Arrive To: Arrivals and independent transfers to the program hotel after 3:00 pm. Please note that rooms are not generally available until mid to late afternoon.

Dinner: Dinner at the program hotel is at 6:00 pm.

Evening: INTRODUCTIONS: You will meet for introductions, a review of the program and site orientation.

Lodging: Hotel Manoir Victoria

Meals Included: Dinner

Role of the Catholic Church in Québec/Good Shepherd Museum/Musée de la Civilisation

Breakfast: Breakfast at hotel

Morning: The Role of the Catholic Church. From a Traditional to a Modern Society. Gain an insight into the important role played by the Church in ensuring the survival of French-Canadian culture, through its language and customs to its loss of influence in contemporary society.

Morning: Good Shepherd Museum. During a guided visit participants will discover, through the history of the Congregation and its mission, the role of religious communities in the development of Quebec society. More specifically, they will discover important aspects of the social and religious history of women during the 19th century. Indeed, while meeting the needs of marginalized women and abandoned children, the Good Shepherd Sisters were also present in the educational and artistic fields, both in Quebec and abroad. During this educational visit, participants will be encouraged to draw parallels between life today and life before the Quiet Revolution.

Lunch: Lunch Aux Anciens Canadiens Restaurant – Québec cuisine at its best in this charming historical restaurant. Experience traditional Québec cuisine such as Tourtière (meat pie) which brings you closer to the Québec traditional meals then top off your meal with a dessert made of maple products of the area.

Afternoon: Musee de la Civilisation (Civilization Museum). Explore the museum with an experienced guide, the city's most popular museum, located close to the historic site of Place-Royale. This internationally renowned museum features four permanent and six temporary thematic exhibitions. Experience the "People of Quebec, Now and Then". This exhibit focuses on life in the province of Quebec throughout the centuries of European habitation, which encourages discovery of artifacts, photos and recreations of historic and domestic scenes. Immerse yourself in the ups and downs, the successes and setbacks, intense heat and extreme cold of a history that belongs to all those who have lived in and built Quebec.

Dinner: Dinner at le Patriarche - Nestled in the heart of Old Québec near the Saint-Jean Gate, Le Patriarche beckons with its intimate setting and the refined décor of a beautiful, circa 1827 stone house. In each of the chef’s courses you’ll find products from small livestock farmers, new finds from dedicated foragers, and the most succulent items from area market gardens. The menu gives pride of place to game and other products from the Québec terroir.

Evening: Explore the Old City on your own: As you stroll the streets of the old city imagine Christmas of yesteryear.

Lodging: Hotel Manoir Victoria

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Québec: World Heritage City/Musée National des Beaux Arts/Marché du Vieux-Port/Rue St Jean

Breakfast: Breakfast at hotel

Morning: Musée National des Beaux Arts – The National Museum of Fine Arts. We will meet a museum expert for an in-depth presentation and examination of the works of art. Musée National des Beaux Arts du Québec is home to the most important collection of paintings and sculpture by Québécois artists. Over 22,000 selections of works are displayed in three chronological exhibitions: The earliest date from the beginnings of Québécois art and are largely influenced by religion. The second covers the European-influenced modernist period up to 1945. The third showcases figurative and abstract art from the mid-20th century.

Morning: Québec, World Heritage City. A power point presentation and lecture will give you an excellent overview of Québec City from its founding to the present day. You will also learn about the principal historical events that occurred here. The city was awarded its World Heritage City designation in 1985 based partially on the fact of the preservation of the fortifications around the Old Town, which date from 1745. This area has a distinct European feel with its stone buildings and winding streets lined with shops and restaurants. Porte St-Louis and Porte St-Jean are the main gates through which people and traffic flow between the Upper Town and the Old Port.

