Different Perspectives in Quebec

I was really curious about Quebec and to see how different it was from the other provinces in Canada. Within a day of entering the province I realised that I had expected to encounter the stereotypical 'french' attitude of snobbiness to people who don't speak french and lots of stylin' fashion. Well, one out of two was correct. We only encountered friendly, helpful and lovely Quebequas and yes, as expected, saw a lot of hot fashion on the streets.

It was so interesting to learn the history of the French in Canada. and to realise that it was only in 1995 that they narrowly rejected becoming their own political state (by 0.5%). They had better relations with the First Nations people, they populated right down the Mississippi to Louisiana. Their influence around Canada is quite prominent. Every single package, sign and label in Canada is in English and French. There's French communities in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick... Anyways.. it was just a slice of history that I had never really learnt about.

One of my favourite stories was: When Quebec City was first being established there wasn't enough women around to help populate the new colony. So, they shipped 950 women over straight from some overflowing boarding and reform houses in Paris. Within one week of them arriving they were all married!! Not only that, but due to most of the colony being directly related to these 950 Parisian women - Parisian French was spoken there more widely and purely than most of France at the time!!

Quebec City, Quebec - Old Town Upper




Still loving those fall colours and leaves everywhere we looked..



Quebec City Quebec - Old Town Lower
A reunion with Fiona!

Fantastic wall murals in the old town.


Street Cherubs?

A picnic with Fiona and our European friends overlooking the river in beautiful sunshine... we were lapping it up while we could.



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Montreal

Josh was excited about the Formula One Track which is open to cylists when they're not racing. You can't hear him but you can imagine the fast car noises he was making as he took this corner...

Josh: The city is very much trading off the '67 expo - its effects are still evident. One of the legacies of the expo was "Habitat 67".
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Habitat_67.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Habitat_67


Stylin it in Old Montreal!! (correctly pronounced Mon-He-AL)



Halloween Parade in Montreal. They were so into the gory, scary side of Halloween!! We loved it! Except when the masked men snuck up on us in a side alley way - gave me a heart attack!!