The Most Romantic Victorian Hotel in Quebec City

Wondering how all of those Winter Carnival attendees keep themselves warm from all the cold and snow? In addition to bundling up, some of the adults are probably drinking “Caribou.” For the uninitiated, Caribou is an alcoholic drink made from port or red wine, a hard liquor such as whisky — although some recipes use brandy or rum — and sometimes sweetened with maple syrup or soda pop. It can be served at any temperature.

While legend has it that Caribou was named after a drink from colonial times that contained of a mix of actual caribou blood and whisky, today there are a number of different variations of the drink — and they don’t contain unsavory ingredients.

If you’re unable to travel to Québec for Winter Carnival this year, Caribou is easy to make at home. Here’s a recipe from the official Carnival website:

Caribou

3 oz. Vodka
3 oz. Brandy
12 1/2 oz. Canadian Sherry
12 1/2 oz. Canadian Port

(Serves 10)

If you’re a particularly big fan of Caribou, here’s a link to a page that features a number of different variations: http://www.hungrybrowser.com/phaedrus/m0508M06.htm.

Just remember not to enjoy it too much!

The amazing Cirque du Soleil returns again to Québec City. This time, the Cirque presents “Totem”, the story of the genesis of the human race and its evolution. Artists and acrobats glide about the stage in the form of a giant turtle. The turtle is the symbol of the primordial origins of life for many of world’s primitive peoples. Starting out from a swampy and marshy environment, Cirque du Soleil tells the beginnings of mankind through and up to the conquest of space. Gradually, the marsh is transformed into a lake, an ocean, a volcanic island and finally into the vault of heaven during the course of the narrative.

A young Native American dancer leads you with his magic rings through the tale of human evolution. The stars of this dazzling event are man himself – at times a brilliant and conscientious scientist, at other a thoughtless polluting fool, and yet at others, an avid and ferocious defender of the animals in our midst – and, we must not forget, the animals themselves, as we transport you from the amphibian world of earth’s early years to the terrestrial world of the present. Robert Lepage, a Québec City native, was the creator and the architect for the design and staging of this glorious event.

The world’s largest circus returns to its native Québec

This recently created two-and-a-half hour event debuts in Québec City on July 22 and will run through August 29 before moving on to its next tour stop in Amsterdam. Cirque du Soleil hosts 20 shows simultaneously worldwide across five continents, including shows that continually tour the world as well as permanent shows in New York, Tokyo, Orlando, Macau and Las Vegas. This Canadian company has literally taken over Las Vegas with permanent performances in seven of the city’s major venues. No other theatrical organization to date has been able to make such a claim.

…and what luck! The Hotel Le Clos Saint-Louis is located just a few minutes walk from the staging area of this magical and unique event that will undoubtedly be the highlight of Québec City this summer.

Quebec, July 8 to 18, 2010

For the past 43 years, the Quebec City Summer Festival has been drawing crowds with its unique holiday atmosphere. For 11 days the city is transformed into a giant outdoor stage where hundreds of performers show off their talents at some 10 venues in and around Old Québec City, all within easy walking distance.

The best summer music festival in Canada

Quebec City Summer Festival, “the best summer music festival in Canada” (National Post). This amazing, eclectic, world-class outdoor event is surely the most elaborate festival of the summer: world beat music, Francophone song, pop-rock, street and circus performances and classical music. A friendly, safe and clean event for the whole family.

Exhibition – From April 22nd to April 4th 2010

The theme of death in Ancient Egypt is treated in a particular manner through the discovery of mummies and funeral tombs, funerary rituals, mommification and the recent archeological search…

This exceptional and magnificent exhibition unveils much information about the Ancient Egyptians’s belief in the afterlife, the process of mummification and the eternal resting place, the tomb.  This exceptional and magnificent exhibition unveils much information about the Ancient Egyptians’s belief in the afterlife, the process of mummification and the eternal resting place, the tomb.

Some 225 fabulous artefacts are presented as well as an authentic reproduction of Sennedjem’s funerary chamber.  The exhibition is also the opportunity to show one of the most treasured actefact from one of the Musée de la civilisation’s collections – the Séminaire de Québec Foundation –  the 3 500 years old Nen-Oun-Ef’s mummy which was scanned for the purpose of the exhibition and the results are displayed.

February 9 to April 18, 2010

Taking off in the 1960s, Barbie became a model of refinement for millions of girls around the globe. Elegant suits inspired by Balanciaga, splendid Balmain-style sheath dresses, sumptuous evening gowns à la Dior. Between 1959 and 1966, the famous doll dazzled the world with her chic, wide-ranging wardrobe.
The exhibition is arranged around seven themes sure to bring back happy childhood memories: Barbie’s Closet, Shopping, Suits, Cocktail Dresses, The Photo Shoot, Ball Gowns and Evening Dresses, and The Collector.
Always a trend-setter, this iconic figure has influenced fashion for more than 50 years. Barbie and Fashion. 1959-1966 features some of her most memorable looks in a playful complement to the exhibition The Golden Age of Couture. Paris and London 1947-1957.

QUICK FACT: SINCE 1959, 105 MILLION YARDS OF FABRIC HAVE GONE INTO MAKING BARBIE AND FRIENDS’ FASHIONS, MAKING MATTEL ONE THE LARGEST APPAREL MANUFACTURERS IN THE WORLD!

Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec

Parc des Champs-de-Batailles, Québec

418 643-2150

1 866 220-2150

Until April 25 2010

Golden Age of Couture : Paris and London, 1947-1957

This winter, Dior, Balenciaga, Fath and a number of other designers have a date with the Musée! Splendid gowns, period footwear, and all manner of accessories await you at this exhibition dedicated to haute couture. Come admire more than 250 original creations and marvel at the finesse of the work of these icons in the history of fashion. An exhibition produced in collaboration with the world’s greatest museum of art and design, the Victoria and Albert Museum, in London, England. Don’t miss this spectacular opportunity!

ORGANIZED BY THE VICTORIA AND ALBERT MUSEUM, LONDON, ENGLAND

Evening dress (robe grand soir), Cristóbal Balenciaga. About 1955. Given by Miss Caroline oombe, V&A

Evening dress, Pierre Balmain. About 1950. Silk organza with ostrich feathers, sequins and rhinestones, lined with silk, silk tulle and a stiff nylon petticoat. Worn by the Hon. Mrs Pleydell-Bouverie and given by Miss Karslake, V&A

Shoe. Late 1950s. Satin embroidered with beads and silk and metal thread. Given by Roger Vivier, V&A

Evening dress and stole, Charles Frederick Worth, Late 1950s. V&A