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CANADA
Across Canada with Via Rail Alberta Beef Alberta - Cypress Hills Alberta Dog Sledding Alberta's Edmonton Festivals Alberta - Edmonton Shopping British Columbia -Barkerville British Columbia - Vancouver and Victoria British Columbia - Victoria- Inn at Laurel Point British Columbia - Victoria - Spinnakers Manitoba's Beluga Whales Manitoba's Polar Bears North Western Aurora Nova Scotia Birding Nunavut Adventure Ontario - Toronto's CN Tower Ontario - Toronto's Fairmont Royal Hotel Prince Edward Island Kayaks Prince Edward Island Music Quebec City / Montreal Quebec City Quebec City Cuisine Saskatchewan VIA Rail's Fall Foliage Corridor VIA Rail's Scenic Canada Yukon - Dawson City  HOTEL FINDER Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac MONTREAL HOTELS QUEBEC CITY HOTELS QUEBEC HOTELS Find your perfect hotel accommodation in Quebec here |
CANADA - QUEBEC - QUEBEC CITY / MONTREAL : A TALE OF TWO CITIES by Ursula & Eldrid Retief  We went sightseeing in Quebec City .... and on the first day we didn’t get further than Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac.There is so much to see at Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac that they lay on guided tours to fill you in on its rich history. It owes its name to the flamboyant French governor Louis de Buade, Count of Frontenac, who controlled the destiny of New France in the late 17th-century. Built at the end of the last century by William van Horne, president of Canadian Pacific, as a stopover for CP passengers, Chateau Frontenac, looking out over the great St. Lawrence River, is the symbolic landmark of Quebec City (QUEBEC CITY HOTELS)and the unrivalled centre of its cultural, social and political life. History casts a long architectural shadow over Chateau Frontenac; indeed, a 300-year-old stone bearing the Cross of Malta emblem is among the interior stones of the hotel’s entry vault. The interior decor has a discreet opulence: the brasswork and chandeliers as they were a hundred years ago, fine oak panelling, antique or contemporary furnishings designed to link the mystery of a mediaeval fortress with the amenities of a modern hotel. We finally stepped out of the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac onto the boardwalk, pinned to the cliffside, about a hundred metres over the St. Lawrence River and we feasted on the breathtaking views of the river and the Laurentian Mountains. Nestled at our feet was much of modern Quebec City, immediately around us the 200-year-old stone buildings, cobbled courtyards and quaint cafes of the Old Quarter. Quebec City has been for a long time the key to the interior of the continent, serving as the main base for explorers who probed west to the Rockies and south to the Gulf of Mexico. Founded in 1608 by the French soldier, navigator, geographer and explorer, Samuel de Champlain, it is one of North America’s most historic cities, the only one north of Mexico to be completely surrounded by a stone wall. The old part of the city is recognized by UNESCO as a World Heritage treasure, an honour it shares with sites like Rome, Jerusalem and the pyramids of Egypt. The centre of the lower town, by the riverfront, boasts the continent's largest collection of 17th- and 18th-century buildings We were in Quebec City in mid-winter and we were embraced by its gallic warmth as the Québec Winter Carnival exploded with joy, a sort of Mardi Gras in snow-shoes. In spring the city sizzles with creativity, and then there’s the international Summer Festival, the largest cultural event in the French-speaking world with over 250 shows and more than 600 performers from 15 countries. It’s blessed with an infectious joie de vivre, nowhere more so than in the Grande Allee, a scaled-down French-Canadian version of the Champs Elysees which starts at the Saint Louis Gate, the most used and most photographed portal of the high stone fortifications. Restaurants, cafes, and late night bistros, cheek by jowl, give the Grande Allee its special panache. It may be the cradle of French civilization in the New World, but Quebec City is not all quaintness, of course. It is for the most part a contemporary and sophisticated city, the capital of Canada’s largest province and an important centre of government. Quebec City is at the foothills of four major ski resorts, all less than 30 minutes from downtown. It’s the starting point to some of the most popular tourist destinations in the province but Via Rail Canada’s superb inter-city took us to Montreal where Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth sits atop the Central Station, reigning over an elaborate Underground City. What began as a simple underground shopping centre in 1962 has blossomed to include 30 kilometres of climate-controlled subterranean malls. In the Underground City's corridors are boutiques (1,600) of them, cinemas (30), restaurants (200), banks (40), museums, hotels, subway stations and even a public library. The entire Christ Church Cathedral which was built 135 years ago was raised and suspended in the air while the Mall was constructed below. In the centre of Montreal's (MONTREAL HOTELS) cultural and commercial districts as it is, Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth is also near famous landmarks such as Place des Arts, Dominion Square and Place Bonaventure. What would the French navigator Jacques Cartier have made of today's Montreal? He landed on the island in 1535 in search of a short-cut to the Orient. He didn't stay long and the city had its real beginning when de Champlain established a temporary fur trading post there in 1611. But it was really founded in 1642 by Paul de Chomedey de Maisonneuve. Today it is a magical island city mingling the glitter of a North American metropolis with the tranquility of a French village. It owes its unique flavor to an original bouillabaisse of Amerindian, French and British traditions spiced with the customs and styles of all the Montrealers who came later. Its chic European flavor derives from its beginnings as the colonial centre of New France, when the winding streets were lined with imposing field-stone homes and rang with the hearty laughter of coureurs des bois back from the fur trapping treks through the wilds. Walk the cobbled streets of the Old Quarter, a 95-acre repository of buildings, museums and monuments dating back to the 17th century. Today, some of the finest French restaurants, outdoor cafes and bistros are there, and when you're in the neighbourhood nip into Briskets Beaver Hall and ask owner Jack Indri for his smoked meat. Only minutes away, surrounded by breathtaking parkland overlooking the St. Lawrence River, the Casino de Montreal is situated in magnificent Parc Jean-Drapeau. The view alone is worth a visit. Beyond the original site, spreading up the slopes of Mount Royal, the downtown core still retains many of its imposing Victorian structures, the legacy of the English, Scots and Irish who arrived when Montreal passed from French to British hands. The most traditional view of Montreal is from atop Mont Royal Park, the mountain retreat in the heart of the city. While you're there, walk through the wooded trail of Beaver Lake and make a pilgrimage to nearby Saint-Joseph's Oratory where the faithful still come for miracle cures. Jacques Cartier is probably kicking himself that he didn't stay longer. MONTREAL HOTELS QUEBEC CITY HOTELS QUEBEC HOTELS Photo: Montréal skyline viewed from the parc Jean-Drapeau © Tourisme Montréal |
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