This weekend Chris and I have actually managed to break free of parenting responsibilities (thanks grandparents!) and take off for a weekend together. We said goodbye to the girls and headed north for our adventure on Friday morning. First stop: Jackman, Maine to get gas before hitting the border. There were more snowmobiles getting gas in Jackman than cars!
Upon entering Quebec, I started trying to remember the metric and centigrade systems, and Chris tried to dredge up some French from her high school days.
We finally reached our destination: Quebec City! What a beautiful place....we treated ourselves by getting a room at the Chateau Frontenac, a landmark hotel perched on the high point of the city.
Then we hit the winter carnival, which is the way French-Canadiens embrace the bitterly cold winter here. There were amazing snow sculptures....
....horse-pulled sleigh races....
....and castles built out of ice.
We thought that central Maine was cold, but here in Quebec City it has been in the low teens, with wind chill down below zero since we got here. That's cold!
Besides the Carnival, we spent some time on Friday exploring the "old town." Quebec City just celebrated its 400th anniversary last year, and walking around in the old part of town feels like walking around in a European city.
All over town they have embraced the winter...we even found random things like this "ice throne" to sit in!
We ended up at a nice little pub where we made friends with the bartender, Eric. He introduced us to a local drink that is used for celebrations called Caribou. It was delicious!
We toasted our new friend and our adventure. Later, we bought a couple of bottles of Caribou to enjoy when we burn our brush pile!
We love our kids, but it sure is nice to take a little vacation once in a while.
Bonsoir from Quebec City!
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