From all of Canadian cities Quebec City is my number two. Victoria won because of its breathtaking natural environment and overall magic of British Columbia. BC has broken my heart and I am longing for days when it’ll become my everyday environment. And somehow French spirit, old wine and nice guys they lost to azure rivers and old Cedars. Well, it happens.
Coming back to the point, Quebec City is not solely the oldest city in North America. Among narrow streets and historic buildings hides not only a long history and French wine but also a large number of music venues and pubs that surprise in all its entirety. In addition to Le Pantoum and District Saint-Joseph I have two more spots that became my favourite ones: L’Anti and St-Angele.
L’Anti is a very famous concert hall in Quebec City. However Justin Bieber couldn’t fit millions of his fans in here, such concerts are held at the local stadium. L’Anti does not have the large rooms, but despite of it, plenty of important events and concerts are up there. Surprisingly good acoustics, friendly security guards and a large selection of alcohol are characteristics of L’Anti. I wish I cannot write more about L’Anti -boss dropped a Web page, and as far as I remember there was a large handful of information about the history of the place.
L’Anti is a popular place that can be easily found in any brochure on local events. Although, bar St-Angele probably won’t be included. Barely visible sign and oddly small entrance doors do not help you clicked on the pub. The bar is located in the heart of the city, in the dark, a nondescript side street perpendicular to St-Jean street. I remember well this place and this night when I dropped in there for the first time. After opening tiny entrance doors I noticed (or rather not) narrow, steep stairs and I barely ended up with busted leg. If we would look at it another way we could say that from the entrance it feels tiny, intimate space where only about 50 people can party at once. From Thursday to Saturday you can listen to jazz performances lasting until the early morning hours. You will meet there many artists from Quebec City improvising or playing their own songs. The reputations of bar St-Angele has enjoying for years not only in the music area. St-Angele is also well-known in Quebec City because of its long list of cocktails. You can choose from 50 different tastes with alcohol or without, plus they’ve got 35 types of beers and wine, obviously. I would compare Bar St-Angele to the Kalambur (Polish venue located in Wroclaw) where everybody seems to know each other and has an artistic temperament and even more artistic look. Bar St-Angele is one of my favorite ones in Quebec City and my rate is ⅘ stars. 😛
Le Cercle, Imperial and L’Anti are my top three. You may say, so why do I mention about first two at the end? Well I didn’t go for show to any of the first two mentioned. Maybe I didn’t have enough $ (which is almost certain) or maybe there weren’t any good shows lined up.
Le Cercle is a venue which goes much further in its ideology. Opened 9 years ago, Le Cercle is a private socio-cultural project. Over the years the business has gained a strong position and became an important field for testing, co-creation and for democratization of culture which brings together many initiatives, environments and organizations of Quebec City. Le Cercle is also a bar and a restaurant. Is located in the same street as the District Saint-Joseph and Imperial. Imperial is literally historical and cultural space, because of their origins dating back to 1831. All this time, Imperial has always served as an exclusive theatre apart from short periods when activity was temporarily suspended cause of varied reasons like for example FIRE! So it is today. Imperial looks like a tiny Royal Albert Hall. In the royal space you can watch the music show or theatre play. It is definitely worth to visit even if only for aesthetic experience.
Somehow I lost a large part of my pics from Quebec. So not all pics are mine 🙁
Le Cercle
Le Cercle
Imperial
Imperial
Imperial