The traffic, the pedestrians, the weird speed limits that are in kilometers per hour rather than miles per hour, and the numerous amount of bikers on the roads make any American driver frustrated while in Montréal. Save your gas and sanity; take the métro.My…Read More

The traffic, the pedestrians, the weird speed limits that are in kilometers per hour rather than miles per hour, and the numerous amount of bikers on the roads make any American driver frustrated while in Montréal. Save your gas and sanity; take the métro.

My wife and I were very happy to know that Montréal had an métro station. We were happy because it would allow someone else to drive us to places that we wanted to go. It meant that we did not have to deal with the frustrating traffic. Also, it meant that when we went to any attraction; we would save money that we would have paid for parking.

After receiving directions to the nearest métro station entrance from our hotel receptionist, my family decided to go after eating breakfast. We arrive to the the entrance. The price to use a day price for us was $24 Canadian. For people over two, the prices was $8 per person for a day pass whereas a person under two were free. I wouldn't realize the value of paying for these tickets until after I realize how many places we could see and visit. My family and I entered the station and waited for our train.

Montréal has the cleanest subway station that I have ever seen. Not only was it clean but also I felt safe. Also, maps were everywhere to allow people to find where they needed to go. The maps are very easy to read and understand. If you have any problem knowing, the maps will help know where to get off.

One pleasant experience of taking the métro is the kindness of Montréalais. When my family and I got on the train. I was holding one of my daughters while standing. A kind gentleman motioned us to sit on his sit that he was sitting on, and he moved to allow me and my daughter to sit. I continued to experience this every time someone saw me with my daughter. Someone would move to allow me and my daughters to sit together. This experience made me happy because this experience added to my enjoyment of knowing that many Montréalais are polite and kind people.

My family and I would use the subway take us to many fun places in Montréal such the Biôdome and Notre Dame church. The subway saved us plenty of time and money. Also, we received plenty of exercise because the walking, which is great because we would eat a lot during this trip.

If you visit Montréal, you must experience the métro. Save you car the trouble for when you decide to leave Montréal and take the métro. Chances are you will not regret it.

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I dreamed of visiting Montréal ever since I started learning French when I was in high school. When I was deployed to Afghanistan last year, I promised myself that I would visit Canada before I turned 30 (I am 29 when I wrote this).…Read More

I dreamed of visiting Montréal ever since I started learning French when I was in high school. When I was deployed to Afghanistan last year, I promised myself that I would visit Canada before I turned 30 (I am 29 when I wrote this). With everything in place, I finally would gain that opportunity to make the trip.

My family and I were visiting family in the New England area. Her father is in Connecticut, so we visited him before we went to Montréal. My wife and I decided to travel by car from Norwich, CT. I did MOST of the driving from eastern Connecticut to Montréal. The trip would take around eight hours. We would go through Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York. Fortunately, my family had the EZ Pass to go through the different turnpikes in Massachusetts and New York. Even though we had the EZ pass, the drive to Montréal would be long. Just getting to Montréal from New York felt like an eternity.

My family and I finally made it to the US-Canada border. A Canadian border agent at customs. He was a Québecois. He was very polite and spoke French to me and my family. I enjoyed this because I FINALLY got to put use to my years of studying to French to good use. For the most part, I understood much of what he was saying in French. After he checked us in, the gates of my dreams opened when I entered Canada. Now, I could experience Montréal life. Finally, I could put use my French.

After my family and I came into Montréal, I have never felt lost driving in Canada. Driving is different. Instead of speed limits for miles per hour, the spend limits were in meters. Instead of lights that I would look up at, I would have to be careful to look on the side of the roads. In fact, I ran a red light because I did not pay attention to the lights on the sidewalk. One main feature of Montréal that struck me was how bike-friendly this city is. The city has tons of bikes lanes that I thought the bikes lanes were main highways. I understood that I had to change my mentality of driving in Montréal. Vive à Montréal.

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It all went even further downhill from there. My back was very sore this morning and there was nearly no position I could lie or sit in that didn’t make that one spot hurt. We did walk out for breakfast at the Buffet place…Read More

It all went even further downhill from there. My back was very sore this morning and there was nearly no position I could lie or sit in that didn’t make that one spot hurt. We did walk out for breakfast at the Buffet place but I couldn’t eat more than a bagel. I really wasn’t up to anything more than the heating pad and the bed. I know Karine was going to meet us so I thought Graham should at least go rather than be stuck in a hotel room all day with me.
She picked him up early afternoon and they went out in the rain to walk around the city and do some souvenir shopping. They saw the oldest part of the city below the cliff where there’s also a funicular to go back to the upper city. They were in the cathedral Notre Dame, and saw some nice shops. Graham said Karine walked his feet off!

