2.06.2016

470. Quebec 2016 | Quebec City

Quebec City winter
Quebec City was less than an hour's drive away from our cabin, so we went on a quick trip there once day. Unfortunately it was the coldest day during our time there (like -25/30C) so we didn't stay for too long. The walled in part of the city is where we usually go (I've been to Quebec City a few times before but only during summer). It is so nice and magical there during winter. The style is very European. It's like a little village with old stone buildings and cobblestone streets. We went there for dinner, dessert, walked around a bit then drove around. As it was so cold, most of these photos were taken from inside the car. I wish we could've stayed longer and walked around more. I'd like to go back during the summer though!

Quebec City
Quebec City winter
spaghetti carbonara
Quebec crepe
Quebec City
Quebec City winter
Those blocks of snow might be for ice carvings.

Quebec City boardwalk
Fairmont Chateau Frontenac
Chateau Frontenac Quebec
Inside Chateau Frontenac. We parked here to went inside to have a look as well..

Chateau Frontenac Quebec City
Chateau Frontenac bar

Other Posts from this Trip:

Au Chalet en Bois Rond - Cabin Review
Dog Sledding
Snowmobiling and Trails
Fairmont Chateau Montebello
Aux Chantignoles - Restaurant Review

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1.30.2016

469. Quebec 2016 | Aux Chantignoles at Chateau Montebello

Chateau Montebello breakfast
Here was my breakfast at Le Chateau Montebello! I've mentioned this in the past that I LOVE hotel breakfasts (buffet style or even delivered to the room). Not because the food tastes good (I mean it does..) but I love the experience of it. I'm not quite sure how to explain it but you probably know what I mean. The breakfast we had here was delicious. There was a wide selection of food including the usual continental style items like bread, sausages, eggs, potatoes, beans etc as well as crepes, an omelette station, delicious oatmeal..and more.

The hotel's main restaurant is Aux Chantignoles where we had breakfast and dinner. It's pretty big in there, with several dining areas and very beautifully decorated throughout.

I'll start with breakfast:

Fairmont Montebello breakfast
Fairmont Montebello breakfast
Fairmont Montebello breakfest
I loved their oatmeal!

Aux Chantignoles restaurant
Here's a view of the restaurant. This is the part where you walk in but on the sides there were individual rooms as well. So we came for dinner that night shortly after checking in (which I posted about yesterday). We hadn't really planned to eat there at first but since there were no other options for food that night, we decided to have our dinner there. The restaurant/food really exceeded my expectations. I didn't think much of it at first (since I usually prefer going to actual non-hotel restaurants when travelling) but this one was really good.

There were a lot of unique things on the menu. It was one of those restaurants where you knew that whatever you ordered, it would most likely be good and nicely presented. So I had a really hard time choosing what I wanted since I wanted to try almost everything on there! By the way, here is the menu. A lot of different meats and French-Canadian dishes.

Aux Chantignoles amuse bouche
An amuse bouche to start.

Aux Chantignoles appetizer
I went for the Monk Fish and Shrimp Medallion appetizer (with parsley sponge, lobster sauce, ocean paper, and shellfish oil). This was delicious. I just didn't like the parsley sponge that much..it didn't have a strong taste to it but if you don't eat it first it gets all soggy by the end and tastes like wet bread lol. It makes it look cool though. I really liked the shrimp medallions.

Aux Chantignoles appetizer
My bf got the Wild Game Parmentier (with four spice sauce and fingerling potato chips). I had a taste of it and it was really good as well. It's a mixture of a lot of different meats, finely chopped up.

Aux Chantignoles sorbet
Then we had this sorbet. I think the term is Intermezzo..?

Aux Chantignoles veal
For the main course I had the Pappardelle Paste with Milk-Fed Veal (with sage and lemon cream sauce, spinach, asparagus and sun-dried tomatoes). I don't think I ever ordered veal before. This was really good. I loved the sauce and the veal was tender and juicy. It was so filling though.

