A Father-Son Road Trip: Québec City, Parliament, and the Canadian War Museum

A trip journal

Location: Québec City and Ottawa · Mississauga → QC → Ottawa → home · 29 June–4 July 2026

Day 1 — Arrival, Pasta Night, and an EV Road Trip

We left Mississauga at the end of June for a loop I’d been meaning to do with Ewan: a few nights in Québec City, then Ottawa on the way home. Father and son. Five days on the road, give or take the last stretch.

It was an EV trip — Circuit électrique stops along the way — which sounds more complicated than it felt. You plan the chargers, you stretch your legs, you keep going. By the time we rolled into town we were ready for something simple.

Our base in Québec was an Airbnb called Au toit d'argent – Le contemporain, hosted by Marie-Eve. Comfortable, contemporary, close enough to Old Québec that we didn’t feel like we were commuting to our own vacation.

That first evening we didn’t try to conquer the city. We made pasta, sat down, and let the drive fall off our shoulders. Ewan was excited the whole way. I was already proud of that.

Arrival dinner — pasta and a cheesy plate at the table. Nothing fancy. Exactly what we needed.

Pasta and broccoli dinner at the start of the trip.

Dinner table, night one. Still half in road-trip mode.

Off to bed. The stone streets could wait until morning.

Day 2 — Samuel Dubois, Old Québec, and Lunch at Le Clan

Tuesday we met a walking tour with Samuel Dubois by the Fontaine de Tourny, right in front of the Parliament buildings. Easy landmark. Hard to miss. Good place to start when you’re still learning a city’s rhythm.

The Québec Parliament building is stunning — elegant French architecture, statues of people who actually matter to the story. Samuel brought Old Québec to life in a way a plaque never does.

He told us the public can sometimes dine inside the building, using herbs from the garden out front. That Québec means “where the river narrows” in Algonquin. That Lord Dufferin preserved the historic walls, which is a big part of why this place is UNESCO now. And one that stuck with me: an Ursulines nun who wrote thousands of letters to her son during the early colonial years, and who took a gentler approach to sharing French culture and religion with Indigenous people. She was canonized in 2014.

I watched Ewan take it in. Nine years old, already collecting Canadian history whether he knows it or not.

Walking tour in a stone courtyard in Old Québec.

Québec Parliament — the kind of facade that makes you stop walking mid-sentence.

Our tour group assembling near the fountain. Classic “wait, are we in the right place?” energy.

After the guide set us loose, Old Québec did what Old Québec always does: steep lanes, stone walls, café umbrellas, church doors that look like they’ve been posing for photos longer than any of us have been alive. We wandered Rue des Ursulines and Rue Sainte-Angèle, ducked into lanes, and let Ewan set the selfie pace.

Rue Sainte-Angèle sign in Old Québec.

Old Québec plaza with stone buildings and pink café umbrellas.

Rue des Ursulines — stone, shade, and that “we’re definitely not in Mississauga” feeling.

Rue Sainte-Angèle storefronts and red umbrellas. Summer colour against grey stone.

Church door selfie. Ewan in his element.

Pedestrian lane with a glimpse of the Château ahead. You turn a corner and there it is.

Lunch was Le Clan — a one-star Michelin spot on Rue des Jardins. No reservation. We got seated right away. About $80 for the two of us, excellent food, relaxed atmosphere. Totally worth it. There’s a mounted moose on the wall. You don’t forget a dining room like that.

Dinner at Le Clan, with moose-themed décor.

Under the moose at Le Clan. You don’t forget a dining room like that.

Plated food — gnocchi and the rest. The “we’re on vacation” plate.

A plated canapé served at Le Clan.

Michelin 2025 sign. A small brag for the camera.

We parked at Esplanade Park and spent the afternoon still inside the old walls. No need to rush the corners.

Day 3 — Canada Day, Ewan’s First Puzzle, and Staying In

July 1 was Canada Day. We decided to stay in and make it a proper rest day.

We did a puzzle together — Ewan’s first real puzzle. I was both surprised and impressed by how focused he was. He spent hours on it with quiet determination. I didn’t know he had that kind of attention span and resolve.

It was a peaceful, low-key day that we both needed. Porch time, backyard green, coffee that didn’t need to rush anywhere. Marie-Eve’s place doing exactly what a good base should do.

The puzzle in progress. Hours. Quiet determination. His first real one.

Porch / backyard coffee. Green picnic table energy.

Somewhere in the photos there’s also a plush alpaca — or sheep, depending on the angle — that became a kind of mascot for the slow day. Fair enough. Some trips leave you with waterfall panoramas. This one left us with a stuffed animal, a finished puzzle, and a good story.

The plush stand-in. Still somehow the face of July 1.

Day 4 — Cannons, Frontenac House, and Noroundin Pizza

Thursday, Ewan was motivated to return to Old Québec. Official reasons: more souvenirs, and popcorn. Unofficial reason: he wasn’t done with the city yet. I’m not either.

We ended up at La Citadelle de Québec. Star fort, cannons, blue sentry boxes, long overlooks toward the St. Lawrence. Ewan gravitated straight to the hardware, as expected. There’s something about a kid standing next to a cannon that never gets old for a parent — equal parts “look how small he is” and “please don’t climb that.”

Citadelle cannon and the Governor General building.

Ewan by a cannon / blue sentry boxes. Peak Citadelle kid photo.

Ramparts and river overlook. The St. Lawrence doing its wide, quiet thing.

St. Lawrence River overlook with a passing ferry.

Cannons lined up along the walls. Hard not to take twenty versions of the same shot.

