Text and Photos by Yvette Cardozo, Bill Hirsch and Quebec Tourism
Vol. 12. No. 4
Jump! And, one by one, we’re off … swooping down a zip line above clowns, kids riding toboggans, and the snow sculptures of Winter Carnival’s Place Desjardins.
It’s cold. Probably close to zero. As we stand shivering being body harnessed to a long cable on a platform high above Quebec City’s Plains of Abraham, we notice that nobody below us seems to mind the cold. “This is how we celebrate winter,” a local behind us says before we leap. “It takes our mind off the weather. It’s a great reason to party.”
Quebecois are hardy souls. Let the temperature dip to 10 below and they just throw on another coat, a second pair of socks, and heavier mitts. And then they go outside and play. It’s only tourists you see in Antarctic-weight tour coats (we counted five). Locals favor long, fashionable wool and never those tubular neck gaiters. Quebec is strictly a scarf culture.
Yes, Winter Carnival (Carnaval in French) in Quebec is like Mardi Gras in the snow. Lots of bleating horns, many ingenious alcohol concoctions, unending soirees. A great excuse to have fun before the fasting and penitence of Lent leading up to Easter. Of course, here it’s colder than New Orleans and Rio. A LOT colder. But what do you expect of a citywide party timed during the most frigid days of winter?
Quebec has celebrated winter carnival since 1894, when city fathers decided the local population needed relief from the kind of winter that can drop 11 feet of snow between November and April. There were games … a bicycle race on the ice, a mock war siege… and, what has become the centerpiece of the festival, an ice palace.
But things didn’t get serious until 1955 when Carnival became a regular yearly event. Today, it is the third largest carnival after Rio and New Orleans and the largest winter carnival on Earth. Of course, these days it’s not really religious at all … simply a good excuse to party during 17 days across three weekends in late January and early February. But while Winter Carnival used to be more like a giant fraternity party, there has been an attempt in recent years to make it more family friendly.
So there are games… snow rafting, tightropes, ziplines, snow baths and outdoor shows. It’s all held on the Plains of Abraham, the scene of the 20 minute battle in 1759 that handed Quebec to the British.
But plenty more is spread across the rest of this city of half a million people. Up on the walkway in front of the iconic Chateau Frontenac, you can ride a toboggan down ice tracks at speeds up to 40 mph. Or buy tiny cake cones filled with maple sugar or just stand and watch ferries chew their way through ice in the St. Lawrence River below. Along many streets, you will find outdoor bars built of ice blocks selling shots of caribou.
“You’ve gotta try this… it IS carnival… one mellowed-out reveler says, handing each of us a glass of blood red liquid before he tips back his long red plastic horn and lets loose with a wailing bleat.
Not exactly gourmet fare, caribou is a wicked mix of grain alcohol, port wine and, of course, since this is Quebec, maple syrup. At zero, it hits the spot, perfectly.
And we swear, that same horn follows us all day. Or maybe not, but it seems like it does.
There is a magic to Quebec City in winter. Snow covers everything, lending a soft layer of white to buildings, streets and shops. Lights twinkle everywhere… on trees, across balconies, around rooftops and outdoor displays, hung on horse carriages and windows and just about anything else that can be wrapped. It gives a golden glow to the entire scene … a warmth that permeates even in the bitterest cold.
We are here during the last weekend of Carnival and we plan to play. After the zipline, there’s a ride in a snow raft down a toboggan run. Half a dozen of us pile into the raft, squirming like puppies and shrieking with laughter as the round rubber boat spins and bounces off snow walls like a pinball.
Some folks go for a ride in a sleigh drawn by Belgian horses with huge, furry hoofs. A clown on a stage announces upcoming activities. Young moms protectively lean out over toddler size ice slides to guide their kids down. Teens practice walking a low tightrope.
And then the snow bath begins. Bonhomme is there… Carnival’s huge, white snowman ambassador who looks like a cross between Frosty and the Michelin X man. Several absolutely insane people in bathing suits… skimpy lycra for heaven’s sake… are throwing snow in the air, rubbing it on their bodies, rolling in it and, of course, hugging the fat, puffy, white guy, who obligingly hugs them back.
We missed the previous weekend’s canoe race, which is a shame. Talk about insanity. Before bridges, boatmen took people across the half frozen river in canoes. Today, teams of rowers run on ice, pushing their boats to open leads, then paddle, then run, then paddle some more. Someone eventually wins, giving all a good enough excuse to eat lots of drippingly rich tourtiere meat pie that night.
About this time, the idea of food sounds quite good. We take the funicular from Dufferin Terrace down to the lower streets of Old Town, one of the oldest neighborhoods in North America. Old Town is a maze of tightly packed stone buildings with steep roofs and bright colored trim. It’s where the city began in 1608; where craftsmen lived, then dockworkers. Most of the buildings now house shops with clothing, antiques, jewelry, chocolates and ice sculptures out front of elks, bunnies, pigs and frogs.
We find mugs of steaming hot chocolate, topped with mounds of whipped cream. Surely the calories are being counteracted by all this cold.
That night, we all stand around while the Carnival Parade flows by… courageous kids in shiveringly skimpy elf costumes waving banners of balloons, clowns on five foot tall stilts, jesters, space aliens, dragons and, at the very end, Bonhomme in all his white puffiness.
And then, like any good tourist in Quebec, we head to dinner in Old Town for something appropriately rich and soaked in wine sauce.
If you Go: This year’s Winter Carnival runs Feb. 1 – 17 with extra festivities celebrating the 400th anniversary of the founding of Quebec City. There are more than 300 events including the canoe race, soap box derby, dogsled race, snow bath, parades, ice sculpture contests, dances, dinners, and more. Go to www.carnaval.qc.ca or www.quebecregion.com/
Quebec’s Ice Hotel
We didn’t expect the shimmering ethereal beauty of the light on ice. That, of all things at Quebec’s Ice Hotel (“Hotel de Glace” in Quebecois), is what stayed with us longest.
