Margaret and I just got back from a five day trip to Quebec City where we spent most of our time wandering around the city and exploring. We had been wanting to go on a trip just the two of us, and after looking around at airfare, we figured Canada would be pretty cool.

I hate to say it, but overall I was not impressed with Quebec City. It was definitely nice to take a few days off of work and spend some quality sister time, but after the first day of exploring, I was over it. The town itself felt like a giant downtown Disney minus the rides, complete with cobblestone streets, quaint little façades, tons of souvenir shops, and tourists as far as the eye could see. I absolutely appreciate the historic beauty, but tourist traps are not my cup of tea.

The parts I enjoyed the most were walking the historic walls around the city, riding on the bike path, and driving through the mountains and seeing all the beautiful farms. The weather was beautiful except for one dreary day, so we were able to spend most of our trip outside which was so so nice. We were lucky enough to be there at the perfect time to see all of the trees in their gorgeous fall colors. I have honestly never seen such intense oranges and reds in my life!

We rented a car to drive up north toward the fjord, and took the scenic mountain route which ended up being verrrrrrrry hilly (duh, mountains), but also beautiful. We pulled off at the économusée du fromage (Cheese Museum YES PLEASE) and our dreams came true as I chugged a glass bottle of milk and Margaret ate a block of Brie like it was a sandwich. We took some pics with the local wildlife and acted as though we weren’t from the Midwest and had never seen cows. Or a farm. Or dairy products.

We pulled off at a quiet little trail entrance in the mountains and climbed the most gorgeous path. We kept hearing people’s voices but couldn’t see anyone until we realized they were way above us, climbing the giant rock face of the mountain! Margaret was determined to “touch the butt” and make it all the way up to where the rock began, so up we went. Coming down was definitely the hardest part, especially with two cameras in hand.

On our last day, we rented a tandem and spent the afternoon riding on the city’s beautiful bike path. It wasn’t quite as idyllic as it sounds and involved a few arguments, vulgar hand gestures, and nasty looks, but that’s to be expected when you throw two sisters on one bike. Right? We didn’t fall though, so that’s what really matters.

We shot 3 rolls of black&white film too, so check out Canada in Monochrome too!