Somewhere in ... Quebec

"Bonjour Quebec" we said as we crossed the state line into the province of Quebec, Canada, when all the road signs turned to french only, even the until now universal STOP signs! And this "Nouvelle France" does try to retain much of the Older France culture and language while, at times reluctantly, embracing many features of the nearby English-speaking New World!

Our first destination was the big city of Montreal, where we were able to practise none less than our swiss-german with fellow europeans Pablo and Chantal! Their house featured one of the first interesting features of Montreal, double-storey buildings with external staircases leading directly to the 2nd floor! Montreal made quite a difference from Toronto, more compact and many, MANY more churches (quebequois are historically a very catholic bunch), while still remaining a canadian metropolis with a skyscraper skyline and the ubiquitous Tim Horton's, a very canadian coffee shop chain with delicious cheap treats! Oh and did you know that many, many Hollywood films are made in either Montreal or Toronto due to their older architecture and just as importantly, lower production costs!

After saying goodbye to Montreal and our swiss hosts, we headed for Quebec City, the capital of the province of Quebec. And while Montreal retained many of its fellow New-World qualities, Quebec is pretty unique in that it is purely french-speaking, historical, old (even by european standards) charming small city, with the old core surrounded by the original military walls, and even despite a significant presence of english architecture, it felt more french than many french towns we visited, with the kind of old french charm of small restaurants, outdoor cafes, exquisite little urban gardens and street musicians.

We would love to have spent more time in this romantic city but our journey relentlessly must go on with many more places to see, and anyway we look even more forward to experiencing again this french lifestyle back home, and amazing to think it's not so far off any more! But for the moment we must bid all of it, Au Revoir!