Parc National de la Jaques Cartier

 

This park is absolutely stunning. I desperately want to go back here. And see such a beautiful place made me want to move here. It is just so pretty I can't say it enough. It's about a 30 minute drive outside the city of Quebec, and once again we hit it on a really great weather day. It was cool, overcast, and so pleasant to be outside. A few weeks later and I can only imagine how stunning this area would be with incredible fall colors.

We spent a few hours here hiking around. We stayed on the main trail, which was very well maintained and easy to navigate. I did hike a little bit along stream, which was much more rocky, uneven, and a bit more treacherous for someone who doesn't have the best balance. As always I wish we could have stayed longer. Some day I want to come back and camp here. Or I could stay in a hotel and drive here ever day to hike. Either option would be good for me. I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

 

Montmorency Falls

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 This is a beautiful little restaurant and tourist shop that sits just at the top of the falls. It's surrounded by a beautiful park as well which we wandered through a bit. It was a gorgeous September day to come see the falls. Not too many people, the sun was warm but not hot, and we spent a pleasant few hours just wandering through the area.

The Montmorency falls are a large waterfall on the Montmorency River in Quebec, Canada. The falls are at the mouth of the Montmorency River where it drops over the cliff shore into the Saint Lawrence River, opposite the western end of the Île d'Orleans. The waterfalls are 272' tall, a full 99' higher than Niagara Falls.
There are staircases that allow visitors to view the falls from several different perspectives. A suspension bridge over the crest of the falls provides access to both sides of the park. We were not daring enough to cross the suspension bridge to the other side.



 There was also an option to zipline from one side of the bridge to the other. Honestly, had I not been in marathon recovery mode and struggling to walk up steps, I totally would have done the zipline.

 
 There is also an aerial tram (Funitel) that carries passengers between the base and the top of the falls. Because both my dad and I did not have the energy to take the massive staircase to the bottom of the falls, and then have to walk back up that long staircase, we used the tram. I don't regret it either. It is certainly a beautiful place and definitely worth seeing.

Ille D'Orleans

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This is a little island that connects by bridge to Quebec City. The whole island is 20 miles long by 6 miles wide, but it's apparently where Quebec gets all it's fresh produce from. I'd wanted to see the island as I heard it was just a beautiful little spot to explore. I had no idea how absolutely beautiful it would be.


It made me feel like I was in an Anne of Green Gables movie. It was that beautiful country landscape. Of course pictures just don't do it justice.

It was covered in vineyards, and apple trees falling over from the weight of the apples. There were stands everywhere for fresh berries, apple ciders, all kinds of homemade produce. I would have loved to buy a ton of it if I'd been able to. Instead we drove the island twice, stopping to take pictures along the way. We were told that the chocolate on this island was some of the best around, so of course we went in search for a Chocolaterie.

And we found one. And had the best chocolate of my life. I still dream about that chocolate. And the soft serve ice cream that we had with the chocolate is unlike anything I've ever had. I'd fly back there for the weekend just to get another one.
 
 

Old Quebec City

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Old Quebec City is a beautiful tourist area that they've kept restored rather well. While it's all tourist shops, it's still fun to wander through and see. I did feel like I was in a little French town wandering the streets. Once again I will let the pictures speak for themselves. The food and pastries were wonderful and we had a great day hiking up and down the hills. This little city is not a flat place.

They were also getting ready for a big bicycle race that was happening a few days after we planned to leave. I imagine that would be fun to watch, bus so much chaos to get around. But it is a beautiful little city definitely worth seeing.

 

Hiking in Rimouski

Rimouski is a pretty small town with not much around it. It's not exactly a tourist destination, so finding things to do around there that involve your typical type of sightseeing wasn't really an option. There aren't art museums, or big European style events. So we looked at other options that I don't often get to take advantage of while traveling. Hiking. I love being out in nature and hiking. It's not something I get to do often in Texas because the heat is unbearable for me 9 months out of the year, and it's flat and full of mosquitos. I wanted to take advantage of seeing some new and beautiful places in a country that had perfectly cool hiking weather. And it wasn't flat.

Because this trip was my dad and I , and I was going to be running a full marathon, we had to be careful in how much strenuous activity we did. I didn't want to wear out my muscles before I destroyed them in a marathon. But we found some beautiful hiking spots to enjoy. The weather was absolutely perfect, the trails were so well maintained, and I definitely want to go back to Canada and do only hiking trails. So many gorgeous places! So I will just let the pictures do the talking of the fantastic scenery we enjoyed the day before my race.