They came back to the hotel room after and we ordered takeout and had it in the room. They were heading out later to see the band that she promotes do a rehearsal. I wasn’t sure if I would have gone anyway as it really isn’t my kind of music but after the day I’ve had, I wouldn’t get out anyway. My back seems to have improved through the day but the pain has moved to my hip and it’s even more difficult to find a position to lie in or sit in and the heating pad doesn’t seem to be helping it.

So today was a write off completely for me. I’m glad at least that Graham got out and about a bit. We’ll see how things are tomorrow.

And again, the next day the weather still hasn’t improved though it’s not raining at least. We really slept in. We finally got up and moving late morning and we had to eat. Karine had a migraine so could not come and meet us for a final good bye. I"m moving slowly but I had to go out for food so, taking our time, we walked out of the hotel towards Old Quebec which is really lovely. It’s a very historic part of the city and all the old buildings now have shops and galleries and a few restaurants in them though most are not cheap. There are some lovely murals on the sides of buildings as well and I’m glad I got a chance to see them.

Most of the restaurants have very fancy menus and didn’t appeal to us much but we did find one that had appealing food. I don’t know what it was called as the sign outside just said Restaurant and we didn’t look at the receipt. I found out later it’s called Le Casse-Cou.
I had French Onion soup that came with coffee and carrot cake and Graham had that plus a plate with lamb sausage, rice, salad and looked really lovely. The carrot cake was very rich with cream on it and drenched in maple syrup. I couldn’t eat it all and in fact it made me feel kind of sick for a bit with all the sweetness.

We walked around a bit more and looked in one or two shops but I needed to go back and rest again so we made our way back to the hotel. Unfortunately we weren’t going to get to see the Samurai exhibit after all. I didn’t think I could walk around an hour or two in a museum and Graham didn’t want to go on his own. We stayed in the hotel room the rest of the afternoon watching tv, packing up and getting ready to check out.

We did that about 7 and got to the train station in Quebec City, called Gare du Palais, about an hour before the Charny shuttles arrived and thought the restaurants in there would be open. As it happened only two were and one was definitely not our sort of thing, again very posh with things like duck and rabbit and fancy food on the menu but there was a steak house just beside it that was open too. That’ll do. It’s called Charbon and I’d definitely recommend it. Prices are similar to the Keg here in Canada. It’s not budget but it’s very nice and excellent quality. We told the waiter we didn’t have a lot of time to linger and he suggested the prime rib which was already cooked and only had to be sliced. Sounds like a plan!

And what a good plan it was! It arrived in due course with a big slab of pink beef in the middle of the plate, a good inch thick and as tender as you could ever want. Oh my god it was good! There was a green veg with it and mashed/whipped turnip and we had fries with it which were also very good. We had been given a basket of lovely bread, sliced baguette, I think and even that was good. It would have been a lovely place for a proper meal with more time to linger. I must look and see if there are other locations. I guess there might be.

We waited outside for the shuttles and arrived at the train station in Charny about an hour ahead of the train which was right on time. Our bunks were already down so we unloaded our things and sat in the lounge car for awhile rather than face those beds. My hip is improving a bit but it still aggravates me to sit too long, depending on the seat and angle I have to sit. They were playing a movie in the lounge so we watched that and messed around on our iPods. We saw a couple there that we’d spoken to while waiting for the train. They’re British and this was their first overnight train ride. They were excited. I couldn’t really find the enthusiasm but I hoped it wouldn’t put them off.

Finally back to the closet, we get ready for bed. For the most part my body was in perpetual motion all night seeking a comfortable position which was not to be found. I might have drifted off a little bit now and then nearer the morning.

We’d set the alarm for 8 so we would be up for the breakfast in the dining car. Graham did sleep most of the night and wasn’t stiff in the morning so that was one success at least. We had our breakfast and then came back to the cabin for a few hours. I tried to nap a little because I was really tired, while Graham listened to music and played games on his ipod.

We went back for lunch about the time the train got to Moncton, the last leg of the ride ahead of us. We ended up sharing with that same British couple. We had a lovely chat with them and it passed the time.

Weather today? Overcast most of the way though it looks as if it might be trying to clear up the closer to Halifax we get. The sun came out brilliantly late afternoon in Quebec yesterday, flipping typical as well. Every time we go on a trip like that we only ever manage to get one or maybe two nice days. I hope we get a few more sunny days before Graham goes back next weekend at least.

