Canada Girls Trip!

French Canada, the closest we could get to Europe without going to Europe! Spent one full day/night in Toronto and three days/nights in Quebec City! Just the right amount of time to be refreshed, inspired and thankful for the world, the history, the future and our decades of friendship! A trip filled with laughter, exploring, learning, reminiscing, celebrating, good food and fun drinks made for a memorable vacay. Always a good trip when you feel like your getaway was a lot longer than it really was!

Before living our Princess Dreams in the Castle, we had 24 hrs. in Toronto! Cool City, Super Clean! We took the red eye from the West Coast, landed about 8am, dropped off our bags and headed straight to St. Lawrence Market for breakfast. Lucked out on an awesome Uber driver who gave us a list of recommendations. We had the eggplant sandwich from the Italian place downstairs, Peameal bacon sandwiches from the Carousel Bakery, Portuguese tarts, and chocolate croissants. Nothing outstanding but nice to walk around the market and try a bunch of things.

We stayed at the Kimpton Saint George Hotel which was lovely. It was clean, modern, yet vintage with the record player in our room which we used. The Wine Reception in the lobby was the perfect way to kick off girls night!

Dinner Reservations at COC -Coffee, Oysters, Champagne! An unexpected surprised when we arrived! I don’t want to give too much away, but let’s just say you are in for a treat, highly recommend, so fun! The Champagne & Oysters were a great pairing and again so fun! We had the traditional naked oysters and the Citrus + Spice oysters, both very good. Also had the mushroom croquettes, cheese board and fried chicken. Great atmosphere, we could have easily stayed there all night! I mean what is better than champagne & oysters with girlfriends!! Oh add in a tequila shot, Riza’s fave!

After dinner did some bar hopping. Library bar in the Fairmont had that old fashioned, 1920’s feel. The bird bath Martini caught my eye so had to have it at $28 because YOLO plus me and Kim’s birthday month, why not! The herbs are grown on their rooftop garden and the glasses bird bath shaped. I thought there was more historical meaning to the bird bath but nope made that story up in my head and it was just a really good pricey martini! Loved it and would get it again! The s’mores dessert was good, the presentation even better! It was served under a smokey glass and once lifted smelled like campfire! Stopped in a 60’s music bar for a quick drink. Then onto another bar as we were on the hunt for some hip hop music! Aubs took me to my first club at 16 and still working her charm, got us in the front of the line at the club. Had a few drinks there, did a little dance, and then on to the next. Our last stop was the hotel bar for some late night eats, pizza and nachos and one more shot to end the night, pickle backs! 04.30.22 – The perfect way to end our birthday month!

Up early the next morning to catch our 10am flight to Quebec City! Checked into the hotel and then straight to coffee & crepes…crepes meh, Baileys coffee good. We did some self exploring at the hotel. The castle was built in the 1892 and sits right next to the ruins of the first Chateau built in 1608, Chateau Saint-Louis. First day was a chill day to rest, relax, explore our surroundings. Then back out for dinner at the pub and a nighttime look at the Castle lights, Beautiful! If you are going to come all the way out here, highly recommend staying at this hotel. It is one of the city’s most treasured landmarks, historic, grand, clean, great service and its a Castle!

https://www.fairmont.com/frontenac-quebec

Started with a 10am walking tour offered by the hotel. We learned a ton in 2 hrs. Always do some kind of history tour when visiting a new city, even a short one. Our minds were blown with all the fascinating details we learned about French Canadian History! We were in awe of the rich history here! We were standing on the very grounds of where the first French settlers were, the New France.

• Place Royale is where it all started – the first French settlers came here in the early 1600’s for Fur trade and on the way to find spices in Asia
• Took the British four tries to take over. In the last attack they brought 11k soldiers up against the French’s 5k. Even though Britain won, the French culture remained because only 800 of the British soldiers actually stayed in Canada, the rest returned home. British rule but the majority was French
• The King of France sent 750 women from France to Canada to get married and populate the city
• Quebec has a Notre Dame Basilica and one of the seven Holy Doors of the world. All seven doors open every 25 yrs for a year for people to walk through as a sign of having all their sins washed away
• All the cannons surrounding the Quebec City Walls are real which you can tell by the arrow symbol on them
• Considered UNESCO because of its authenticity; still has the City Walls up where other cities have taken them down

The tour ended on the cutest street, the Petit Champlain area. We had to do a photo shoot there 🙂

After a few hours of walking and taking lots of pics headed to Bar Artefact. Great place for refreshing drinks and good food. The prettiest and tastiest scallops I’ve ever had. The Brussel sprouts and Mac & Cheese pretty good too.

Ice cream stop and back to check out the Christmas Store! Some of the stores still had that Christmas feel. I’m sure one of the best Christmas Towns during the season.

Back to the hotel to rest, nap, soak in the hot tub. Then back out for a fun dinner at D’orsey. The seafood pasta was the winner and the bottle of Syrah from CA.

Last day! We did a private tour to the ile D’Orleans which is about 20mins from Quebec City by car. We first stopped at Montmorency Falls.

First stop on the island was a Cider and Butter Tasting. The apple and black currant cider were our faves. The apple butter and maple caramel so yummy! The fruit ketchup was like a salsa that we had for snack later that night. Then on to the Nougaterie where we grabbed a few bars each. Then over to the ice cream and chocolate shop. The richest dark chocolate shell cone ever!

We did good getting a taste of some local treats and brought some back to snack on later and some to bring home to family. Back to D’Orsay for the seafood pasta and mussels. Mussels were very good! They had a cream white wine sauce with a hint of mustard. We highly recommend D’Orsay for good food, good drinks and good vibes! https://www.dorsayrestaurant.com

Lapin Saute for dessert. We weren’t quite ready to try a town fave, rabbit, but wanted to check out this cute & cozy restaurant so we opted for coffee & dessert. The salted honey pie was yummy, highly recommend. The others were just okay.

Successful Girls Trip! Long overdue for us girls who have been friends for decades. Aren’t those the best kinds of friends, the ones you may not talk to all the time or see very often but know are there for you and when you do get together, it is like no time has passed. We are still the same friends just older and wiser, honest with each other and laughing at each other.

Love you and as Kim says, let’s always say YES to the adventure! Til next time!