton will bring back memories from many years ago.  For the new?  A host of restaurants and bars that my palette didn’t appreciate all those years ago.

My lists are made (but, as always, somewhat fluid) and my walking shoes are ready.  Here’s to the familiar and to a taste of the new.