It’s unfortunate how this week turned out with my aching back and hip, the weather and the uncomfortable train journey. But we did see some interesting things and spent time with lovely people so it wasn’t a total disaster. But it could have been better! I think we’ll appeal to the Travel Gods that our visit to Rome in November isn’t as disappointing. I won’t expect the Weather Gods to cooperate, seeing as it’ll be November but you never know…
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The weather sucks today. Overcast and light rain. We slept well last night and had a slow morning since I was having back aches and the weather wasn’t very conducive to walking around anyway. Katherine and Keith were busy this morning so we lounged…Read More

The weather sucks today. Overcast and light rain. We slept well last night and had a slow morning since I was having back aches and the weather wasn’t very conducive to walking around anyway. Katherine and Keith were busy this morning so we lounged around and relaxed. Later when they got back, we had lunch and then went to see her church next door.

This part of Quebec City is traditionally the Scottish quarter which dates back to the 18th century when the first Fraser Highland regiment was here, they fought with General Wolfe during the battle of the Plains of Abraham. They decided they didn’t want to return to Scotland. This would have been in the years after the Rising in 1746 so they may have figured they were considered traitors even though they fought for the British in North America. They applied to George III to be decommissioned. It was granted by a charter and land awarded to them here in QC. Katherine’s church is on that land. She said that if there comes a time when the parish has no minister, the land reverts back to the British.

In the little museum in the back of the church is the original charter from George III to the Fraser Regiment.

The church, St. Andrews, was built in the early 19th century but the parish is much older. The church is lovely, with sections of pews on either side angled in facing towards the lectern as well as rows of pews directly facing it. There’s a large pipe organ upstairs and some really nice stained glass windows. The museum in back has lots of old documents, books, silver, photos and photos. There’s an old Fraser regiment uniform and portraits of all the ministers including my friend Katherine, the only female to date to hold the position.

We also visited the Morrin Centre, which is next to the manse. The Morrin centre was the first English jail, starting off as a military prison and later as a general jail. Later it became the Morrin College and was the first college in Canada to award degrees to women. It also contains the only English library in Quebec City. There is a hall where special events can be held and we saw the Victorian library as well. There are old wooden chairs and shelves and there are some very rare books as well. I believe the part used for the jail can be visited in summer and they do tours but we didn’t see it as Katherine only had access to the library and the tours only go on during the summer months.

From there we drove down into the lower town and it was like going back even further in time. If the old city inside the walls on the upper level looked old, the lower town was even older, with narrow cobbled streets and old stone buildings. We will be staying in a hotel in this section later in the week. Even though the weather isn’t going to be sunny, hopefully it will be a bit dryer and we can walk around a bit more and see it. My camera trigger finger was getting itchy just driving through!

We then drove out along the river, the St. Lawrence a little way because I wanted to see the area that the battle of the Plains of Abraham was fought. It’s not just a field that was a battle ground now, it’s parkland and there’s a big museum, Beaux Arts on the end of one large area that’s set up for playing sports. It’s still got large green space areas and is on the edge leading to the cliffs that the English had to scale to attack the French.

We drove down Le Grande Allee, a wider street lined with larger beautiful buildings, both public and private, lots of restaurants and nightclubs and shopping, too. We drove through the city and out to a mall where we went to a coffee shop for a break. I’m sitting on a heating pad for my back which is still bothering me and we are going to get fast food later on.

Graham and I are meeting up with our friend Karine tomorrow and hope to see a bit more of the city, probably on foot. We’ll check into our hotel later in the day and see where we go from there.

And the next day, again, sucky weather. We had a cooked breakfast this morning courtesy of Katherine. My back seems to feel a bit better so the heat is helping I think. When Karine arrives, we have a cup of coffee/tea and a chat. We leave there, bags packed in her car and park in an underground parking garage close to the Citadel.

First we had to climb up a hill to get to it. Wish we had driven, there was some parking up at the fort. Anyway, I went slowly and made it up eventually. We joined an English tour and there were only 8 of us so it was nice, almost like a private tour. Our guide, Charles, was very good and took us around all the areas.

There are two museums to look at. We were up on the bastions with great views over the river that the fort defended and over the city. The 22nd Regiment is based there in a small way with the rest of the battalion based in Val Cartier, a half dozen km or so away.

