Paris may be one of Europe’s leading centres for fashion and retail, but across the Atlantic it is French-Canadian region Québec which is afforded the position of leading destination for shopping opportunities.  Combining French elegance with American commercialism, Québec offers a wealth of designer brands, commercial outlets and expansive shopping malls to guarantee that you will find goods to suit your tastes, be it excellent Canadian designer clothes (often designed to be practical as well as stylish), exquisite crafted goods or sweet-treats like Canada’s flagship product, authentic maple syrup.   
 
Shopping Malls
 
Québec is host to a range of shopping malls which cater to a multitude of different commercial outlets, boasting everything from clothing to jewellery, crafts to foodstuffs.  One of the easiest places to seek out when shopping in Québec is Sainte-Foy-Sillery-Cap-Rouge, a district which boasts three shopping malls next to each other, which provide an ease of access and range of products unmatched elsewhere in the city.  These malls are a hub for trade in Québec, each boasting a different unique advantage; Place Laurier is the largest shopping mall in Eastern Canada, Place Sainte-Foy offers up market goods and Place de la Cité offers a mixture of fashion stores, haberdasheries, gourmet grocers and trendy eateries.  
 
Farmers Markets
 
Québec’s cuisine is exemplar of French-Canadian archetypes, a mixture of aromatic gourmet recipes with fresh produce locally sourced, to craft a menu which often comprises of hearty, filling dishes.  One of the best ways to get acquainted with Québec’s foodstuffs is to sample some of the goods on display at one of its many farmers markets.  Le Marché du Vieux-Port is the most prestigious of these, combining the stunning sights of the historic Old Port district with delicious culinary goods to offer a taste of traditional Québec.  Open year-round, the market offers a bounty of local produce including fresh fruits, cheeses, fish (especially salmon) and maple syrup.  
 
Shopping Streets
 
As capital of the Québec region, Québec City also holds some of the most celebrated shopping streets and neighbourhoods in Canada.  Among these two are revered as must visit retail destinations; Petit Champlain and Grande Allée.  Petit Champlain is a distinguished neighbourhood which houses (amongst others) body care stores and treatment facilities, designer fashion outlets, home furniture retailers, jewellery stores and a range of restaurants and bistros, offering tourists everything they could possibly want for a day of shopping in Québec.  Grande Allée on the other hand is famed for its cuisine outlets and extremely upscale market stores, which sell lavish leather goods and furs that have earned the area the nickname “The Canadian Champs Élysées”.  

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