Entertaining a 5-Year-Old in Quebec

Accommodations were one of our first issues on this trip. We had decided we wanted to stay on the Ile D’Orleans at a Bed and Breakfast. Our first choice required that Christian stay in a room by himself. Not only was this financially impossible but there was no way I would let him stay in a room separate from ours. Our first hostess suggested that we try the Le Vieux Presbyrtere, since they have a family room. It turned out to be a very good suggestion.

One of the benefits of staying on the Island is the stellar view you get of Montmorancy Falls while crossing over to the Island. The bridge is a perfect viewing spot. It certainly peaked Chris’ interest. Montmorancy Falls is one of my favorite spots and as we learned with Alex a big favorite with children. Al is always a good sport and he stripped to the waist so that he and Chris could run up to the observation deck. Both of them were laughing and drenched when they returned. They enjoyed it so much on a very warm day that they ran back for a second visit.

Quick Tips:

As I found out after we began our visit of the Quebec Zoological Garden. Chris is a very sophisticated Zoo patron, even if he is only 5 years old. He has previously visited the Philadelphia Zoo, The Bronx Zoo, and Roger William’s Zoo in Providence. He enjoyed seeing the lemurs and the flamingos but he was also not shy about pointing out that they didn’t have any elephants or giraffes.

After several years of renovation the Parc Aquarium du Quebec reopened and is now quite an amazing place. Granted, since we come from CT Christian has been to Mystic many times. In spite of this, he had a very enjoyable time watching the walrus and the polar bear frolic in their pools. I did learn a valuable lesson about five year olds, they don’t have a lot of patience with reading signs and if they can’t immediately understand what they are seeing they totally loose interest. One saving grace was the audio phones that were placed at many of the displays. AL and I were quite enchanted with the whole exhibit.

Eating is always an issue in a foreign country with children. We could have given him french fries which are always good and a safe choice but we tried a few other things with varying results. For breakfast he didn’t want a crepe, though he knows what they are since my mother spoils the Houligans with plates of crepes on a regular basis, he wanted eggs and toast. For dinner the first night we ate at the B&B and he fell in love with tapanade, who would have guessed. At La Belagio there was no children’s menu and he ended up with a hamburger about 4 times the size of what a child would eat but he loved the frites with ketchup.

Staying on the Island is much less expensive than staying in the city of Quebec. We opted for a dinner package which was a real bargain.

When you visit the Aquarium or the Zoo you have the opportunity to purchase a combination ticket which saves you several dollars on each ticket. It is a very good value.

Best Way To Get Around:

You need a car to visit the Isle D’Orleans. Gasoline is even more expensive in Canada than it is in the US so be prepared for sticker shock. In previous years the exchange rate made up for the high price but with the devaluation of the dollar we are now hit hard with the prices.

Within the city itself most sites are easily visited on foot. Finding a parking spot is always problematic so we knew that the most likely spot to find a spot on a Saturday afternoon was at the Old Port across from the Museum of civilization. It cost us to park there for three hours but this is a perfect location to begin your walk tour from.

The meaning of Le Vieux Presbytere is The Old Rectory and when you arrive you will see why. It is indeed an old rectory which served that function for 200 years until the 1960s when a new church and rectory were constructed. You will find the driveway right between the two churches. In addition to offering accommodations Le Vieux Presbytere has an exceptional and very popular restaurant. It is built in the very typical style of Quebec architecture with a bright red roof and shutters.

We chose this B&B because it had a family room. The room is on the second floor and it had two separate rooms, one with a queen size bed and the smaller room has 2 twin beds. Both rooms were very good size. The furniture was mostly very attractive Québécois antiques. The bathroom does not have a tub only a shower. There is a sofa to relax on and a collection of French books and magazines. The ceiling is open to the attic rafters and there is a ceiling fan.

Now what the rooms don’t have, no TV, no blow dryer, no air conditioning, no coffee maker, no WiFi and when we returned after dinner no water. The problem was soon rectified but there are only wells on the Isle d’Orleans and this can sometimes result in low water tables. They have a backup well here which they kicked in but from what they told me this happens quite regularly everywhere on the Island.

We visited in July and we didn’t need air conditioning, the windows open and there was a nice breeze blowing through. The temperature rarely gets high enough to make it necessary.

For breakfast we had the choice of eggs fixed your way and crepes. Juice and coffee accompany them. You can eat in the dining room or out on the porch. From the porch we had a view of the llamas and bison that are roaming next door. Christian found this all very fascinating.

If you are looking for luxury this is not your bed and breakfast but if you want charm, a great location, beautiful views and a feel for the real Quebec then you will find this place perfect. Everyone that we met spoke perfect English and though Chris was the only child staying there, or maybe because he was the only child staying there, everyone was particularly solicitous to him. I never felt that children were not welcome here.

To check out the rooms that are available, you may go to their website. Not all the rooms are in the main house, there are some rooms in a building in the rear.

