Michelle's Travel Adventures

February 14 – 21, 2026

Saturday, February 14th

Happy Valentine’s Day!  It’s a blue sky morning and we’re up at 6 am to get an early start for our 9 hour drive to Quebec City. Our goal was to leave by 7am, but in classic Michelle style, we ended up leaving home at 8:15.

Stephen has typically been the driver for all our road trips, but we decided to take turns on this one.  So Stephen drove us to Shediac, NB and then I took over driving until it was time to stop for lunch, which happened to be in Woodstock.  Stephen was pumped to discover that Woodstock has a Popeye’s so we each ordered a chicken sandwich combo.  The sandwich was actually quite yummy (however the fries were not my favourite).

Stephen had slept while I was doing my driving and felt rested enough to take over driving again after lunch. We drove to Edmundston and then stopped for a washroom break and a Starbucks treat.  But it ended up being a way longer stop than expected. I had ordered our starbucks on the app about 5 minutes before we took the exit, we had our washroom break, and it still took another 30 MINUTES for our 2 coffees!!!!  Thankfully my iced Dubai Chocolate mocha was delicious lol

After we left Edmundston and crossed the border into Quebec, the sky turned dark and the snow started to fall.  Which quickly turned into a full on snow storm with reduced visibility until we reached Montmagny (about an hour outside of Quebec City) and then the sky cleared and we had a beautiful view across the river and we could see Mont Sainte Anne.

We arrived at our hotel by 5:15pm, which was 10 hours from door to door.

We stayed at the Courtyard by Marriot Quebec City and our room was great.  We decided to go full on relax mode after check in which included showers, pajamas, Olympics and ordering food.  We went with Restaurant Malis, a Thai/Asian restaurant and ordered spring rolls (which were good), wonton soup (excellent) and pad thai (which was not good – which was weird because the reviews on their pad thai are all good.  But we did not like it at all).  And then called it a night.

Sunday, February 15th

We checked out of the hotel and headed to Eco Cafe, a nearby spot for coffees and breakfast sandwiches.  (Sandwiches were ok)

There must have been something in Stephen’s coffee because he suggested to go shopping!!! Yes, SHOPPING!!!  Usually just the mention of the “S” word would put Stephen in a grumpy mood.  But I was NOT going to question it, I was ready to go!

Our first shopping stop was Echo Sports, which is a ski store.  The store had most equipment on sale for up to 40% off.  Stephen bought himself a new helmet and goggles and I got a new  pair of mittens to replace my 11 year old pair that were in pretty sad shape.

Next up, Stephen wanted to go to the MALL!!!!!  GASP!!!  So we headed to the Galeries de la Capitale, which is an incredible mall! I’m so happy we found this place.  We walked in and the first thing we saw was a ferris wheel, and then as we got closer we could see there were all kinds of rides and even an ice skating oval!!! 

Our first store we hit up was UNIQLO for some new base layers for Stephen (which he ended up LOVING! He highly recommends them)

Next up was Simons – and he got himself a new bathrobe and socks.  lol essentials

And then we found a Lambert work backpack at Riekers to replace his super ugly briefcase.

We decided to call it quits while he was still in a good mood, and headed to Beaupre.  (we actually attempted groceries at a grocery store near the mall but it was so packed we decided to abort the mission and stop at a grocery store in Beaupre instead).

But before we got to the IGA in Beaupre we stopped at Ski Michel, another ski shop, where Stephen found a set of poles on sale for 40% off, and I found a new pair of goggles and a helmet hood!

Trying to decide which colour to get…I decided to go with the blue one in the middle.

We had a quick stop at the St Anne De Beaupre church for my Mom.

Then we got groceries at IGA and some wine at the SAQ across the street.

We arrived at the resort and checked in at around 5pm.  There were a lot of arrivals at the same time so the lobby was packed and we had to wait for a luggage cart, but we eventually got settled in.

We decided to eat out tonight and found a table at Pub St Bernard which was a short drive down the road.  It’s actually attached to the Petrocan gas station.  But don’t let that fool you!  The food was actually really good!  The service was awesome and we really enjoyed ourselves.  I had the duck confit which was delicious.  Stephen had the linguine duck confit which he loved as well.

Monday, February 16

We were up early, had our “breakfast of champions” – bacon, eggs, Montreal bagels and some fruit.  We got dressed in a leisurely fashion and we actually made it down to join the line up for first lift up!  WHO EVEN ARE WE???!!!!!  Normally we are in a panic rush, trying to get ready, everyone wanting the bathroom at the same time and as our British cousin Monique would say “losing our sense of humor”.  But with just the two of us, I don’t know, it was just so…relaxed.  

We skied all morning, the lift lines were long today, especially the gondola which averaged a 30 minute wait.  For lunch we went back to our room and made sandwiches and watched a bit of the Olympics.  Then we went back out and skied for the rest of the afternoon.  We mostly skied the back of the mountain which was much quieter than the front.  But I was so proud of myself because I have never skied from first lift to last lift before!