There’s a small chapel that we couldn’t go in and many barracks buildings as well. The citadel has never been fired on or attacked and the current fort was built between 1820 and 1850 though there were defences on this spot before that. There’s at least one building, the old magazine battery, that dates from the French occupation. The Citadel’s situated at the top of the cliffs and next to the area where the Battle of the Plains of Abraham took place. It’s a star shaped citadel like Halifax’s but is far larger.

We walked around there for a couple of hours even though it was damp and overcast. It managed not to rain though there was a bit of a mist from time to time and it wasn’t overly cold. We finally left there close to 3 p.m. and trudged back down the hill to the car. Down to the lower town to a small restaurant called Buffet d’Antiquaire which features traditional Quebec dishes. With Karine guiding us, we tried one of her favourites, something they only usually have over the Christmas holidays, cipaille, We also all shared another one with pork "balls" with gravy and whipped potato which was also really good.

Naturally, we all ate too much and rolled out of there. My back is starting to ache again damnit. There’s a drugstore just across the road and I was able to find a heating pad there. We picked up some snacks for the hotel room at a small supermarket and got to the hotel to check in.

Wow, what an awesome room! Hotel 71 is in an old National Bank building but has been renovated inside. The room we got is on the top floor with a great view of Chateau Frontenac, the landmark hotel in Quebec City that overlooks the cliffs and lower city and river. It’s lit up at night and is gorgeous. The bathroom is beautiful with a large shower area glassed off on one end. The bed feels really nice, a thick mattress on a platform with lovely linens. We got a great rate using an email offer through Travelzoo. Another winner I think. Our rate doesn’t come with breakfast so we’ll have to go looking for somewhere in the morning but that shouldn’t be a problem.

My back however, is a problem tonight and I was really starting to hurt. I think Karine could tell and excused herself. I spent some time on the heater and took another Robax and a half. I hope it’s just a temporary thing because it was feeling a bit better earlier and I thought the walking around was helping as well. I’m feeling very sorry for myself and disappointed. It’s frustrating.

Anyway, hopefully this too shall pass. Tomorrow I think is going to be iffy weather again so I think we might go to the museum in the morning, which is right across from the hotel. They have a new exhibit on Samurai that we both want to see. I expect we’ll meet up with Karine again and tomorrow evening we’re supposed to go see the band that she manages rehearse.
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The lonesome whistle blows. The train passes through another small town in northern New Brunswick. You can hear the wheels scrape a little now and then as the motion of the train sways as it heads into another bend. We’re on our way to Quebec…Read More

The lonesome whistle blows. The train passes through another small town in northern New Brunswick. You can hear the wheels scrape a little now and then as the motion of the train sways as it heads into another bend.

We’re on our way to Quebec City from the east coast city of Halifax, my home town. The Ocean, the train that connects Halifax to Montreal pulled out at 12:15 exactly on Sunday afternoon. We booked a sleeper cabin on a Via Rail half price sale since the journey by train takes about 18 hours. You can drive to Quebec City in about 10 but the train would be a nice, relaxing experience. Or so we thought…

Our cabin is small, just enough room really for the two of us and some small carry on cases and even then it’s a bit full. There’s a little toilet and sink in a closet about as big as the kind you get on an airplane. The "sofa" we’re sitting on will convert into a bed with a pull down bunk overhead. Graham will get to climb up to that. There’s a good sized window, temperature controls, a few little cabinets to put things, a tiny closet with a couple of hangers. It’s comfy enough but we also spent a little time in the lounge car and had our evening meal in the dining car though we brought store made sandwiches and snacks for lunch.

The problem started when Graham felt a bit motion sick with the buffeting of the train as we walked to the lounge car. Oh dear… We did sit there for awhile, it’s got lots of windows and a little take out counter with places to sit. We watched some movies on the laptop in the cabin and went to the dining car later for a meal which was pretty good. Not large portions but all we needed. We finished watching a movie and had the beds turned down about 10 since we knew we’d be up very, very early in the morning. That’s where it all fell apart.

We found the bunk beds quite hard. They took up even more room in the limited space available. The little ladder attached to the top bunk blocked the bathroom door so you’d have to move it away to go in. I think the train does have some cabins that are a bit larger but also pricier. We found the night very long and uncomfortable with very little sleep and a lot of tossing and turning. We had found the room chilly though and with the comforters on the beds, at least I was warm. We were up by 4:30 a.m. for arrival at 5:15 at Charny. A shuttle took us into the city center and Katherine and Keith kindly came and fetched us.