Knowing that it would be late afternoon when we arrived at Le Vieux Presbytere I decided to purchase a package for the first night that included both dinner and breakfast. We were charged an extra $10 for Christian and our hostess told me that they would arrange a meal for him.

This is a beautiful and very romantic restaurant. There are windows across the back of the house that give a beautiful view of the Laurentides Mountains and the St. Lawrence River. We were not seated on what I would call the porch but rather inside near the fireplace. Christian was the only child in the restaurant so I have to admit I was a little concerned but as is the case when only one child is present he was treated as an extra special guest and every effort was made to make sure that he was enjoying himself. This is not the sort of restaurant where you can just drop in and be seated, it was obvious that reservations are absolutely required. Every seat in the restaurant was occupied.

They offer a fine wine list but being me I ordered a Molson. The meals are offered prix fix so we only had to decide what we wanted for each course. We began with a basket of small slices of French bread served with butter and tapenade. Go figure. Chris discovered he loves Tapenade and very good tapenade is was too, salty from the olives and garlicky, yum.

I had warm brie appetizer served in a flaky crust with strawberries on the side. Absolutely delicious and those strawberries are in a class of their own. Presentation here was exceptional and everything looked as good as it tasted.

I expected our meals to be wonderful and beautifully presented but I have never seen chicken nuggets platted as Chris’ were. He had piped mashed potatoes, baby vegetables and a very attractive plume sticking up. He was very impressed.

Our salads were beautiful and served with curly greens and a creamy dressing. The cucumbers were served curled on the top and garden fresh tomatoes.

I choose a seafood dish for my entree, large shrimp and sea scallops in a aromatic thyme sauce was divine and served with baby vegetables and rice pilaf it was just about perfect. Al chose a fried fish which was also excellent. They also serve a variety of game dishes including ostrich and pheasant.

We had the choice of five desserts, profiteroles, strawberries and English cream, cappuccino cake, sorbet or maple cake. Having already had a taste of the Island strawberries there was no way I was going to pass up the Strawberries and Creme Anglais. Chris had the profiteroles and Al had the cappuccino cake and none of us was disappointed. We finished up with coffee and waddled back up to our room.

Le Belagio is located in the Gabriel Gosselin House in the Lower City. It was formerly the Home of the Monte Carlo Restaurant. You can enter this restaurant from either side, we entered from the rear and were escorted to the patio overlooking the lower patio and the river. We also had a great view of the Chateau Frontenac.

I will tell you up front that Le Belagio doesn’t have a children’s menu. They also don’t have a menu in English, unusual in this very bi-lingual city. I began my meal with a Belle Gueule Pilsner which is brewed in Canada in the Czech tradition, with a long unhurried fermentation. It was cold and very good.

Al ordered the steak special which came with a bowl of soup, a salad, and his meal. I ordered the Caprese. For Chris we ordered a Cheeseburger with bacon. It was huge and it was a good thing because my Caprese at $9 gave me quite a surprise. Usually Caprese is enough to be my entire meal, unfortunately not here. It was extremely petit but tasty with pieces of mozzarella buried under tomatoes and diced onions. Luckily I had decided to start with French onion soup which was a highly spiced broth with thick cheese and loads of onions. Al felt sorry for me so he had me finish his soup which was the potage of the day, a green creamy vegetable with tarragon.

The steak got a thumbs up from Al and at $17.95 with the soup was a good buy. It was served with the proverbial frites which are always superior in Quebec to any fries in the states. Poor Chris had a burger that was cooked to within an inch of it’s life. This is not normal in Quebec, usually the meat is under cooked. We should have returned it but our waiter wasn’t around all that much. Chris made a meal of his bacon and his frites. This Houligan is a trouper.

Make sure that you get one of the tables with an umbrella if you sit outdoors. Even though it doesn’t feel that warm the sun can be strong. The menu offers plenty of Italian dishes including pasta with pesto or sauce Bolognese. Fried Calimari, pizza, veal, chicken and fish.
Would I eat here again, probably not. Service was not as attentive as it should have been and for the price the food was served in very small portions. The view however might make me reconsider.

SADLY THE ZOO IS NOW PERMANENTLY CLOSED!!
Let me begin by confessing that I am no zoo expert. For many years this was the only zoo that I had ever visited and it was a one time visit in the 1970's when my children were young. We once took a canal boat ride in London that briefly pasted through the aviary at the London Zoo but believe me it is not an activity I usually seek out. Over the last few years being a grandmother has meant that I have had to make zoo visiting part of my regular vacation activities, at least when I have a Houligan or two in tow.

I was quite certain that a five year old was not going to be entertained by what I usually do in Quebec City, excluding a visit to Montmorency Falls which of course I had to include. I had been keeping up on what was happening at the Zoo and after an extensive renovation it had reopened bigger and better. Okay I can suck it up and visit here again.

