To get here we took U.S. Air flights from Kansas City to Philadelphia and then another from Philadelphia to here. Even though the planes said "U.S. Air", the first flight was operated by Republic Airlines and the second flight by Air Wisconsin. Both flight were on jets, with the first plane being an Embraer 175, the second a smaller Bombardier CRJ 200. We arrived on a cloudy, overcast day, when Quebec City is expecting it's first snow of the year overnight. Our hotel is in the Quartier Saint-Roch.
After arriving we went walking around the area. While wandering through a local grocery store, which one of Jim's favorite activities when we travel, we discovered a gluten free beer, brewed in Montreal, called Glutenberg. Glutenberg makes five different varieties of gluten free beer, and only makes gluten free beer. We bought the Red and took it back to our room to try it. It was very good. It's made from water, buckwheat, millet, molasses, chestnut, candi syrup, quinoa, hops and yeast. It turned out to be so good that we then tried the India Pale Ale, which is made from water, millet, buckwheat, corn, black rice, candi syrup, corn maltodextrin, hops and yeast. Only three more varieties to go. The Quartier Saint-Roch is undergoing urban revitalization with a lot of trendy restaurants, bars and boutiques, and still some older buildings. It is in Lower Town Quebec. Our first meal in Canada was Thai.
We spent our first whole day here wandering around the old walled city part of Quebec. Our first stop though was for breakfast at Chez Aston. Which is, as Wiki describes it:
"Chez Ashton is a popular fast food restaurant in Quebec, Canada famous for its poutine. Chez Ashton's origins can be traced to a traveling snack cart started by Ashton Leblond in 1969. It was not until 1972, however, that poutine was first offered. Ashton hooked his customers by initially giving free samples of his poutine. The enterprise grew in popularity until Leblond was able to open a restaurant with a dining room open year round in 1976. Today, the franchise has grown to include 25 restaurants in the Quebec City region."
The breakfast was pretty good. You order then take your tray and stand, waiting for the food to be cooked to order, then you take your breakfast and sit down to eat. They also have newspapers for you to rent. If you want to read the newspaper you leave a deposit, which you get back when you return the newspaper. They also proudly serve egs without hormones or antibiotics. Their menu was only in French, but we have already learned a few words in French such as: hot-dog, hamburger, cheeseburger, BBQ, bacon, and sandwich.
After breakfast it was off to the old town and the most photographed hotel in North America, the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac.
Quebec City really celebrates Halloween.
And, here's the train station.
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