We had a little breakfast and some caffeine which helped steady us a bit but we really were exhausted and off kilter so we went to our room for a nap. It was wonderful to lie on a bed that wasn’t moving and was soft!! We napped for a couple of hours and when we got up, it was still only 9 o’clock!

While we get our bearings, here’s a bit of information for you: Quebec City is one of the oldest settlements in Canada, founded over 400 years ago by the French. It’s been fought over and, most famously, won by General Wolfe leading the English, at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759. Although Canada ended up being owned wholly by the British, the province of Quebec has been predominantly French. The larger city, Montreal, has a larger percentage of English speaking people than Quebec City which is over 90% French.

The old historic centre of Quebec still has narrow lanes and streets and has a European feel to it. The City has two levels, the Upper city, or Haute-Ville and lower city, or Basse-Ville by the waterfront along the St. Lawrence River. There are steep hills between the two but there’s also a funicular just below the huge old hotel, Chateau Frontenac.

Katherine is the pastor of "Scottish" church, St. Andrew’s, the only English church inside the walls of the old city. The manse was built in 1837 and very large. The church dates to 1810 though the congregation dates to 1759. I’ll have a visit inside tomorrow. The manse is very comfortable and our room is large and um..pink! (It’s where their granddaughter stays when she visits so she’s got it decorated to her preference!)

The sun is out and it’s going to be a really nice day today. We are going to drive a little way out of the city to the Basilica of St. Anne de Beaupre and then visit the Montmorency Falls and it was a wonderful day for it!

St. Anne de Beaupre has been the site of many healing miracles dating back to 1658 when a man was healed of crippling back pain when he came to help build the church to be dedicated to St. Anne. The Basilica is a pilgrimage destinationand contains lovely mosaics and stained glass. Below the main chapel is the Chapel of Immaculate Conception with lower ceilings and mosiaiced arches. All the corners on the supporting posts have little mosaic decoration as well.

The grounds are landscaped with a large fountain in front and statues. There’s a museum and there are restaurants and motels in the area too, which, to my eyes, made it look a bit tacky. The church is very busy in summer especially. We found a little restaurant just down a short distance called Marie de Beaupre and had our lunch there. It was very good and we all came away stuffed!

Next stop, the Parc du Montmorency, focussed on a high waterfall. It’s quite spectacular! They have some cable cars that take you from a visitor centre up to the cliff at the top of the falls where there’s a nice inn, a park and lots of lookoff spots. There is also a footbridge right over top of the falls and a series of steps down the side of a cliff/hill near to the falls for the fit of foot! We took the cable car and walked around at the top. Graham and Keith went on the bridge while I explore the lookoff spots a little lower down. The sun was really warm and the spray at the bottom of the falls was throwing up lots of rainbows.

All this and it’s still only mid afternoon. Katherine and Keith did a few errands on the way home and we relaxed for a few hours before an early dinner at one of the oldest houses in the city, l’Ancienne Canadienne. The house, Maison Jaquet was built in 1676 and it’s been a restaurant since 1966. It’s in the heart of the old town, just around the corner from where we are staying. While it’s expensive, they have a specials menu which is very reasonable and includes a starter of soup, a dessert, a main course and a glass of wine or beer. All the choices were excellent. Because of the specials menu, I’d definitely recommend it. Otherwise, it’s on the pricey side but the quality of the food is still very much worth a splurge.

Thoroughly fed and watered now, we head back home to rest and recover. We had a pretty long night last night so we’ll both probably be in bed early tonight. I think we’ll be exploring a bit more of the city on foot tomorrow.
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We had incredible meals at every restaurant we visited in Quebec City. We seemed to always spend C$50 regardless of which meal we ate. Restaurants in Old Quebec tend to be a little more expensive depending on when you dine. One strategy we used, thanks…Read More

We had incredible meals at every restaurant we visited in Quebec City. We seemed to always spend C$50 regardless of which meal we ate. Restaurants in Old Quebec tend to be a little more expensive depending on when you dine. One strategy we used, thanks to the concierge at our hotel, was to try to eat at restaurants within the old section of the city before dinner hours. This allowed us to take advantage of la formule (fixed-price multi-course meals).

The menus in Quebec often contain wild game such as pheasant, bison, wild pig, and caribou. At times, we had to ask for a descriptions of some dishes. For example, there was something called sweetbread that sounded like dessert but it is actually made of animal innards such as throat, heart, stomach, etc.. We did not try it. There were some local specialties such as poutine (french fries topped with cheese curds and gravy). I would have liked to have tried it but I never got around to it. Of course, being in a country whose flag contains a maple leaf, it was not uncommon that the food contained delicious sweet maple glaze.