If you plan to also visit the Aquarium there is a combination ticket that will save you several dollars and is worth purchasing. Unlike some zoos, parking here is free and there is plenty of it.
After leaving the visitor Center the first exhibit you will see are the flamingos. Considering how far north we are, it is quite an extensive presentation. Actually, birds are what this zoo is all about. Don’t get me wrong, there are other exhibits but the birds predominate.

What I hadn’t counted on was that Chris is a very sophisticated five year old and has visited several zoos including the Bronx and it took no more than ten minutes for him to ask me where the giraffes and elephants were? Well I’m not sure where they are but it isn’t here. I knew I was going to lose him soon so we headed off to see the bears. There are both Polar and grizzlies here and I regained most of the lost attention.

There is a small playground as well and this proved a nice change of pace. When we finished here we headed off to see the small animals and birds in a large enclosed building. This is where Chris had his adventure, for a $1 you buy a cup of nectar and the birds land on you and drink it. When they all landed on him I was afraid he was going to freak but he stood very still and was fascinated by the whole process.

There is a petting zoo which all children enjoy and of course a gift shop, Chris still loves his stuffed snake and he charmed all the sales women with his questions about the different ones. This is a delightful way to spend several hours with children.

This is not the same aquarium I brought my children to over 25 years ago. Then it was very simple with a few smallish tanks and the main attraction were the seals. Now I don’t want to say that the seals are not still a great attraction but this has been expanded beyond all recognition. Originally constructed in 1959 the expansion and rebuilding began in 2001 and the grand reopening was in 2005. They now have more than 350,000 gallons of water and 10,000 species of fish and reptiles.

Chris however, was not nearly as impressed as we were. He has been to several other aquariums and certainly his parents have had a yearly membership at the Mystic Aquarium all of his life. We found the section about the fish of the St Lawrence River of great interest. There are a lot of plaques to read and this is where we lost Chris. At five years old he can’t read, luckily there were many exhibits that also had an audio phone that you could listen to. It was of course offered in both English and French.

One thing that I learned visiting here was that John Cabot was not English, call me crazy but I never knew he was Giovanni Cabato and that his name was Anglicized because he sailed for the English. I found it interesting that his ships were slowed down by the number of cod that were in the waters he was sailing. We also learned that there are no longer any striped bass in the river because they have been over fished. The exhibits are geared to teaching how to preserve the ecology of the river as well as exhibiting the inhabitants of the River.

There are also laboratories where you can view plankton under a microscope and there is a section geared to the little ones where they can stick their hands into all kinds of things. (Ugh)

There are a lot of outdoor exhibits as well. We visited the polar bear and waited patiently for him to jump into the water so we could watch him under water, of course he didn’t cooperate.

There are also lots of seals and walrus in the pools. They have several shows during the say where they perform for visitors. Chris was getting restless and hungry by this time so we sat on the grass for a while waiting for the show but finally we decided it was time to hit the road. Five year olds have a very limited ability to be patient. This is a good way to spend an hour or two with children especially if they are not as acquainted with aquariums as Chris is. There is a nice gift shop.

One plus is that they have their own parking lot and parking is free.

Look for signs for the Aquarium as you come across the LaPorte Bridge.

For years as we visited our favorite gift shop on the Rue St Anne I have looked at the sign for the Wax Museum, it is in the same building but on the upper floors, and I have wondered if we shouldn’t visit. Now somewhere in my head I thought this might be a good idea with Chris. It wasn’t but it was a great idea for me. I think to enjoy this museum you need to be older than 5, certainly being able to read would be a big help. The good news is that Chris was free of charge.

This is a very simple wax museum, don’t expect something along the lines of the fancy ones that we have in the US. Actually though, I found it very interesting. It covers a lot of the history of Quebec both distant past and more current with figures of Canadian sports heros Guy LaFleur and Myrian Bidard. We become part of the meeting between Churchill, Roosevelt and McKenzie that took place at the Chateau Frontenac in 1944.

One of the tableaux was of the death of General Wolfe, he is quoted as saying “I die Happy”. He had been told that the French were fleeing. Another showed Ben Franklin asking Louis XV for help in the Revolutionary War.

The tableaux of General Montcalm, also wounded and dying quotes him as asking how long he has to live and when told a few hours, he replies “ Good, this way I will not live to see the English in Quebec”.

There are some tableaux from even earlier featuring Mother Marie d’Incarnation and another of a very brave Marie Madeleine Jarret de Vercheres from October 22, 1692. She defended the Fort at Vercheres against the Iroquois for 8 days, becoming a local heroine. I think that Chris may be one of her descendants (on his father’s side) so I made sure he knew who she was.

There are displays featuring inventors and scientists, Albert Einstein and Madam Curie and on the founding of Quebec and Samuel de Champlain. It isn’t a large museum and is located on two upper floors. You need to be comfortable climbing stairs to visit here. It does however give an interesting and visual history lesson.