First of two parts

QUEBEC CITY — I was standing in a charming room with eaves on the ninth floor of the palatial Fairmont Chateau Frontenac, listed as the most photographed hotel in the world, looking out upon breathtaking beauty draped in white.

To my left, ice floes and a ferry moved among the narrowest point of the St. Lawrence River while below me a man and his dog strolled through a mini forest of trees backed by centuries-old townhouses. Beyond that was the Citadel and the toboggan chute I vowed to ride at least 10 times.

It felt otherworldly and I couldn’t believe I had such a view.

When my boyfriend had asked months before what I wanted for Christmas, I said I’d love to go on an old-fashioned sleigh ride, noting that Michigan, New York State, Vermont and Quebec seemed to be the hot spots. (Of course the fantasy included lots of blankets and a Thermos of Bailey’s and hot chocolate.)

His idea was to tour “Lincoln Land” in February to commemorate Abe’s birthday by driving to sites in Kentucky, Indiana and Illinois.

My reaction, remembering a February trip to Gettysburg: “In winter??”

I countered that Quebec City, on the north shore of the St. Lawrence about two hours northeast of Montreal, is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year and the city’s annual pre-Lenten winter carnival (the world’s largest) was Feb. 1-17. There would be lots of things to do there and in Montreal, and the Web site mentioned sleigh rides. Bonus!

I remembered friends’ tales of their trip to the Carnaval de Quebec a decade ago and it seemed like Mardi Gras on ice. One of their souvenirs was a hollow plastic cane topped with the red-capped head of the festival’s snowman mascot Bonhomme (“good fellow”) Carnaval. The cane was made for storing and sipping caribou, a mixture of mulled red wine and alcohol made in Quebec province.

Richard acquiesced and so there we were — in a warm “riverview” room in the majestic copper-roofed Cháteau Frontenac — built in 1893 as a Canadian Pacific Railway hotel and long visited by royalty and celebs — surveying land and water, snow and ice with a few hours of daylight remaining after dividing the 12-hour drive over a day and a half.

Quebec (it comes from an Amerindian word meaning “where the river narrows”) was established on July 3, 1608 when Samuel de Champlain built a trading post by the river at the foot of Cap Diamant. The city expanded in the only direction it could — up the cliff.

The British attacked for the first time in 1690 but the French could easily defend their position, thanks to the cliff and manmade walls. Eventually, in 1759, Quebec fell to Britain on the Plains of Abraham in what is now National Battlefield Park (it turns 100 this year).

In this, the only walled city north of Mexico, there is the modern Quebec City, behind the Parliament Buildings, and the old city, which lies within the French and British walls and is divided between Upper and Lower Town. We were in the heart of Upper Town.

We grabbed our cameras and headed out of the lobby’s revolving doors onto the historic streets and the Place d’Armes (look for the statue of Samuel Champlain) near the Frontenac.