I'm only here in body, visiting.

I heard the term “vagitarian” and “homocrat” on TV today. The CBC is a lot different, yes, yes.

Quebec City might be the most beautiful city that I’ve been to. It’s right up there with Boston. While New York City will always and forever be my favorite city, the jazz of St. Louis is unmistakable and I love the homegrown Midwest, Quebec just seems like the kind of place that’s universally beautiful. It’s the kind of place you can’t help but say, “Wow, what a pretty place.”

It really is the city I always thought it was. Cities are tragic victims of glamour photography. You see pictures of them online and they never, ever look like that. Quebec City looks exactly like photos of it. All of these old, beautiful historic stone (not mud) buildings with jagged roofs and huge windows. Whatever those people pay for rent is completely worth it.

But, you know, funny story. They’re aren’t many photos of it in the winter (I WONDER WHY, 2 and a half feet of snow, 4 more inches expected tonight) but the ones there are, it looks exactly the same. It’s so pure looking, so clean. So, from the tallest building downtown, here’s what Quebec looks like from the

North.

South.

East.

West.


I went to the The Musée de la civilization today, also known as the Museum of “the human adventure”. It really seemed like a catch all kind of place, for stuff that wasn’t quite science or exclusively art. But, I learned a lot about Quebec and even saw a typewriter that a member of my family used to write poetry in the 40’s (!!!). But, the best part was this exhibit: a history of Quebecois Cinema. Umm, so, did ya make that for me, or?


Today also was the first time I ate official Quebec poutine, cheese curds and all. How was it? I’d eat it a lot if I lived here, that’s for sure. I don't think I've ever eaten cheese curds before. They're a little like mozzarella, but more dense. And dare I say... spongy? Chez Ashton was offering some kind of holiday poutine, but I figured I should start with the basics.

Yesterday, I went to the Musée National des Beaux-Arts du Québec, the national art museum, and saw a great traveling exhibit of Picasso's work when he was in the Mediterranean. I was also introduced to Riopelle, probably the most famous modern French Canadian artist. He works on large scales with bold colors, so I was a pretty big fan. I love those kind of things in galleries.

I also want to pledge my allegiance to this bridge, Pont de Quebec. It definitely cracked my top 5 favorite bridges of all time. And I like bridges. Tattoo?

Tonight, I watched a hockey game and ate stove-popped popcorn. Slowly but surely, there's a fleur-de-lis working its way into this girl's zia heart. I'm sure they'll live in unity.

(All museum links were posted exclusively for Jennifah and her new cat.)

God, please spare me more rejection.

I had a fascinating conversation with my family last night comparing poutine to green chile cheese fries. It made me miss Hooter Browns.

I spent Saturday night in the grand city of Quebec and did some moderate exploring through the older parts of the town. So, you might know this, but Quebec is the only walled city in Northern America. And I can tell you now that they didn't need the damn wall. It's so steep, no one would have wanted to conquer it. (History tells me otherwise, but ehn, shmistory!) I walked up an estimated 500 steps yesterday. And once that was over, I traversed a few hundred meters of park, covered in 2 feet deep snow, to get to a main road. Needless to say, this girl is OUT OF SHAPE. It didn't help things that my guide, my cousin Lucie, works as a personal trainer. Kinda embarrassing.

But, you know, it was worth it.


We took a ferry boat to get to Quebec City, since Lucie lives in an amazing apartment across the St. Lawrence River in Levie. That's floating chunks of ice.


And this is snow. This doesn't melt til March. Did I mention the high is 14 degrees today? And the sun's out? The building is Quebec's Parliament. Criminal law in Quebec is the same as the rest of Canada, but they make their own civil law.


The most famous building in the city, the one on all the postcards. Le Château Frontenac, it's actually a hotel operated by Fairmont. I don't even want to know how much rooms are.


And all the quint shops for tourists (once again, says the tourist). Quebec City gets about 2 million of them a year, mostly from France and mostly in the summer. I WONDER WHY. They have shirts that say J'<3 QUEBEC and I need one.


And this is the view from Lucie's apartment. Love.

I've been spending most of my time in Ste-Croix, struggling through French TV and eating some of the best food ever. Lucie's mother is the most amazing cook ever. Tomorrow, I'm going to Quebec's art museum and this weekend, I'm going to a projection of Romeo and Juliet from the MET at a movie theater. What a grand week.

And to top it off, I went ahead and made plans to be back in Michigan by January 25th. Why?


Mr. Ben Folds, that's why.

Between that, Hot Water Music, and the Slackers annual holiday show in NYC, let's see how many amazing shows I can get in in the next few months on the road.