Voyage à Québec: Day 1

Recently, my father, some friends and I traveled up to Québec City, Québec for a long weekend (January 30th-February 3rd). The Carnaval (french spelling) was an amazing experience. For just $15 Canadian dollars you can access all the Carnaval festivities. Below I will recount our experience along with advice for future carnival goers.

First, a few tips:
To save money and create a more relaxed feel, we rented an apartment in downtown Québec. The location was perfect for the carnival. 3 minutes down the street was a grocery store, and restaurants surrounded us all around. About a fifteen minute walk away was the carnival, and along the way were beautiful views, making the walk a true enjoyment.

 In February, the high is around 21̊F, and the lows are around -4̊F. MAKE SURE YOU DRESS IN LAYERS!! Also, boots are a necessity.

Day 1:

We got up at 3:30 to drive to the airport. We flew standby making the flight essentially free. Downfalls to flying standby: You must know someone who works for the airlines, AND it is not a guaranteed seat. Standby flyers only get the left over seats on the plane, so you can easily loose your seat if another flight is cancelled or fills up etc.

After a lay over in Newark we finally landed in Montreal and rented a car to drive to Québec City. 

Once in Québec we stocked up on food in the nearby grocery store then headed to the Opening Ceremonies of the Carnaval and the Crowning of the Duchess.

Being an American, bagged milk came as quite the surprise!

Trying to keep warm in the 10 degrees F. air. (A warm night!)

Crowning of the Duchess

Friend enjoying the festive night.

The Opening Ceremony was filled with music, dancing, and fireworks. We ended the night by rushing back to our apartment realizing that we need ALL of our warm clothes.