I just came back from a ski trip to Quebec City. Our group took a chartered bus from Eastman, NH to the Fairmont Château Frontenac overlooking the St. Lawrence River. Said to be the most photographed hotel in the world, the recently renovated Frontenac is celebrating it’s 125th anniversary this year and is located in the heart of historic Old Quebec, built on Samuel Champlain’s home and fort.
The Fairmont Château Frontenac provided a great base camp for our group of sightseers, snowshoers, cross-country and alpine skiers. From the hotel we could explore the Upper Town and Lower Town of historic Old Quebec which is the most old European looking city in North America with it’s multitude of shops and restaurants.
Quebec City sits on the Saint Lawrence River in predominantly French-speaking Quebec province. Dating to 1608, it retains its fortified colonial core, Vieux-Quebec and Place Royale, with narrow streets, stone buildings and a European feel. This area is site of the famous, towering Chateau Frontenac Hotel and imposing Citadelle of Quebec. The Petit Champlain district’s cobblestone streets are lined with bistros and boutiques.
From the hotel our bus was able to take us to the ski resort of Saint Mont-Sainte-Anne which is a ski resort in eastern Canada, located in the town of Beaupré, Quebec, about 40 km northeast of Quebec City. They have a downhill resort and one of the best cross-country skiing trail system in all of North America.
Back in town preparation were being made for the famous Winter Carnival which occurs for two weeks each winter with a variety of events including ice fishing, ice canoe races, ice skating, snow carving, ice carving, food, music, dances, parades and more.
Old Quebec is a historic neighborhood of Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. Comprising the Upper Town and Lower Town, the area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
I knew I wasn’t going to have a lot of time to photograph the city on this trip as we had a lot of cross-country skiing and fine dining to be done plus the weather was cold and dark as well as the days being short. But anticipating the challenge of capturing some of the lights of the city I brought along my Sony RX100 III small camera and a freebie collapsible tripod. It was a free item tossed into a Amazon package deal I got once when buying a camera. The whole tripod collapses into a pocket-able size. Not very stable but perhaps fine for a small camera or so I thought.
This turned out to be a disaster when the tripod “head” broke off and my camera fell into a snow bank. What a piece of crap! I ended up tossing the stupid thing in the trash. Lesson learned, stick to quality especially when dealing with a $700 camera – don’t trust it with a freebie tripod.