I’m not sure how this started, but my wife and I normally have a ritual pizza meal whenever we leave the U.S.. On our first night in Quebec City, we took our hotel concierge's advice and made the 10-minute walk to La Piazzetta. It turned out to be one of the best pizzas I've had in a long time. My wife postponed our little tradition that evening because she was intrigued by the Alpine Rolls containing Swiss cheese, grilled Westphalian ham, red onions, chives, apples, white wine and Alfredo sauce. She ordered the Alpine Rolls and loved them.

We had lunch at Cafe Buade where I had pizza again and my wife tried the three-course lunch special. The entree was General Tso's chicken but with a Quebecois twist. It had a maple glaze which was delicious.

The Café Au Bonnet d'Âne (The Dunce Cap Cafe or The Donkey's Hat Cafe) was also a dinner suggestion from the concierge at our hotel. Its menu used a school theme with sections like Geography, Biology, etc.. My wife finally had pizza and what an exotic pizza it was. It contained sliced apples and bacon among other ingredients. As for me, I enjoyed the almond-crusted halibut that evening.

Le Cochon Dingue (The Crazy Pig) is located in the Lower Town and was about a 15-minute walk from our hotel, the Courtyard Marriott. We dined at Le Cochon Dingue twice during our stay - once for dinner and once for breakfast. For dinner, my wife and I shared a full rack of maple-smoked baby back ribs with potato skins - delicious. For dessert, we thoroughly enjoyed the maple sugar cake with thick vanilla cream. Breakfast the next morning at Le Cochon Dingue was filling and scrumptious. I especially enjoyed the hot chocolate with 64% Belgian chocolate.

Our final dinner was at Aux Anciens Canadiens. We arrived at 5:30 and was able to take advantage of the 3-course fixed-price menu. If we had arrived after 6 PM, everything would have been a la carte and potentially more expensive. Our meal was excellent. I stepped out a little and tried the Lac St-Jean meat pie. This was a hearty meat and potatoes dish that included wild game such as bison, caribou, and elk. I thoroughly enjoyed it. My wife had the Neptune’s shell that contained shrimp and scallops in white wine sauce and au gratin. It was excellent as well. For dessert, we went with the maple syrup pie - slammin'.

As for whether or not I could recommend one restaurant over another, I am not sure I could do it. Each was able to offer us great meals, be it pizza or fine dining. We never had a bad dining experience during our stay in Quebec City.
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Montreal, pretty much as expected, appears more European than Toronto. It's not just the fact that it's very French spoken, but also the old town – Vieux Montreal – with some buildings dating as far back as 17th century, and quite a few from the…Read More

Montreal, pretty much as expected, appears more European than Toronto. It's not just the fact that it's very French spoken, but also the old town – Vieux Montreal – with some buildings dating as far back as 17th century, and quite a few from the 18th century. It's also the lively and cosmopolitan area of Plateau Mont Royal, with the varied mixture of ethnic – mostly European – delis, restaurants and other stores, on the background of pretty convincingly French patisserie, boulangerie and charcuterie, and that is despite the fact that the best-known Quebecois contribution to cuisine is poutine, a quintessentially fast-foody combination of chips, squeaky cheese and gravy, about which the Canadians are as snobby as the Brits about pork scratchings. The coffee might be the standard North American dishwater, but the pastries, sausages and bread are all very Parisian.

But there is also shabbiness about Montreal, with a noticeably higher number of the visibly homeless and down-and-out people, including some sleeping rough, around the centre and in the metro. Toronto was big-city-lights-slick, with relentlessly smiley, friendly people who pretty much all looked prosperous: from heavily painted, hijabed, dripping with gold Asian mothers to preppy, blond, be-suited, chiselled-jawed Anglo-Saxons.

Montreal appears less American, less slick, more European, more humane, perhaps. More grumpy, too. People on the Metro (more crowded than Toronto's subway system) are similar to those on the London tube. Girls wear skirts (and are noticeably prettier).

