Montreal, Quebec
We arrived in Montreal just in time for the last two days of the International Jazz Festival. There was a bunch of blocks cordoned off for the festival with 5 or 6 different stages. We had managed to follow another heat wave and it was absolutely sweltering when we arrived but there were water features and little sprinklers throughout the Festival, which were handy for a quick dip under to try and cool off just a little!
The first afternoon after getting ourselves sorted with a Festival program we headed off to check out Old Town. Really beautiful cobblestoned streets lined with majestic old buildings greeted us but unfortunately these beautiful buildings were mainly filled with souvenir shops and overpriced restaurants and cafes.
This dog was actually lying in a shop window
After a short rest we headed back to the Festival and spent the night eating baguettes and dip while listening to some pretty spectacular musicians. We capped off the night with a soft serve from McDonalds as it was still roasting even though it was 11.00pm. Did you know cones in Montreal now cost $1.40?! What happened to 30 cent cones?! Pfft.
The following day we headed back to the Festival and spent a few hours cooling off in the air-conditioned bliss of a mall. I really do like summer but I think this was the fourth or fifth heat wave that we have been in and my body had just about had enough.
There were thousands of people out for the final night of the Festival particularly as the night was kicked off with Mardi Gras! There was a great atmosphere about the place and my highlight band of the night was Trombone Shorty, who came out from New Orleans. They were a really great brass band that had probably about twenty thousand people on their feet dancing. So fun!!
Quebec City, Quebec
We made a very easy crossing back over the Canadian border, so easy in fact I was asleep as we drove up to it and had to do a mad scramble to find the passports. Canadians are much more blasé than the Americans though so we didn’t have any hassles apart from me trying to look awake and alert!
We soon found an information centre and after the incredibly helpful staff filled us in on the highlights of Quebec and Montreal we took off through the rolling hills. That is until we had to fill up with petrol and discovered it cost us $30 extra per tank in Canada than it had in the US! We had forgotten how expensive Canada is. Should have filled up on the US side of the border. Doh!
On reaching Quebec City we got ourselves orientated and cashed up with Canadian moolah and headed to explore the city. Like most cities, the most interesting and picturesque area was Old Town and we spent most of our three days in this area.
I LOVED Quebec. It has become my absolutely favourite city that we have visited. France has always been the ultimate place I want to visit (and live if at all possible for a year or two) and Quebec was such an eye opening experience. We tried to learn some French before we arrived but we are both hopeless at that sort of thing without a structured program and someone correcting our pronunciation! We so wished we had learnt more once we were there though. We both felt so ignorant, rude and “typical” tourists but the locals we spoke with really did appreciate our very poor efforts and took pity on us and spoke English.
The majority of locals we spoke with were actually born, raised and schooled in France but due to the political instability and the direction the country is going in, a lot of French are moving to the Quebec province. This I think has created quite a lot of animosity towards Canada and there seems to be a growing “Liberate Quebec” movement. They are so incredibly proud of their heritage and language. The French have a reputation of haughtiness and rudeness but I really grew to respect that as their way of preserving their language and culture. The world is becoming so globalised with chains and strip malls everywhere, so it was great to see a group of people wanting to preserve something so precious and unique.
While at the information centre they told us about three free shows that were on the nights we were going to be in Quebec, and as they were free we of course decided to check them out. The first night we went to a Cirque du Soleil show that was preformed outdoors under a crisscross of overpasses. It was mind bowing. The performance happened all around us and went for over an hour. Pretty awesome for a free show! It was performed with absolute professionalism and was totally captivating. Quebecians sure know how to put on shows properly!
The following night after a day of wandering through old buildings, military forts and gorging ourselves on strawberries and chocolate croissants from the local market, we headed to the port to watch an image and laser lights show that is projected onto silos across the water (The Image Mill). It told the story of the history of Quebec and was a really fascinating experience. It is in the Guinness Book of Records as the largest show of its kind (over 600m wide and 30m tall), and it was definitely impressive enough to claim that honour!
Just a small section of the show from across the water
The last day in Quebec we spent wandering through art galleries and were lucky enough to stumble into the art gallery of Alain Lacaze. We were already planning on buying one of his pieces from his agent in the more touristy “art street’, but while visiting his gallery he took us into his work shop and showed us how intricate and skilful the process is in creating his pieces. It was a really interesting experience, and when speaking with his agent later on that day we learnt that Alain hardly ever shows anyone his workspace. I guess he must have liked the Aussie accent!
That night we went to a concert held in front of the parliament buildings, which was a celebration of all things French. There was a huge four-tiered stage that held an orchestra, the main group of about 15 singers in the very middle and then a huge choir filling in the gaps. It was absolutely amazing. They sang traditional French songs, and although we couldn’t understand what was said or sung, it still gave me shivers! The Quebecians do not do things by halves, that’s for sure!
For the last song, which everyone seemed to know the words to, they got everyone to get up and dance. Quebecians can’t dance. It was hilarious! But they were all so uninhibited and enthusiastic that Aidan and I joined in with a lot of jumping up and down and pretending we knew the words. It was tons of fun and such a great ending to such a beautiful and interesting city. Quebec, I am coming back!
