toronto stories

quebec city carnaval!

I've just returned from a weekend trip to Quebec City for its 52nd carnaval. The major shock upon arrival was the amount of snow on the ground and the cold. My friend who had just been there the previous week had warned me it was cold; I believed her but it was still a bone-chilling -19 the first day!!

Weekend was fun, but again, too damn cold! My travel companion had to practically wear everything he owned in his suitcase! The other thing that I had not anticipated was the frozen sidewalks. It was literally an ice rink and I was super cautious carting around my huge ass camera although I still slipped on the last night. I couldn't believe how bad the sidewalks were. It had rained all week so everything was packed down and frozen. Salt was no good as it was just too cold. There was gravel but really, that was barely helping. I'm not sure they get the concept of shovelling the sidewalks...

This is the biggest winter carnival in the world and as we were there on a Friday, we had the place to ourselves; ok, so not just us, but it wasn't too crowded. We went ice fishing(!) and I caught a fish that we donated to the Salvation Army, snow rafting down a huge hill, watched the kids go on the inner tubes, watched the horses race in a derby (like an obstacle course for dogs but on snow...amazing!), and took tons of pictures of the ice sculptures, ice palace, and snow sculptures (that were unfortunately falling apart due to the previous heavy rain).

Of course we walked around the town and looked at the shops and stopped by the Chateau Frontenac (as our little guest house was right around the corner behind there.) And being the true foodie that I am, we ate at some pretty decent places: Aux Anciens Canadiens where we had a steal of a meal - $14.95 for the prix fixe dinner. I sampled real Quebec meat pie caribou, deer, and wapiti and the famous maple syrup pie (super super sweet!) This deal of a meal (pricewise) was compensated by the next one. We wandered all over looking for a couple of restaurants but not locating them; street addresses are a little odd, including some that are half addresses!

We ended up going to a fantastic restaurant: Restaurant Initiale. What can I say but heavenly! Or illegal! One of the top rated restaurants for both service and food. Our silverware was changed at every course. We couldn't decide between the set menu ($57) or the grand menu ($89) so we went with the grand. Oh. My. God. The food - beautifully presented. Sinfully delicious. They started us off with two teasers not in the menu - one was a beef carpaccio. The menu...I could go on and on. But I will save you the details (unless someone wants to know - post a comment and I may post the menu!) All I can say is that dinner included foie gras (which alone was the cost of an entree - $27!) and Quebec lamb (regular dish at $45). I cannot say enough about this place! I would have gladly given up all those winterlicious meals to have a meal like this in Toronto! By the time we were done, it was 3 hours later and I was ready to pass out from the rich feast that I had consumed. I couldn't even believe that I had eaten it all! Enough calories for the next day, and probably enough cholesterol for the next year! They even gave us the menu rolled up and tucked into a silver (plastic) napkin ring as a keepsake. This is one meal (and trip) I will not soon forget!

posted by toronto girl @ 9:07 PM