Architecturally, though, the distinct Francophone, cosmopolitan, old-world core is surrounded by a very New-world sprawl. We stay with a lovely family in Laval – apparently the second largest city in Quebec, but unknown to most visitors – on a suburban estate that has no pavements, tenuous public transport connections and shopping areas in which you need to drive from one big-box store to another.
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Area called Cote Nord (North Coast) is the second-biggest administrative region of Quebec. It has a population of less than 100,000 in the area the size of the UK. Canada is certainly not short of space - now wonder it's possible to buy a plot…Read More

Area called Cote Nord (North Coast) is the second-biggest administrative region of Quebec. It has a population of less than 100,000 in the area the size of the UK. Canada is certainly not short of space - now wonder it's possible to buy a plot of land with sea views (but no electricity or water) for less than 10k here. Cote Nord stretches from Tadoussac (the oldest European settlement in Quebec) all the way to the Labrador border, along St Lawrence River. We stayed in a small (bust spread out along the highway and the coast) village of Les Escoumins.

The main industries in the area are mining, logging, hydro-electricity and tourism, mostly in the summer. But there is a lot of nature here and not very many people and the essential wildness of the land. This area is part of the Canadian Shield, a glacier-polished, thin-soiled, mineral-rich great curve of land around the Hudson Bay that stretches from Quebec to Ontario to northern Manitoba to North West territories that for me defines the quintessential Canadian wilderness. Covered mostly in boreal forest, with a sprinkling of maple and birch further south (birch mostly in the north), with much exposed rocks, the Shield has an almost ethereal, ascetic beauty, one that is not so much inhospitable to but disinterested in human life, even though some humans make their life here.

The St Lawrence estuary and particularly the area near the confluence of the Saguenay fjord is in the summer abundant in krill and other whale fodder and thus becomes a feeding ground for all kinds of marine mammals, including belugas, fin whales, sperm whales and even the blue whales.

We were told that the whales were not back yet, and that they don't come back until May but on a sunny Easter Saturday, as we moved from the house of one of our kind Couch Surfing hosts to another, the sun came up, the fog (or rather the "sea smoke") cleared and in the dark blue waters of St Lawrence estuary appeared groups of belugas. We stood on the rocks (by the way, these were the iconic, grey, prehistoric-looking Canadian rocks) and there they were, bizarrely white (REALLY white!), showing their curved backs above the water, moving swiftly up the river towards the Saguenay fjord. One of them came near the shore and we could clearly see not only the back but also the tail and strangely shaped head and face: my first ever whale!

The next day was even nicer, and we spend half a day basking in the sun on the rocks surrounding Les Escoumins, looking at the sparkling blue and grey river, with the snow melting all around us and the sun rays hot and strong. We saw some seals playing in the water, and towards the afternoon we spot a huge, long, dark, sleek curve with a small fin appearing in the water not further than 20 metres away from the rocks. With breath held, we wait, and it appears again a few meters closer, and then, after about five minutes, reappears good fifty meters away. This was almost certainly a finback whale, the second biggest marine mammal out there, and our second whale!

We leave the coastal rocks in joy and even getting stuck in the deep, melting snow on the way back doesn’t dampen our spirits.

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Quebec city is simply wonderful. It's the most normal (read: European) place we have so far visited in Canada, intensely Francophone, a little bit provincial maybe; Quebec City has a human scale and feel (in addition to a very Catholic colour - it feels like…Read More

Quebec city is simply wonderful.

It's the most normal (read: European) place we have so far visited in Canada, intensely Francophone, a little bit provincial maybe; Quebec City has a human scale and feel (in addition to a very Catholic colour - it feels like a city Cardinal Richelieu could have built).

Even outside the historic, walled centre (it's the only walled city in North America and on UNESCO's World Heritage list), the buildings are not those flat, vast, low boxes placed about 5 miles from each other that you need at least a motorbike to travel between, but a somehow more approachable, walkable and altogether better than what we saw in Toronto or Montreal/Laval.

People are incredibly friendly and seem happily content without being manically positive, and the place seems civilised but not altogether boring.

Oh, and it's situated in the fantastic point over the St Lawrence river, just where the wide estuary narrows into a more manageable waterway - there is even a ferry that takes people and cars to the other side and allows for even better views of the historic Old Town (Vieux Quebec). What more can one want?

But of course it's the Old Quebec that makes Quebec such an enchanting place, and such a popular tourist destination. It’s a pleasure to just stroll around the streets and alleys of the old town, so unexpectedly attractive in the New World.

There are also elegant baroque churches, seminaries and municipal buildings, pretty squares and an almost complete set of walls, whose battlements dotted with cannons can be walked for spending views of the city, port and river.

The most famous building in Quebec, or perhaps the most recognised, is the much newer Chateau Frontenac hotel, with its mock-baronial, turreted and pinnacled architecture. Barely 120 years old (and in fact, the massive and rather monstrous central tower was added in the 20’s), this is apparently the most photographed building in Canada, and certainly in Quebec City. It’s rather over the top, but with its superb situation and striking silhouette, no wonder really.