Aux Chantignoles deer
The Deer Wellington (with Saskatoonberry sauce, Jerusalem artichoke puree, and honey mushroom). I tried a bite of the deer as well. It was my first time eating deer. It tasted kind of like beef. I usually don't like gamey meat but this was really good.

Aux Chantignoles dessert
The dessert was buffet-style so we had a bit of everything. I wish they did actual dessert though. The options they had were just cakes, jello, pudding, fruits, etc.

It was overall a really nice and memorable meal/evening. I definitely recommend having dinner at the restaurant, even if you're not staying at the hotel!


Other Posts from this Trip:

Au Chalet en Bois Rond - Cabin Review
Dog Sledding
Snowmobiling & Trails
Le Chateau Montebello - Hotel Review
Quebec City


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1.29.2016

468. Quebec 2016 | Fairmont Chateau Montebello

Fairmont Chateau Montebello
After several nights at Au Chalet en Bois Rond, it was unfortunately time to leave and head back to Toronto. On the drive back we stayed for a night at Fairmont Chateau Montebello. I attended one of their press events a few years ago here in Toronto. Ever since then, I've always wanted to visit...& I'm glad I finally did!

So on our trip we went from our little log cabin to Le Chateau Montebello - considered to be the world's largest log cabin. I love the rustic style and cozy atmosphere in there. Definitely a great place for a winter vacation. When you enter the lobby, you are greeted with a huge stone fireplace in the middle. Lots of people lounge around the sofas relaxing.

Front desk is a small area off to the side. It was quite busy when we arrived, but the check in was a quick and seamless process. The staff were really friendly and helpful. After checking us in, they booked a dinner reservation for us at their restaurant.

The hotel area is surrounded by a lot of nature so they have numerous on-site activities. Unfortunately we didn't have time to try any of them. I wish we had stayed an extra night here. They have dogsledding, cross country skiing, ice fishing, snowmobiling, ice skating, etc. There's also a ton of summer activities as well so it's a great place to stay year-round.

It's located about an hour away from Montreal and two hours away from Mont Tremblant (where we went for a day - more about this in an upcoming post!). If you're ever around the area, I would recommend a stay!

Fairmont Montebello strawberries
Here is our little welcome gift..delicious chocolate dipped strawberries!

Fairmont Montebello Jacuzzi Suite
We got one of their Jacuzzi Rooms. They have 6 of these suites in total. There's a living room area along with the bedroom, and a jacuzzi beside the bed. The doors in there were pretty cool. They were like castle style wooden doors.

We were a bit surprised though that all of them were located in the lower level which meant that the windows were small and too high up to look out of, and the view would just be the ground outside. I like having the jacuzzi room but I would've preferred a nicer view for booking a premium suite.

Overall I really loved the suite though. The nature-inspired furnishings made it really cozy and welcoming. The jacuzzi was a fun experience and they had really nice bathrobes (always a huge plus for me!).

Fairmont Montebello Jacuzzi Suite
Living room.

Fairmont Montebello Jacuzzi Suite
Fairmont Montebello suite
Fairmont Montebello toiletries
Fairmont Montebello

After dropping off our luggage, we went for a quick walk around the grounds. They have a separate building for the spa/pool/gym (which is conveniently connected to the main building through an underground tunnel though).

Fairmont Montebello pool
Fairmont Montebello lobby
Fairmont Montebello Christmas
Fairmont Montebello Aux Chantignoles
Then we went for dinner at their restaurant, Aux Chantignoles. I really enjoyed that meal. I'll devote an entire post to it next time!

