Slow travel with the family in Old Levis

Enjoying the facilities at Quai Paquet and Parcours des Anses :

Although the ice rink is closed this winter, we still loved our time at Quai Paquet. We first went there in the afternoon, to take a nap in our pushchair in the fresh air. We took to the paths of the nearby Parcours des Anses. Once our little family was well rested, we warmed up by the fire. We fell in love with the place, so we went back in the evening to meet up with some friends. It’s a really lovely place to meet up and spend some quality time. We enjoyed the fire and the facilities. The children were also crazy about the light displays, the big fir trees and the giant chair.

Parc des Chutes-de-la-Chaudière and Parc de la Pointe-de-la-Martinière:

We would have loved to explore these two places during our stay. However, with a newborn baby, we preferred to wait until our next visit to go there. In winter, there’s no de-icing, no spreading of salt or sand. But I know that these two parks are well worth a visit, and I really hope I’ll have the chance to come back to the area soon to visit them.

A few other places we’ve targeted for our next trip: Passion Husky, Distillerie des Appalaches, DÉLIRE escalade and if we ever get the chance to come in December, I’d love to go to the Village de Noël des Sapins Goupil.

My ”Musts” where to stop spontaneously while walking around town

We stayed in an Airbnb in Vieux-Lévis, the perfect place close to lots of little local shops. Here are a few suggestions of places to stop and warm up:

Tambour Café (link in french) : a great place to go for a good coffee or a bite to eat. There are also some magnificent works by a local artist that really charmed me.

Boutique Josée Gagnon: a cosy little shop where you can buy products made in Quebec, including souvenirs, toys, stationery and food products.

Les Pinks: a creative place where you can relax, colour or have a coffee. There’s also a range of activities on offer for young and old alike!

For breakfast : we fell in love with the ES Café. (link in french) It offers a wide range of delicious pastries, sandwiches and good meals prepared on the premises. I also loved their smoothies. And their cappuccinos literally taste of Italy! It was fully kid friendly too. On our next visit, Café Blou (link in french) in St-Romuald will be high on our list. And if we’re lucky enough to come back while it’s open, I’d love to have gone to Les Bleuets du Vire-Crêpes: we’ll be back in a flash!

For lunch : Alicia Sanchez Épicerie Fine is clearly a great place to go for good food. And, once again, L’ES Café has some great sandwich suggestions.

For dinner :  in Lévis, we highly recommend Sushis d’Éli (link in french). They’re truly memorable. You’ll also love the dragon’s eye sushi. It’s a great way of doing ‘slow travel’ to pick up sushi for supper and eat it quietly in your accommodation! We love travelling this way. We also ate at Délice Restaurant (link in french). A magnificent menu, both for breakfast and dinner. It’s a must in Lévis. We would have loved to try Théophile, but it’s perhaps less appropriate with young children. But we’ve had excellent feedback and would love to discover their menu on a future visit.

To conclude, we made the most of the three days we were in Lévis. We didn’t expect to play so much outside, to be honest, but we didn’t even have enough time to do everything we wanted to do. This is often the other side of the ‘slow-travel’ coin, but to be honest, I really prefer this kind of tourism, especially with young children. And it forces us to come back at a later date and plan a completely different holiday. Honestly, we can’t wait to come back! They’ll be memories to last a lifetime for the whole family!

Photos: Eve-Danielle Latulippe