The Chateau sits above the lower city (Basse Ville) and the river, and nearby set of stairs as well as a funicular connect the area immediately adjacent to the hotel to the attractive set of buildings, shops and restaurants immediately below, centred on restored Place Royale, and with a lively Rue du Petit-Champlain particularly good for arts, crafts, food and drink.

The lower town also has the Museum of Civilisation and the terminal for the commuter ferry to Levis, a workaday community on the other bank of St Lawrence, eminently worth a trip for the views (as well as a nice microbrewery pub the Corsair).
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We leave Les Escoumins (where we had the most enjoyable three days including wonderfully sunny Easter weekend graced with sightings of belugas and fin back whales) on a rainy Easter Monday, by a crowded bus. Our lovely host Mannu sees us off at the…Read More

We leave Les Escoumins (where we had the most enjoyable three days including wonderfully sunny Easter weekend graced with sightings of belugas and fin back whales) on a rainy Easter Monday, by a crowded bus. Our lovely host Mannu sees us off at the bust station and persuades the bus driver to let us off at the turn for the Saint Simeon ferry rather than at the normal stops a couple of kilometres up the road. The bus is packed with people going back to Quebec and Montreal after Easter at home. In Tadoussac it gets so busy that some people need to stand.

As the bus crosses he Saguenay fjord on the small car ferry, the grey skies start to clear and some blue appears in the south and over the mountains.

The driver does as she was asked to and lets us off at the traffic lights in Saint Simeon, on top of the hill from which we can see the ferry terminal and the ferry nearing the moorings. We have about half an hour to the departure and after a ten minute walk downhill we are just in time to see the ferry dock and to walk on with the other foot passengers.

The crossing takes just over and hour, across calm St Lawrence and affords for lovely views of both shores. As we near the south shore and the Riviere-du-Loup terminal, the sun breaks again at one point through the clouds over the Charelvoix mountains and the rays come streaming down, illuminating some hills and leaving the rest in an eerie, sharp shadow.

The ferry itself is a surprisingly substantial and comfortable vessel, with a large salon, small playroom for children, bar and restaurant as well as free wifi Internet.

The terminal at Riviere-du-Loup is, however, not only deserted, but also located at least couple of miles out of town's centre and, considering the annoying Canadian habit of placing bus and train stations on the periphery, probably at least three miles from the Via Rail station.

We get thrown out of the ferry terminal building by a guy that locks it up for the day, but he also gives us the taxi number, and one arrives in five minutes to takes us to the train station, or rather to a burger joint cum patisserie (here is Quebec for you!) about five minutes walk from it. We spend the next four hours in that diner, stretching our burgers, chips, coffee and cakes as much as we can. By the time the diner closes at 10pm, there is still an hour and half to wait until the railway station opens at 11.30pm (our train leaves at six minutes past midnight). It stays open until 3am, six days a week.

There are only two trains that come through Riviere-du-Loup: the one we are taking to Halifax (three times a week it has coaches to Gaspe) and the one that goes back from Halifax to Montreal.

We walk to the station as slowly as we can, but it's still only 10.20 when we arrive. The small waiting room is lit up but locked, and there is absolutely nothing outside: not a roof, not a shelter, not a seat, not even a step to sit on. We place our rucksacks on the ground under the small roof in front of the door and with the children nodding off on the rucksacks we stand around waiting for the guy who runs the station to turn up. Two other people do come, arriving to collect people from the Ocean train we are taking, but 11.30pm passes and the guy is still not there.

He turns up at 11.20 without a word of apology and then spends another 15 minutes doubting the validity of our reservation. I show him the confirmation email on my phone, he complains about small letters impossible to read, I then suggests he phones and when he does things get sorted and our tickets get printed, our rucksacks checked in and in ten minutes the train arrives.

It's big train -proper, solid and powerful looking thing that looks made for long journeys and crossing snow-bound forests. As much as the station experience was an example of once-thriving industry being in what seemed like terminal decline, once we are on the train it all seems completely reversed.

We climb aboard a warm, spacious carriage, led by a smiling, friendly and polite steward, who points us to two sets of two seats and promptly brings pillows and blankets. The seats are huge - honestly, they are wide, have piles of leg room and recline (or rather pull out), there are clever spaces for carry-on luggage and foot rests and similar.
So, we are travelling, again.Close