We also got proper Château Frontenac portraits — stairs, street angles, Ewan framed against the building like every visitor before him.

View toward the Château/ramparts and the river.

Château Frontenac from the stairs / street. Low angle, big presence.

Ewan portrait with the Château behind him. Future blackmail material, in the best way.

While wandering, we found Frontenac House, the museum under the boardwalk. Ewan completed the activities and received a nice little gift. We also met a lovely French student in her final year of high school, studying history. She was very kind and chatted with us. One of those small encounters that makes a city feel less like a postcard.

One evening we ate at Noroundin, a casual family spot just three minutes from the Airbnb. We had pizza that turned out to be one of the best we’ve ever tasted. The waitress was incredibly kind and patient with us, even though we don’t speak much French.

Pizza night. Casual, close to home, better than it had any right to be.

Day 5 — Ottawa, the War Museum, Sophie, and Lobster Poutine

Friday we packed up Marie-Eve’s place and drove west to Ottawa.

One of the highlights of the whole trip for Ewan was the Canadian War Museum. We arrived around 2 p.m. and stayed a long time — in my memory a solid six or seven hours. He was thrilled seeing the tanks on the lower level in the LeBreton Gallery. He excitedly explained each one to me — which country used it, its role, interesting details. The artillery was impressive too, especially the mine-sweeping tank that looks like a giant farming plow.

We went through the main galleries and the special exhibit on the American Civil War and its impact on Canada. Ewan had moments where the reality of war — the death and horror — clearly affected him. By the time we reached the modern sections, we were both emotionally and physically tired. Still, it was powerful.

I learned a lot too, including the significance of Vimy Ridge. I knew the name. I didn’t realize it was the first time Canada won a major battle without British or French leadership. Tragically, about 10,000 Canadians were killed or wounded in just four days. Hearing that after seeing the exhibits hit differently.

He’s still talking about the tanks.

Ewan by an armored vehicle. Some themes don’t change from city to city.

LeBreton Gallery — tanks, artillery, and a nine-year-old who could have stayed all day.

Our Airbnb in Ottawa was a wonderful surprise. I initially thought it was just a room. We had the entire lower level of a beautiful split-level house, with big windows opening to the outside. There was a cozy reading area filled with books — mostly about cities the hosts had visited — and a tray with tea, coffee, a kettle, and bottled water. The bathroom was clean, with hot water, and everything we needed was there.

After a hot shower I had a nice chat with our host Sophie in the kitchen. She had recently retired. I told her I’d been retired about two months. Small-world moments like that are special.

That evening we had our 7:30 reservation at Pelican Seafood Market & Grill. The place was packed, but sitting at the bar with great service from the bartender made it enjoyable. Ewan and I played half a game of chess while we waited. He ordered the creamy pasta from the kids’ menu and devoured it in seconds. I tried the lobster poutine — a full lobster with fries, cheese curds, and gravy. It was delicious, though I only managed about a third of the fries and felt proud of myself for stopping there. We finished with strawberry ice cream and coffee.

A funny highlight: we ran into a friend from Toronto. Of all the places in Ottawa, what are the odds?

Lobster on the plate. Ottawa doing its part on the food front.

And yes, there was Gong Cha. Because somehow there’s always Gong Cha.

Gong Cha stop. Essential logistics.

After Québec’s stone lanes, Ottawa felt open and civic — downtown buildings, a plaza with a crowd, a family selfie when the light was right.

Downtown Ottawa buildings. Different skyline, same trip.

Civic plaza crowd + a family selfie. We made it.

Day 6 — House of Commons, Then Home

Saturday morning we went to Parliament Hill. One of the reasons for stopping in Ottawa at all was to show Ewan where Canadian laws are actually made.

We did the House of Commons tour. It was informative and well organized. The guides did an excellent job with the legislative process, the role of MPs, how a bill becomes law. Ewan learned things that will probably show up in his Canadian history class a few grades from now. He was interested in the chamber itself — the practical workings of government, not just the building from outside.

That said, the tour ran a little long for a nine-year-old. We skipped the Senate afterward. We were both exhausted. Getting to the visitors’ entrance was more of a hunt than it should have been — the signage wasn’t the clearest, and we had to ask people. Overall, though, it was worth it.

Then the drive home to Mississauga. Circuit électrique again. Same rhythm: charge, stretch, keep going.

One last look at Ottawa. Tired in a good way.

What Stayed With Me

Looking back through the album — Parliament and tour-group chaos, red umbrellas, church doors, cannons, a moose on a restaurant wall, Château portraits, tanks, an Ottawa plaza selfie — I’m struck by how little of the good stuff was on the original checklist.

We went for Old Québec and a sense of the capital. We also got pasta night, a Canada Day puzzle I didn’t know Ewan could finish, Frontenac House under the boardwalk, pizza three minutes from the Airbnb, a bartender who made a packed restaurant feel easy, and a host in a kitchen comparing notes on retirement.

If I had to tell a friend what mattered:

It wasn’t packing every landmark into every hour.

It was Samuel Dubois making the walls mean something.

It was sitting down at Le Clan with no reservation and being treated well.

It was watching Ewan stay with a puzzle for hours, then later explain tanks to me as if he’d been studying them all year.

It was the War Museum asking more of us than a postcard day, and Ewan being old enough to feel that — and still talk about it after.

These father-son adventures are tiring. They’re also the point. The trip gave him a real sense of Canadian history, from how laws are made in Parliament to the heavy realities of war. I’m grateful for the time together.

Thanks for reading.

— Matt