Ville de Québec avec un bébé (Québec City With Baby)
Blog: Have Baby Will Travel - 19 August 2009
By: Corinne
With every trip we take with our daughter, I get less and less concerned about how she’ll handle the journey, and how to keep her occupied en route. This was trip number 6 for her, and at 3.5-years-old, she’s a great little traveler. Because I was a big chicken (and thankfully I was because that inspired this site), her first trip was at 11mos. Our little bub made us a family of four, and now at 4mos has 2 trips under his (elasticized) belt - with many more to come!
Why Quebec City? Well lots of reasons really. I haven’t seen much of this beautiful country of mine… at just over 2mos. postpartum, I wasn’t terribly eager to hit a beach… and I’ve been totally jonesing for Europe, but that’s just not in the cards right now… I’ve always heard that Quebec City is a little slice of Paris here in Canada, and now I know it’s true.
A beautiful doorstep in Vieux Quebec
One thing that struck me was how lush and green everything is. The rolling green hills of the Plains of Abraham demand to be frolicked on, and the centrepiece of the city, the beautiful Chateau Frontenac, sits atop the city like a princess’ crown.Most of our trips have involved sand and sea, not cobblestones and cannons, but our daughter had a wonderful time.
A princess and her castle...
And the baby? He just enjoyed the ride…
Riley enjoys his horse & carriage ride...
I WAS a little concerned about how we’d get along with a baby in a stroller when most of the streets were narrow and cobbled and we weren’t bringing our big jogging stroller. We did bring the carrier, but like his sister, the bub is not happy to be in it for very long.
In spite of the cobbles, Quebec City is quite stroller-friendly. Even the narrowest streets have some form of sidewalk, and there are always ways around the myriad of staircases. You’ll definitely get your excercise on some of the hills - but if you absolutely need a break, you can bring your stroller on the Funiculaire so long as it folds.
It wasn’t that long ago that the typical Quebecois family had 6 or more kids, so it’s no wonder that French Canadians embrace children. Traveling with a baby so young presents a couple of challenges, but fortunately, feeding him wasn’t one of them. Since we’re still exclusively breastfeeding, I didn’t have to worry about bottles and formula and sterilizing. The inclement weather made nursing outside a little uncomfortable at times, but there was nary a stink eye in sight. In a lot of restaurants, this decal was placed prominently in the window - a welcome sign for those with infants in tow!
- International breastfeeding symbol…
As a first-time mom, I would never have believed that traveling with such a young baby would be so easy. And that’s easy for me to say now that I’m a mom of two. Unlike our daughter, he sleeps when he needs to, doesn’t voice displeasure about possible activities, and happily eats at mealtimes. Also unlike our daughter, he doesn’t ask when we’re going away again, yet. I suppose the only downside of instilling a love of travel early is that it’s another thing to ask for!
For more great travel photos check out Delicious Baby!
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