Québec City, Québec

January 9 - March 23, 2009

Old Town and the Saint-Laurent, seen from the citadel.

Rooftops of the "Petit Champlain" area, seen from the Terrasse Dufferin.

Château Frontenac, the city's icon.

Streetscape, Rue St-Louis, old town.

Interesting architecture, old town.

Rue St-Jean, the main artery through old town.

Late afternoon at the Parc de l'Esplanade, old town.

Views from the top of the fortifications at "Porte St-Jean", looking West, toward the new town (Place d'Youville).

"Porte St-Jean", the main gate between the old and the new town. Our apartment is right behind it.

Looking through Porte St-Jean, into the old town.

Views from the top of the fortifications at "Porte St-Jean", looking East into old town.

Porte St-Jean. Our apartment's windows are just above the two pedestrians' heads.

A portion of Rue St-Jean, just outside the fortifications.

Further East on Rue St-Jean.

One of the main events of the winter season: the Red Bull Crashed Ice.

People gathering for the event (about 100,000 people showed up... it was -25C!).

This event is a downhill (!) ice-skating race...

Competitor speeding down the track during qualifications.

The track is built on a wooden structure through the narrow streets of old town.

They race in heats of four, tournament style.

Casse-cou... you'd have to be!

The mighty St-Laurent, seen from the Citadel, looking south.

Another view of Rue St-Jean, near the "Hotel de Ville".

Ice climbers making money... there's no shortage of snow and ice to shovel off the roofs.

The separatist movement is far from dead!

The Parlement building.

 

Rue St-Louis, very near the gate of the same name.

View from the Citadel, looking north (Château Frontenac in the background).

Opening ceremony for the 2009 Winter Carnaval... activities all over for 2 weeks.

Dogsled race ("La Grande Virée") in the heart of old town. Watch a movie.

Squatting on the skids to minimize air drag.

Kicking hard to gain speed at the start.

Late afternoon in Rue St-Louis.

Snowshoeing on top of the fortifications (you can go halfway around the old city).

The Carnaval features several snow-sculpting competitions.

We particularly liked this entry.

 

More snowshoeing, above the Porte St-Louis.

Map of downtown Québec city. The red flag shows the location of our apartment.