I'd either park along a street outside the old walls or leave my car in the parking lot of whatever nearby hotel chain I was staying in, and walk into Old Québec.
Truth be told, I've only driven into the old city once before, a couple of years ago when my family and I took in Carnaval. We stayed at a small auberge on Rue d'Auteuil, just inside the western wall. The road on which the inn was located was the only old-town street I used, having entered the walled city at the base of this one-way street, driving up its steep hill, and lucking into a parking spot a few steps away from the auberge's doorstep, across from Esplanade Park.
That's where the car remained for our long weekend.
When it was time to head home, I simply continued the short distance on that road, to Rue Saint Louis, turned right, and exited out the gate onto the Grande Allée.
Last Wednesday, my family and I found ourselves back in Québec City, stopping on the last evening of our vacation, before continuing home. DW found a reasonably priced hotel, just to the north end of the Pont de Québec, the Best Western Premier Hotel Aristocrate. She wanted to keep us close to Hwy 20, which would get us to Montréal the next day, but she also wanted us to be close enough to the historic city so that we could enjoy our final night of our trip.
As soon as we settled in our room (and DD17 had a rejuvenating shower), we checked Google Maps to see the best route into the old town. This would be my second time driving in Old Québec. DW and I both looked at our smartphones, and we both came up with the same route, which was not the most direct way into town.
"I want to take the scenic route," she said.
"I was just looking at that, too," I agreed.
The drive would take us south, down Avenue des Hôtels, toward the aquarium, and then a curve, under the Pont de Québec and Pierre-Laporte Bridge, onto Boulevard Champlain. However, when we actually arrived at this intersection, construction had closed off that part of the boulevard, and we were forced to turn around and take Chemin Saint-Louis to Côte à Gignac. By the time we met back with Boulevard Champlain, we had missed more than a kilometre of that route.
No matter. Where this part of the boulevard lies, we arrived at the Promenade Samuel-de-Champlain Park, which was a beautiful stretch of shoreline that was perfectly landscaped and held fountains and statues. DD17 pointed out a large pair of angel wings. "Hey," she said, "you can stand in front of them." Because we were losing light, we promised to return the next day.
The drive is slow (50 kph) and windy, but the view of the St. Lawrence is spectacular. At this hour, we could still see the opposite shore but lights were just coming on in and out of buildings, giving it an extra glow.
By the time we reached the lower part of the old town, the buildings were also aglow in lights from within the shops and restaurants and outside, on the street lamps. It gave the heritage buildings an added charm.
We continued past the ferry terminal, past Place des Canotiers, all the way to Quai Saint-André, where we looped around and climbed the hill into the old town. We circled and crawled through the narrow streets, around Place d'Armes, even through the Chateau Frontenac, on Rue des Carrières. We got lost a couple of times, hitting dead-end streets and one-way avenues that took us away from our destination, but we eventually found ourselves back on Rue d'Auteuil, and although I can't say, with certainty, that we pulled into the same parking space we occupied at the 2015 Carnaval, we were only a few steps from our old auberge.
We walked down the hill, to Rue Saint-Jean, and had fabulous burgers at Les Trois Garçons.
The next morning, as promised, we returned to Promenade Samuel-de-Champlain Park. For the photos we missed the night before.
I don't know when we'll return to Québec City, but when we do, the scenic route will be our way of making an entry.
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