Quebec City is a romantic, beautiful old city with cobblestone streets and the Chateau Frontenac sitting like a castle next to a wide boardwalk overlooking the St. Laurent River.  Horse-drawn carriages ply streets lined with stone inns and houses with shuttered windows and flowerboxes.  Surrounded by high stone walls and ringed by cannons, the city has seen many battles; it was conquered by the British in the Seven Years' War, but successfully repelled American forces during the War of 1812.