Tonight we have dinner reservations at the hotel which felt very easy and relaxing.  No need to dash off to make it to our reservation.

Our dinner started with an amuse bouche of salmon tartar.  We shared a mushroom crostini for a starter which was very good.  Stephen ordered the special which was trout with a creamy wine sauce which he loved.  I ordered the tuna saku ( a lightly seared tuna) which was good but not my favourite tuna dish I’ve ever tasted.  The sear wasn’t as good as I was expecting.

Tuesday, February 17

The day was pretty much an exact repeat of the day before but the only thing was different was that it was very foggy today and there was hardly anyone skiing, which meant no lift lines.  We skied our little hearts out all day.

We had a little apres in our room and watched some Olympic hockey while we got ready for dinner tonight.

We decided to go back to Pub St Bernard again and we had a lovely dinner.  For an appie we split an order of duck confit poutine – DELICIOUS!!!  And for our mains Stephen ordered the french onion soup which was very good and I ordered the salmon which was also amazing! 5 stars all around!

Wednesday, February 18

We’re taking the day off from skiing today and heading to Le Versant Nordic Spa.  It’s only a 7 minute drive from the Delta Mont Sainte Anne and when we arrived at opening there was only one other car in the parking lot.  We prebooked a couple massage for the end of the day.  So our plan is to spa all day and end it off with massages.

It was a nice nordic spa, on the smaller side but it wasn’t very busy which was nice. We had a lovely day and we were sooooooooo relaxed. 

We had lunch on site.  I had the smoked salmon sandwich (which was so big we could have shared it) and Stephen couldn’t decide what he wanted so he got the french onion soup and the chile.  Everything was pretty tasty.

There was a gas station on our way back to the hotel with a grocery store so we popped in and grabbed some stuff to make dinner in our hotel room.

It was a 5 star day and we couldn’t be any happier or more relaxed if we tried.

Thursday, February 19

It’s a bright, sunny, bluebird day today. It’s a bit on the colder side, so we added more layers on.  There isn’t as many people out on the hill as there was on Monday so lift lines were decent.  We stopped mid morning at the summit lodge to warm up and treated ourselves to some hot chocolates.

Lunch was back in our room for some soup and a grilled cheese sandwich and then we skied all afternoon until about 3:30.  We decided to check out La Chouette (2nd floor at the base lodge) for an apres drink and watch the women’s olympic gold medal game.

Tonight we have dinner reservations at Le Brez, a fondue restaurant at the base of the mountain.  Our reservation was at 6pm, we arrived on time, and the restaurant was busy but not full.  The ambiance was very nice, the lighting was dim, and if you know me I like a restaurant with soft lighting.  So extra points for ambiance.  HOWEVER, we arrived at 6pm and we didn’t receive our calamari appetizer until 6:45.  Normally we would be totally fine with that, we like to enjoy ourselves and we enjoy lingering over our restaurant meals.  But tonight we were so hungry after our full day of skiing.  So when the calamari arrived we were ready to dive in like ravenous animals but unfortunately the calamari were luke warm, chewy and they had that “fishy” taste of the not quite as fresh as it should be variety.  Then we waited over an hour for the fondue to arrive.  Which Stephen joked, what could possibly be taking so long, it’s not like they’re cooking it!  Which was funny because it’s true, it comes out as a plate of raw meat and a pot of oil that we cook it in.  Anyways, when it finally arrived it all looked great.  But unbeknownst to us, the flame wasn’t working properly under our fondue pot and our server was busy and didn’t come back to check on us, so it took forever to cook the meat in the oil.  The end result was semi cooked and oily meat chunks.  I think if I were to do a fondue restaurant again, I’d just stick with the classic cheese fondue and not mess around with raw meat.  

Friday, February 20

It’s Stephen’s birthday today! Yay! But it’s our last day of skiing:(

Today followed along the same as our other ski days. We put in lots of turns, from the first chair lift of the morning until about 3:30pm.

We had a nice little apres ski in our hotel room as we watched the Olympics.

Tonight we are eating at the hotel restaurant for dinner again. We had some chicken wings as an appetizer.  For entrees I had the duck and Stephen had a burger and fries.   Our server surprised the birthday boy with  a special dessert.  Everything was delicious and we enjoyed our last dinner in Quebec immensely. 

Saturday, February 21

We were up early since we had a full day of driving ahead of us.  We were packed up and loaded into the truck by 7:30am

We took turns driving and it was smooth driving until just past Moncton, when it started to storm.  The storm turned nasty pretty quick and it was pretty scary crossing the bridge.  In fact apparently there was an accident on it and the bridge closed down shortly after we crossed it.

But thankfully we arrived home safe and sound and Jordie was happy to have us home!