Summer Trip day Seven, Ile d'Orleans
Our favorite breakfast spot in Quebec, Paillard! A large breakfast croissant sandwich (egg, ham and cheese) with a cup of fresh fruit AND a coffee for less than $8!
I suggested a few options for a day trip outside of Quebec City, Kat selected Ile d'Orleans (Orleans Island).
We stopped at a place specializing in jams and Ice Cider, then we drove around the island taking in the many shades of green.
Got out of the car to explore the coast.
I had a place bookmarked for lunch, but Kat took a leap of faith and chose a small roadside diner. I was skeptical.
Yes, this is a beautiful island. This lunch is going well so far!
Duck confit always makes Kat happy. We also had duck rillettes, a puffed pastry with a seafood cream sauce and of course the kids had French Onion Soup.
The food at Café Bistro de la Plage was good! and UNexpensive.
I'd noticed a little cottage advertising pies... Yes, pie please.
They just happened to have a waterfall in the back of the cottage. This place is run by the currant farm at the top of the falls. All the fruit is organic and grown on the island.
Notice the epic dagger battle taking place in the background.
We'd first heard of Ile d'Orleans from the strawberries. Many restaurants in Quebec use strawberries from the island of Orleans.
If you've only had those giant American Strawberries from big box stores, the ones that have little taste and the insides are white with a consistency not unlike Styrofoam... you are being cheated.
The only other strawberries I've had that tasted this good... when we lived in Santa Cruz, my friend Cathy Shikatani worked at an organic strawberry farm. Those strawberries she gave me were the best I'd ever had before we found out about these Ile d'Orleans fruits.
Back over the bridge and about to enter the Old Fortified section of Quebec.
Our hotel was across from a beautiful park and City Hall. They were prepping for Canada Day. The epic dagger battle in the background continued... this behavior raged all over Quebec.
Kat and I enjoyed dinner at 1640, just a few steps from our hotel. We had duck confit, goose confit and half a lobster. It did not suck one bit.
