May 12, 2016 Quebec City, Dinner – L’ Echuate'

May 12, 2016 Quebec City, Dinner – L’ Echuate'

Our hosts’ water as off this morning.  We wanted a baguette for lunch, so they took us to the new small food store down the street that sells  specialty foods and sandwiches, where we bought eggs, a baguette, and a round maple and nut Breakfast roll of puff pastry.  We fixed tea and split the breakfast roll.

Then we caught a bus and road up the hill to the main place and stopped on the way to the tobacco shop that sold bus tickets for a coffee with steamed milk for Suzette.  After we bought bus tickets we jumped on a bus and the bus driver mistakenly took us to the stop for the Hotel Fontenac instead of the Citadele, which sits on the top of the hill overlooking the town, so after walking’ through the Hotel Fontenac a bit, we had to march back up the hill.  Unfortunately I mistook the entrance to the Citadele and we walked beyond the walls of the city to the top of the Plains of Abraham.  It took about an hour to go through all these gyrations, when we finally found ourselves at the Promenade at the highest point on the Plains of Abraham with an incomparable view of the river and the city, next to the Citadele.  This location reminded me of lots of elevated river front fortifications, such as Budapest, Bergamo, and Vicksburg, just to name a few, that are a strategic high ground overlooking a narrow area of the river.  Quebec sits where the St. Lawrence River narrows between two hills near the opening to the Bay of St. Lawrence about 1000 miles upstream from the Atlantic Ocean.

We could see for miles up and  downstream and all of the surrounding city and land areas.  Unfortunately, Quebec had the same defensive problem that most of the other river front positions have, a relatively flat open area to its rear.  That was the reason for the Citadele, a star shaped fortress built beginning around 1820 by the British using the same design as that developed by the French to guard in all directions from the high point above the town and linking to a wall surrounding the town.  

Unfortunately, good design and superior location could not overcome superior numbers, just like the 1944 Normandy invasion proved.  In 1759 the British invaded with an army of 25,000.  The French withdrew behind the city walls.  The British lay siege to the town and  bombarded from across the river for three months, decimating much of the lower town.  Then the British forces, under the command of Wolfe scaled the cliffs above the river,  where we sat and ate our lunch, on or about September 17, 1759 and engaged the smaller French forces on the Plains of Abraham in an all day battle that decided the fate of Canada.

The French tried to retake Quebec from the British in 1760, but failed and the Seven Years War (1756-1763) finally ended by the French ceding Canada to Britain by the Treaty of Paris in 1763.  All of this elaborate history is explained and illustrated in the Museum of Batailes, also located on the Plains of Abraham, which we walked to after lunch.  It even explained that the area was named for a herder named Abraham Martin, who grazed his cattle in the area because people gave the area his name, just like the Juan Tabo area in Albuquerque. 

After the Museum we tried to take a bus to the Museum of Fine Arts, but the buses were not running because of a big demonstration at the Provincial capital area one block away from the bus route.  So we walked back down the hill to the Citadele,which contained the original French magazine from 1759 as well as the rest of the fortress built by the British between 1820 and 1850.  The Citadele is still an active military base so we were required to be accompanied by a guide.  The view from the front of the point facing downstream high above the city was impressive as was the big 7 inch cannon that could shoot a couple of miles.

After seeing the Citadele we returned to our BNB around 5:00 and rested until 7:00, when we showered and got dressed and left the BNB around 8:15.  Our hosts had given us the name of their favorite restaurant, L’Echaude at 23 Sault- au- Matelot that tuned out to be a short ten minute walk through the old lower town where we were staying and nothing much after marching across the Plains of Abraham.

We arrived around wanted to garner the after 9:00 21% discount, so we made a reservation for 9:00 and walked to the end of the street where it met St. Paul street and shared a pint of Mystique cider for ½ hour.  When we returned the restaurant was still crowded but we were seated in about 15 minutes.

We wanted to lighten the food load, especially since I had eaten a ham sandwich at 4:00.  Suzette ordered the Fish special, which was a filet of fresh swordfish and a red lentil croquette that was seasoned with turmeric and a bit of chili plus some green and white asparagus that were quite lovely.

I ordered a sweetbread appetizer that was grilled and served on a pile of baby arugula and garnished with a handful of micro greens and nasturtiums with a veal stock reduction, very lovely and very edible.  I also ordered a French green bean salad with a candied tomato that was very small again made with lots of micro greens, but lettuces this time.  Suzette and I did not think the tomato was candied, but alas we are from New Mexico.  I nibbled the salad and enjoyed it and also really enjoyed the elegant sweetbreads.

We felt good that we had not over eaten, when our waiter cane over and asked if we wanted to see the dessert menu.  We agreed and when he handed it to us, he said, “Perhaps the dessert disgustation for two?”  We chuckled and then looked at the dessert menu and immediately saw three great desserts and decided to consider the dessert for two for $18.00, thinking it was essentially the amount of the discount we would otherwise have not received had we arrived earlier, so our bonus for waiting until 9:00 to eat.  

We settled on a pear cake, a nougat with candied fruits and a crème brûlée with fresh vanilla.  When the waiter brought the tray, it contained not only the three desserts, but also several apricots poached in anise, lots of small chocolate pellets with small pieces of baked sugar crisp in the middle, chocolate coated raisins, and currants and cranberries.  The pear cake was a warm poached pear in a gateau that was fabulous.  The Crème brûlée was also fabulous with its fresh vanilla flavor infused throughout.  Finally, the nougat was just okay because I did not discern many candied fruits, although it was soft and not too chewy and nicely dusted or rolled in cacao. 

We loved dessert and were glad we ordered it.  We walked home happy and were in bed by around 11:30.

Bon Appetit