Lunch: Lunch at Café du Musée

Afternoon: French Gastronomy. We will meet with a local French food expert and embark on a gastronomical adventure exploring the European style food district and the Old Port Market. We will have the opportunity to learn about present day society on a guided walk and tasting of St. Jean Street and the Old Port Market meeting with local vendors and shop owners, specializing in Quebec produce and sampling specialty foods, artisanal cheeses, meats and other local products. This has been a tradition stretching back more than three centuries. Built on the site of Marché Saint-André (1841) and in the same style, Marché du Vieux-Port is a reminder of a time when country folk would meet and exchange with city folk.

Dinner: Dinner on your own to enjoy local fare or join the Group Leader (at a local restaurant).

Evening: Free evening to enjoy the ambiance of Christmas in the Old City.

Lodging: Hotel Manoir Victoria

Meals Included: Breakfast, Lunch

Breakfast: Breakfast at hotel

Morning: Upper and Lower Town. Your historian will lead you through Upper and Lower Town. Visit Place Royale, lined with fine old stone merchant houses and dominated by the church of Notre-Dame-des-Victoires. Walk through the lively commercial district of rue du Petit-Champlain, lined with craft shops and cafés.

Lunch: Lunch on own to enjoy the market or try one of the many bistros and restaurants in the area.

Afternoon: FREE TIME: Enjoy some free time in the Old City. You may wish to stroll through the Marche du Vieux-Port de Quebec (Farmers' Market) where dozens of Quebec producers and artisans provide you with a taste of the Quebec countryside. Take in over 400 years of history in a single glance, from Quebec City's highest point, the Observatory de la Capitale. Remember that winter has much to offer for outdoor lovers and it is during the cold season that Quebecers express their "Joie de Vivre". Enjoy one of Quebec's favorite winter sports and skate in the very heart of Old Quebec, next to Saint-Jean Gate, in Place d'Youville. Skate rental available on site.

Dinner: Enjoy a Réveillon dinner with some traditional foods of Québec at the hotel. The Réveillon de Noël (réveillon means "to stay awake") typically begins a few hours before the Midnight Mass with a traditional feast and lasts well into the wee hours of the night. Friends and relatives, children and adults, join in traditional songs, dances and exchanges of presents. This French-Canadian tradition, still alive today in many households, stems from centuries-old traditions imported to the New World from France. Experience a “Réveillon de Noël” in the company of newfound friends.

Evening: OPTIONAL: Solemn and impressive, filled with hymns of joy, the Midnight Mass reaches its high point with the procession of the Christ Child.

Lodging: Hotel Manoir Victoria

Meals Included: Breakfast, Dinner

Christmas Brunch/Horse-Drawn Carriage Ride/Christmas Dinner and Dancing at the Chateau Frontenac

Brunch: Breakfast on your own and a free morning to rest or explore Old Québec. Christmas brunch at Hotel Manoir Victoria.

Afternoon: Old Québec by Horse-Drawn Carriage - Delight in the little hidden treasures of the Old City in this horse drawn carriage ride with a guide that will draw you into the spirit of the holiday season. You will have warm blankets to keep the chill out but dress for the weather. Your carriage ride ends at the Chateau Frontenac where you will have cocktails (Dutch Treat) before you enjoy your elegant Christmas dinner.

Dinner: CHRISTMAS DINNER-DANCE: Perhaps the grandest Christmas tradition in Québec City is the annual dinner-dance at the Chateau Frontenac — the most photographed grand hotel in the world and a proud symbol of the city. The centerpiece is a semi-formal, six-course dinner in the ballroom.

Evening: Along with the fine cuisine, you're welcome to join in the dancing as the band plays contemporary popular music accompanied by a singer throughout the evening. Complete your Christmas Day festivities with this celebratory feast in a setting that is trés magnifique! Truly an unforgettable experience.

Lodging: Hotel Manoir Victoria

Meals Included: Brunch, Dinner

Breakfast: Farewell Breakfast at hotel.

Morning: Independent departures after breakfast. Check-out of hotel is 12:00 noon.

Meals Included: Breakfast