Blue shifted to purple, then red and orange and eventually a range of greens, bleeding its colored glow through the walls, the tables, even the drink glasses carved of ice. There is something positively unworldly about lying in a down sleeping bag atop animal skins, staring at multicolored lit blocks of ice while your neon pink frozen breath envelopes your head.
But there was more than psychedelic colors that added a surreal touch to my overnight stay. Considering the 17 degree temperature, I was surprisingly warm.
That probably had as much to do with the 30 minutes I spent in the ice hotel’s hot tub and sauna, followed by a long session in the 80 degree changing room as it did with the thickness of the sleeping bag.
Yes, you can tour the Ice Hotel, but nothing quite equals sleeping in it.
Like other ice lodges around the world (Switzerland, Finland and Sweden come to mind), this place is built entirely of snow (15,000 tons) and ice (another 500 tons). It’s an eight-week project each November and December, using machine made snow and aluminum molds to build the 52,800 square foot 36-room hotel. “We make our snow … it’s our own recipe because it must be extra dense,” said ice hotel rep. Marie-Noelle Marceau.
The snow is shot over molds, which are eventually removed, leaving four-foot-thick walls and a labyrinth of galleries… an entryway with a 155 piece, fiber-optic-lit chandelier, a kids playroom with a slide, an art hall hung with photos made of polarized light on ice, a chapel, two bars, 16 themed sleeping rooms and 20 standard rooms. There are also fireplaces … with real fires. The trick is insulated glass and fans to draw the heat up and out.
We wandered the theme rooms, each more interesting than the last. The Yeti Room was a small, cozy cavern with a shapeless ice ‘boulder’ in the middle that held the bed. It also was the warmest room in the hotel because the boulder acts like an igloo, trapping body heat. The Arctic Spa was the honeymoon room, with its own hot tub and sauna in a private courtyard. One entire wall of the Chess Room was a chess board with colored squares and chessmen for bedposts. And the Tuft Room looked like the inside of a giant quilt.
Around nine-ish, after the touring public was gently escorted out, we residents got down to fun. First, drinks at the bar, served in carved ice glasses. The orange juice and grenadine won my prize for most colorful but the tastiest, hands down, was maple whiskey. First whiskey and maple syrup, then liquid maple sugar that flowed into the ice glass in a writhing column.
Next door, a dozen people competed in races, running back and forth, like so many puffy mummies in their winter coats. And after, we tried ice carving using a chisel and blocks of ice on slabs of wood.
By 11 pm, most folks had adjourned to the hot tubs. The idea is to get warm in the tub, dry off in the sauna then warm yourself some more in the changing room before going to bed. That, in itself, is a complicated affair involving a sleeping bag liner, the sleeping bag and lots of zippers.
My room, called Project Ink, featured glowing, rainbow tinted ice blocks that sprouted bare branches. Two candles flickered cheerily in the corner and I fell asleep watching my breath change colors in time to the shifting wall.
If You Go
The Ice Hotel Quebec is located in Duchesnay, a government park 25 miles west of Quebec. It is open early January to early April. Public tours run $15 for adults, less for seniors and children. Overnight stays including cocktail and tour run as low as $150 per person on special.
Staff is on duty around the clock and chilly guests can warm up in the hotel’s separate reception area which has a fireplace and is well heated. Contact Ice Hotel Quebec, www.icehotel-canada.com, telephone (418) 875-4522 or toll free (877) 505-0423
Other Winter Activities
So, it’s winter and there’s more to Quebec than just Carnival. In fact, you will be hard pressed to decide. Among your various choices:
- Winter play at Duchesnay, the government park which also houses the Ice Hotel — Guides lead dozens of activities including cross country skiing, a visit to a sugar shack, kicksledding, a forest winter survival class, skating, ice fishing and more. Contact www.sepaq.com/duchesnay
- Snow golf — Also at Duchesnay, this privately owned concession features North America’s only all-winter-long snow golf course. There are putting tees, a driving range and a nine hole course. And there is special gear for the sport… coats cut long and wide so you can swing your club, hats and gloves that wick moisture from you, extra short snowshoes to accommodate swings, special clubs to stand up to cold. You can play a round, including golf pro and all gear for under $100. Contact www.snowgolf-inc.com.
- Nordic Spas — The latest trend is towards European style spas. More than just a place for facials and massages, Nordic spas feature hot and cold pools, baths, showers, saunas and steam rooms. The idea is to alternate hot with cold and relaxation. From only one Nordic spa a few years ago, there are now 20 such spas in Quebec Province. Zonespa, a half hour drive from Quebec City, offers four hot pools, four cold (including a plunge into a river), steam, sauna, a cafe and relaxation areas along with the standard massage & facial fare. Contact www.zonespa.com
- Visit a sugar shack — probably the most iconic thing you can do in this part of the world. Each spring, maple trees in Canada are tapped to produce 80 percent of the world’s maple syrup. It takes 40 litres of sap to make a single litre of syrup, which is then graded according to how pure and clear it is. Frankly, we prefer the nasty, dark stuff. It has more character.
But the fun here is in the eating. Le Chemin du Roy, a 15 minute drive from Quebec City center, does a particularly good sugar shack meal: traditional French Canadian pea soup, maple smoked ham with plenty of syrup to pour on it, tourtiere (meat pie), baked beans, crepes, home made pork rinds… well, you get the idea. And then, out back, your hostess pours maple syrup on snow, then twirls it onto a stick to make maple taffy. Serious yum. Contact Le Chemin du Roy, www.erablierecheminduroy.qc.ca.