14 Feb Fall and winter in Québec City
With the trees stripping from their leaves, the cold slowly claiming its rightful throne and the smell of snow in the air, fall and winter drop a magic veil over Québec City. The activities are gradually slowing down while we put some more layers on. Fear not for us, we have the right equipment to stay warm! 🙂
Light salads and sandwiches are replaced with squash soup and shepherd’s pie. Hot cocoa and teas are now our best friends. But what can you do when it gets colder? Well, some may think we stay inside and hibernate… which is somewhat neither true or false!
We enjoy different activities, the ones where we can gather together, in a warm inviting environment. The weather forged our culture from the very first winters the settlers experienced.
Summer was meant to work long hard days, from the early lights of dawn to the colours melting at sun set. Very little time was left for leisure as time was of the essence. The beautiful season lasting only a few short months we had lots to do in very little time. But when the reaping had been done, the machinerie stored, it was time for some more indoor oriented activities. In every village was a “violoneux” or fiddler, with a festive tune in mind and giggling feet. After mass on the weekend, we gathered around in the living room of one’s house and danced, sang, played and ate at our hearts desire. Whole villages came together for these celebrations. Summer had passed, and we could live off our hardly earned victuals and simply celebrate life. Our cuisine was gradually tainted with different origins, French, Irish, English, Native americans. We learned that during the hard cold winter months, we had everything we needed to stay healthy: both mentally and physically. Our community and cooperative nature perhaps comes from these ages, when everything that was built, or harvested was a community project.
Comes November, Québec City slowly starts decorating for the coming Holidays. The Petit Champlain wears red and green sashes, pine and fir branches hang from every window frame. By November 23rd, the town hall square welcomes dozens of little wood houses each presenting visitors with local products: it is the Christmas German fair. European hot dogs and sauerkraut, artisanal glass work, wool socks and a variety of items can be bought when visiting the fair. It makes a evening walk in the city so much more romantic. The Germain fair is now to its 10th edition in 2017 and should have a few surprises in store for us. The European charm of Québec City makes it the perfect place for a very quaint and charming fair. You can scroll through this year’s exhibitors on the following link:
And then comes the snow. Very little at first, and it doesn’t stick, but as December moves in, it brings colder temperature and the magic starts to operate. The ski resorts open their doors and welcome snow lovers from around the globe. The Manoir d’Auteuil is less than an hour away from 3 ski resorts. Le Mont Ste-Anne, Stoneham and Le Massif all offer very different types of skiing.