Other Posts from this Trip:

Au Chalet en Bois Rond - Cabin Review
Dog Sledding
Snowmobiling & Trails
Aux Chantignoles - Restaurant Review
Quebec City


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1.23.2016

466. Quebec 2016 | Snowmobiling & Trails

Au Chalet en Bois Rond cabin
Here is our beautiful cabin. Photo taken from the backyard. I really miss the snow. When I walked back there through the thick layer of snow, it reminded me of when I was really young. I would go out in our backyard to play in the snow and make snow angels, build snowmen and forts. We haven't had that much snow here in Toronto for years! I usually don't like winter and the cold, but I'm really hoping we get some snow here this year before winter ends.

Here I am with my moon boots. You can see how much snow there is..which isn't THAT much in this photo but some areas were a bit deeper. Almost up to the top of my boots.

winter snow
Au Chalet en Bois Rond winter
This is the view from our backyard. Underneath the snow would be a lake. There's also a small waterfall on the right which I tried to get in this shot but guess you can't really see it. It was all quiet there and all you could here was the waterfall.

Au Chalet en Bois Rond winter
Cabin across the lake from us.

Au Chalet en Bois Rond winter
Then we took a walk around the village.

winter forest
winter trails
Walking through the forest trails. We wanted to go to the Sugar Shack but unfortunately it is currently under renovations and won't be open again until the end of March. I really enjoyed this. It was so beautiful in there, surrounded by snow-covered trees. We also saw what looked like moose tracks.

apple pie
Lunch - chicken pot pie and apple cider in front of the wood burning stove.

Fireplace stove
Au Chalet en Bois Rond
Ski Doo Snowmobile
On one of the days, we rented a snowmobile for a couple hours. You can rent it for 2 hours, 4 hours or the full day. We just did 2 hours. It was my first time on one - so much fun! I couldn't really take photos during the ride but the scenery was so beautiful. We went on a trail specifically for snowmobiles (never knew those existed before) through forests and lots of looooong straight roads like this:

Snowmobile trail Quebec

Other Posts from this Trip:

Au Chalet en Bois Rond - Cabin Review
Dog Sledding
Fairmont Chateau Montebello
Aux Chantignoles - Restaurant Review
Quebec City

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1.19.2016

465. Quebec 2016 | Dog Sledding

Husky Puppies
Our favourite day during the vacation was dog sledding!! I loved it a lot more than I thought I would. We booked the activity through our cabin company (for $75 + tax), but the dog sledding was by a company called Aventure Inukshuk.
It was so much fun going around the forest trails in the sled. The scenery was amazing. After our ride, they let us go in the to meet all the dogs and even the puppies! They were so adorable. I wanted to take one home so badly..I love Huskies.

Husky puppies
winter wonderland
Here we were driving in to the dog sledding area. It was just across the street from where our cabin village was.

Aventure Inukshuk dogs
On the sled, waiting to go! First they taught us how to drive the sled (one person sits while the other stands at the back to drive). The dogs kept barking non-stop as we were waiting. I think they were all really excited to go. Then suddenly before I knew it, we were off..they sort of ran into the forest. It went a lot faster than I expected and the ride is pretty smooth. It's a lot of fun when they're actually running but most of the time I guess it's more like a jog.

Dog Sledding
Quebec winter
The scenery along the way was so amazing. Huge areas of untouched snow (which I assume are the lakes underneath) with mountains behind. Hard to capture how impressive it looked in real life in photos unfortunately.

Aventure Inukshuk Dog Sledding
Dog Sledding
Dog Sledding Quebec
Halfway through, we stopped for a quick break. The dog there on the right kept trying to roll around in the snow lol.

Dog Sledding
Aventure Inukshuk Dog Sledding
Then we got back & went in to meet all the dogs. I loved them all!

Dog Sledding Quebec
Husky Dog Sledding
Husky Dog Sledding
Husky Dog Sledding
Husky Dog Sledding
Husky Dog Sledding
Dog Sledding huskies
Husky Puppies
Husky puppies

Other Posts from this Trip:

Au Chalet en Bois Rond - Cabin Review
Snowmobiling and Trails
Fairmont Chateau Montebello
Aux Chantignoles - Restaurant Review
Quebec City

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