Quebec City, Day Five
Our final day in Quebec City. It’s been a great trip, however, I think we stayed a little longer than we needed. If we hadn’t gone to La Mauricie yesterday, I think we would have gotten a bit bored (or else had to have tried harder to find something to do).
We had a restless night’s sleep. I woke up a lot and moved, which woke Glen up. We managed to stay in bed until about 9 at least. Had breakfast at the hostel then went back to our room, packed the last few things, checked out, stuffed our luggage in a locker at the hostel, then went to the Musée de la civilisation. We’d bought a three-museum pass on Monday and this was the last one to check out.
Like the Ontario Science Centre, the Musée de la civilisation also had a video game exhibition, though this one, I thought, was better overall. It’s also a permanent exhibition. The good things about it were the layout (much easier to move around the computers were spaced better), sturdy machines (only a couple of machines weren’t working), no people (school holidays are over and only a few people were checking it out – and none of them were over the age of 35), and Dance Dance Revolution.
I enjoyed playing the older games more than the modern ones. Probably because they’re easier hehe. I played Super Mario Bros, PacMan, Pong, a couple of other old school games, one with a gun, and then Glen and I had a few rounds on Dance Dance Revolution. We were exhausted by the end of it!
Next we checked out the Paris exhibition which was about the Belle époque. You’re given an audio device with headsets as you enter and throughout the exhibition it automatically plays music and a few expositional tracks to enhance your enjoyment and immersion in the exhibition. Really nifty. Lots of music mainly but certainly made it an enjoyable and accessible experience. Without it, it would just be like walking in silence around another exhibition. My favourites were the Moulin Rouge/Chat Noir sections, the silent movies with the sound effects machine, and the giant portrait of Sarah Bernhardt.
Glen declared he’d had enough of museums once we left that exhibition so we set off for Le Parliamentaire, the dining room in Quebec’s Parliament Building. I was a little worried we wouldn’t be able to get a table but I needn’t have. There was plenty of space. Today was the first day the dining room was open after construction was completed in the kitchen.
Apart from one table, everyone else there looked like tourists or non-pollies. The tour guide we had on Sunday was right about the price. We ordered a chicken breast main for $18. This included soup of the day, bread, a small dessert and tea/coffee. I ordered a glass of wine and Glen ordered espressos, which were additional, but considering the quality and the location, the price was exceptionally reasonable. We really enjoyed it and I recommend everyone goes there for breakfast or lunch if they visit during the week. The dining room itself is lovely too.
After lunch we went back to the hostel, ordered a cab, and were delivered to the airport in record time. We got here about four or so hours before our flight is due to leave as we’ve done just about everything we set out to do and were keen just to sit for a while. We were also hoping we could get an earlier flight but Porter’s counter didn’t open until five to five so there wasn’t much chance. We’ll be home soon enough.
So, overall impression of Quebec City: Loved it.
True, we spent most of our time in Old Quebec which is picturesque and lovely and designed to be pleasing to tourists, but it was calm and beautiful and easy to get around. Liked it more than Montreal, for sure. There’s a winter festival in Quebec City coming up, as well as an Ice Hotel, so there are reasons to come back again. Plus lunch at Le Parliamentaire.
Looking forward to being home though. It’s about now that I long to see Smudge, but of course, she’s back in Perth. Will have to settle for photos.
Bon journée.
Travels with Dan 
What do you say, eh?