Where to go in Quebec City: Porte Saint Jean [ Day 3 ]

mai kutsuna
May 27, 2020
4 min read

Last day in Quebec City. We had few hours before our bus back and so we decided to finish exploring Old Quebec during this time. As we checked out of our Airbnb, we first headed to the Parliament building. This is located on the way to Old Quebec and from it’s massive castle like look, it was easy to spot. Sadly, we could not enter the building, and the famous Tourny Fountain just outside it was closed, presumably frozen. (Apparently there are tours for the parliament building, so if you are interested you might want to check http://m.assnat.qc.ca/en/visiteurs/visites-guidees.html )

As we were about to leave the area disappointed, we came across a small strike just outside the gates. It was small, but there were many little kids held by their moms who were chanting altogether. Personally it was rather nice to be able to recognize that this parliament building was in fact a place where decisions are made and not just a beautiful piece of infrastructure.

We made it to the Old Quebec area. Today, we planned to visit three remaining places that I had listed down as touristic spots. First stop was the Rue de Trésor (Artists Street). According to information online, it is like a cute Marché area in which artists sell their paintings and postcards in this narrow street. Unfortunately, this was closed as well, probably because it was not tourist season. Once again, disappointing, as I assumed these mini-touristic areas are open any season. We then head to the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre Dame de Quebec. Being the oldest church in Canada, it is recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada. Upon entry (free by the way), you can see that the color and design of the interior is rather calm, compared to the Notre-Dame Basilica of Montreal. Still, the golden carvings at the center were pretty striking. However personally, I had expected more. It was undeniably beautiful, but sadly as I compare it with other cathedrals I have seen whether in Montreal or Europe, it seemed to be lacking something for me.

(Please understand that I do realize that as a non-religious person I have no right to say which cathedral is better or another, since I am merely basing my preference on it’s appearance. All I am saying is that perhaps if you are a simple tourist like me, you might find this cathedral a bit lacking in the wow factor. )

Before heading to our last destination, we decided to eat lunch. During this trip, we had only eaten out once as we planned to cook for ourselves in our Airbnb to save money. So frankly, we had no idea where was an affordable place to eat there in the city. Another thing that made it tricky was the fact that we needed to find a Halal place for my friend and her sister. I didn’t find this annoying, but rather, I found that it definitely increased my awareness of how hard it must be for people with food restrictions to find a place to eat! We head to Rue Saint Jean, a street famous for its shopping and food.

The street was indeed full of places to pick but finally, we settled for a Crepe place called "Le Casse-Crêpe Breton"(Are we French yet?). It was cheaper than other places and it was also very good! They served both sweet and savory and we were quite satisfied.

Our last destination was Porte Saint Jean. Since this was a gate located at the end of Rue Saint Jean, we reached there by simply heading up the street. Porte Saint Jean, like many other gates you see in Old Quebec, is a historical gate first built in 1693 (current gate was rebuilt in 1940). Plus, on the other side of the gate, there is a park called Place D’Youville, which is a community outdoor skating rink during the winter! Passing a unique drummer who used a full recycled drum set under the gate (amazing!), we came to the skating rink, already full of people skating effortlessly. (Did I mention that Canadians are pros at skating?)

Though we did not have out skates, it was nice to sit by and watch, as we rested our tired legs from walking and carrying our luggage. After some time, I decided to venture out and see whether I could go to the top of the Porte Saint Jean. During the winter, it is closed, but I had seen couple of people walking at the top. By following such people, and with bit of a hack, I made it up there. The view from the top was pretty neat; you get to see a top view of the skating rink and the busy Rue Saint Jean. However, I wouldn’t recommend doing what I did, as the pile of snow on the roof could be very dangerous. I obviously recommend going up during the actual open season!

It was getting dark and it was time to head home. This time, we head to Gare du Palais; the bigger terminal for buses closer to Old Quebec. The bus terminal itself had a beautiful architectural design which was unexpected, but a pleasant way to close the Quebec City trip.

In summary, we really enjoyed our trip to Quebec City. Before the trip, we had a debate whether three is too long or short, and having completed the trip I can say that three days was actually more than enough to visit the touristic areas. This is probably because I personally expected Old Quebec to be bigger than what it was actually. I definitely want to visit Quebec City again, next time during the summer or during the winter carnival because I believe some places would be more open or could be more enjoyable during those times. However, one thing that is the best in the season we went are winter activities, so I must say (despite having trouble with transportation) snow tubing in Village Vacances Valcatier was the most memorable in this trip for me. Perhaps that means we are still a bunch of kids!

I have no idea when your next trips would be with this ongoing COVID situation, but hopefully I have aided you through these blogs in getting an idea of what it’s like to travel to Quebec City :)

Stay safe!

Check out my other Quebec City Trip Blogs: