Quebec City contains many hidden gems within its fortified walls. Here are ten reasons to go explore this treasure-filled city:

1. Musee de la Civilisation - This popular museum is filled with hundreds of fascinating artifacts all focused on man and his relationship to the world around him. During my most recent visit, I attended an exhibit on skin - which sounds like a somewhat bizarre topic until you consider that each and every one of us has it, none of it is exactly alike, and it serves as a means by which we can either be included, or excluded, depending on what it looks like.

Also currently on display is an ambitious and highly rewarding exhibit entitled "Gratia Dei - A Journey through the Middle Ages" which turns a spotlight on the arts, sciences, discoveries, customs and lifestyles of the Middle Ages and how it influences us still. A great place to spend the day for any age. (418-643-2158)

**One extra-special find: The Visitors Center, which allows free Internet access with your museum pass.

2. The Chapel at the Musee de l'Amerique Francaise - Dating back to 1663, the French-American museum, located at the historical site of the Quebec Seminary, is the oldest museum in Canada and is specifically focused on providing insights into the establishment of French culture in North America. But while the museum itself is certainly interesting, it's the exquisitely beautiful chapel located behind the museum that is worth noting.

No longer used for religious functions, the chapel - decorated in pale greens and gold tones - contains breathtakingly beautiful artifacts from its days as a place of worship for followers of the Roman Catholic church.

Vestments and other religious icons are displayed by color - green, red, white, purple and black - and all have a special significance and hence their own place of honor within the "Chapelle du Musee." Try to schedule a visit during one of the free afternoon concerts held in the chapel, when you can sit inside the lavishly decorated edifice and marvel at the accoustics. (418-692-2843)

3. Musee des Urselines de Quebec - A religious order, the Urselines of Quebec came to be known for their exacting, intricately beautiful embroidery.

Upstairs in the museum portion of the grounds is a floor dedicated to the permanent exhibition of a collection of liturgical vestments embroidered by the Urseline nuns.

Using threads of silver and gold, these gifted artisans hand-decorated garments of spun silk and transformed them into intricate representations of the glory of their Christian God. Their elaborate designs feature crosses, lambs, flowers, or portraits, but regardless of the artwork displayed, each embroidered piece is mind-bogglingly magnificent. (418-694-0694)

4. Choco-Musee Erico - An entirely different type of museum can be found just outside the city walls in the more "modern" part of Quebec. The Erico Museum of Chocolate appeals to more gastronomic concerns and takes its source of inspiration from the devine decadence of cocoa.

Here's where you really can take home a "treasure chest," as Erico sells fabric-covered tiny treasure chests filled with either 12 or 30 assorted chocolates made at their factory. (It should be noted that they also offer environmentally-friendly recycled paper boxes, varnished wood, paper or clear-top boxes filled with their confections.)

Founded in 1988, the Erico Chocolate Factory uses only Belgian and French chocolate to produce their products, many of which are made using traditional techniques.

At the Erico store, the on-site museum allows visitors to learn the origins and history of cacao from Mayan times to today, view over a hundred objects marking the history of chocolate, and watch a video that "unlocks the secrets of chocolate making." And best of all - it's free. (http://www.chocomusee.com)

5. Restaurant Le St. Amour - Tucked away on a quiet side street, just off rue Saint-Louis, Le St. Amour is a feast for the senses, where the culinary arts are truly celebrated.

Although the regular menu offers a mouthwatering choice of appetizers, main dishes and desserts, the real find is the fixed-price menu. The evening I dined at Le St. Amour, my menu included a smooth-as-silk cream of vegetable soup, a poultry terrine with a collage of organic vegetables, perfectly prepared seared scallops served with baby leeks and a vegetable tabouleh with a tomato-spinach emulsion, and a heavenly chocolate mousse. With coffee or tea, the total was $42 Canadian, making Le St. Amour truly a "hidden treasure." (http://www.saint-amour.com)

6. Ghost Tour of Quebec - Alot of cities nowadays have nighttime "ghost tours," so the concept behind this one isn't anything unique. However, there's nothing like wandering through the back alleys and old stone streets of a 400 year old city listening to "fantasmagoric" stories delivered by a French-accented guide to reawaken the pre-Halloween jitters.

Led by costumed tour guides, lantern-light illuminates the pathways through the cobblestoned streets of Old Quebec where you'll be exposed to stories of "the dark side" with tales of executions, murders, ghost sightings and hauntings. 300 years of history provide a treasure trove of information, all condensed into a 90 minute tour delivered in both French and English, and running from May through October. (http://www.ghosttoursofquebec.com)

7. Les Promenade des Ecrivains - A literary gem, this walking tour celebrates the works and words of writers such as Herman Melville, Willa Cather, Henry David Thoreau, Jacques Poulin and others.

Regardless of whether the writers wrote about Quebec in works of fiction or non-fiction, you'll be lead to the exact location described in their books.

Departures are scheduled every Wednesday and Saturday afternoon and are presented primarily in French. However, if you need an English-speaking tour, call ahead to find out when one is being held. (418-264-2772)

8. Cannon Ball Sighting - Practically every day, tourists to Quebec City stroll up and down rue Saint-Louis in search of something to eat, a take-home souvenir, or an addition to their wardrobe. What they don't search for, and therefore miss, is a reminder of the tumultuous history of the city.

At the corner of rue Saint-Louis and du Corps de Garde, (almost more like an alleyway than a street), a solitary tree appears to stand guard. And like an old soldier with a war wound, buried in its trunk is a reminder of a past battle there for all to see.

A cannon ball rests at the base of the tree, seemingly implanted inside its trunk. Whether it was shot directly into it is a matter of some speculation, but the fact that it's so firmly imbedded leads one to wonder just how it got there, who its original owner was, and what it was aimed at...

9. A Cannon in the Lobby of Auberge Saint-Antoine - This charming inn is owned and operated by members of the Price family, residents of Quebec City for generations. Committed to the preservation of Quebec history, the hotel has recently undergone renovations which have necessitated excavations into the 300-year-old buildings that comprise the new section of the facility.

Built on an archeological site, Auberge Saint-Antoine is comprised of three buildings from the 1700s-1800s, including sections of an old dock from 1690. Incorporated into the interior design of the inn are archeological objects found during the digging phase of the renovation. In illuminated Lucite boxes, items such as old keys, tableware, clay pipes, flasks, vials, fish hooks and shards of pottery - all discovered in the lower regions of the hotel - are now on display. In fact, this practice also extends to the floors of the inn, where each room is identified by a shadow box just outside the door featuring not only the room number, but a fragment of an artifact uncovered on the grounds.

But it's in the lobby that the most precious gem is displayed: a small cannon, one of only three found in Quebec Province and the only one found in the city of Quebec, is on permanent display in the exact location that it originally occupied when it was used to help defend the area from possible attack. A history buff could find no more fascinating a place to overnight than this lodging with a true sense of history... (http://www.saint-antoine.com)

10. Les Grandes Feux Loto-Quebec - 2003 saw the 9th celebration of the Loto-Quebec fireworks competition, held over the course of three weeks during July and August at Montomorency Falls Park, the site of a natural waterfall that's higher than Niagara.

The competition is a sound and light spectacle that features choreographed fireworks from a host of international competitors. This past year, England, the Czech Republic, Mexico, China and Germany all submitted their best offerings and over the course of five select evenings crowds were "wow-ed" with pyrotechnic displays of bursting lights in a multitude of colors launched from the shores of Montmorency Falls. Seated beneath a skyway gondola, viewers witnessed individual shows from each country which then culminated in a grand finale evening that showcased snippets from each individual program, and the announcement of the winning entry for the year.

This "pyromusical competition" is the only one of its kind in the world, making it a true rarity...and yet another of Quebec's hidden gems. (http://www.lesgrandsfeux.com)