Our Holiday...Quebec City

Awesome! That is the one word I can think of to describe the city. The huge castle looking building with the green roof is the Chateau Frontenac which can be seen no matter where you are in the city. It is gorgeous...and a hotel. No, we didn't stay there...but we did go in and see it and visited a few of the shops that were in there including the State Liquor Store that sells very rare wines at that particular location. We did buy two bottles of Framboise (Raspberry liqueur) which when mixed with Champagne and a few fresh raspberries in the bottom of the glass tastes wonderful.
This is where we stayed Relais Charles Alexandre. This little hotel was the cutest and nicest place we could have found. It was on Grand Allee which is the main road to the walled part of the city. They only have 23 rooms and they are clean, large, comfortable, and very tastefully decorated. Each morning was started with breakfast which was included. Breakfast was a feast - starting with a plate of fresh fruit, then juice, choice of cereal, toast, muffins, or homemade croissant which came with ham, cheese, and pate.


Breakfast was served in this darling dining room and we sat at the table in front of the window. There are two other tables along the left side that you can't see.

Quebec City is just such a mixed bag - very old historic buidlings and then you'll see a skyscraper. We went up to the Observatory and took photos one morning.

The one thing the people of Quebec City know how to do is take care of themselves...there were a lot of spas there - and we took advantage of that. We went to a great spa called ZoneSpa. Now this is a spa! It is a Nordic Spa and for those of you who don't know what that is - I'll explain in a bit. We had signed up for their First Anniversary Special so upon our arrival we filled out the usual health questionaire and our services began. 10:00 am - an hour facial for relaxation; then we toured the rest of the spa and Norman explained to us the "way of the Nordic Spa".

One starts out by relaxing in either a hot whirlpool, sauna, or steam room for about 10 minutes, from there one goes to a frigid (and I'm talking perky boobs - them little suckers just stood right up - frigid!) pool of water, or one can choose a cold shower, or my personal favorite - the wall of water that plunges down on you. From there one goes and relaxes in either the solarium or this amazing waterfall shower. The idea is to do this three times...as it will improve circulation and make you feel wonderful.

We did it - not once but all three times! And, it was wonderful...at 12:45 we went in for a body exfoiliation which lasted one hour. It was wonderful...and afterwards my skin felt like silk. This was immediately followed by a one-hour massage. By the time I came out of there I was pretty much toast.

Lunch was then served - Scarlett had a chicken salad made with penne while I chose a ham and cheese pannini. Both came with salad and fresh fruit. The portions were huge and tasted fabulous. After lunch we did the Nordic Spa thing one more time...and then showered and dressed. When we came out of the dressing room our dessert was waiting - cheesecake with mixed berries on top and coffee. It was a wonderful day...

There is coffee everywhere - and I mean strong coffee...and little outdoor places to sit and drink (coffee or whatever)...the food is wonderful. You know there are some people who eat to live - well, we live to eat! The flavors were wonderful...every restaurant we went to was good but I have to say my favorite was SushiTaxi...

SushiTaxi - a whole in the wall - literally. There were a total of two tables in the place - I was pretty skeptical when I walked in ... it had been recommended by our hotel clerk ... the waiter (also chef, cook, and bottle washer - I am sure!) suggested the business lunch...and I agreed to it. I thought they would just slop some sushi together and throw it on a plate...Whoa...was I wrong! It was the most beautiful presented sushi I have ever eaten and probably the freshest I have ever put in my mouth. When I go back to Quebec City - I'll eat there every day! It was the best meal I had there and it was also the least expensive.

One of our favorite things to do on vacation is check out the grocery stores - I came home with some many new ideas for fixing dinner that I can hardly wait to try them...things like sausage stuffed flank steak, chicken kabobs, and breads and cookies to bake.

Since this is getting a tad bit long...I will tell you about the sights tomorrow...especially since I covered the most important stuff first - food and spa..