What happens in .... Stays in....: O Canada! Mais oui Montreal et Quebec!

Montreal

Bienvenue a Montreal.... having successfully outwitted the authorities, we made it past the US/Canada border and up to Montreal. The train journey was long but very comfortable considering we could spread out with so few people travelling that route.

And being French Canadian, all the signs were in French and not a word of English to be found. The Quebecois are very proud of their French language. Not that they want to associate themselves with the French in anyway, heaven forbid! Even though they are all Bilingual, French is the ONLY language they speak. It was therefore up to myself to do the translating for the Dynamic Duo and I was more than happy to get some practise in. However, each time I spoke French to someone, they responded in English. I would then speak English and they would ask me why I wouldn’t speak French!!! Ahhhhh. I was not amused when this charade continued for the next 7 days.

Heidi gets all French in a new berei and scarf down a rambling Montreal Street

Montreal is a very arty city and very much the style of old school European buildings. Downtown was just the prettiest area alive with tourist shops, fountains, gardens, Cathedrals and of course restaurants selling poutine (hot chips smothered in gravy and melted cheese) – a French Canadian speciality.

Poutine, poutine and more poutine! Yummo!

Some of the street art of Montreal - comfortable chairs too!

Our fantastic hostel was located in a wonderfully central location so we walked all the main areas. We had dinner in the fancy restaurant/nightclub street of Rue de St Denis and even one night found ourselves in the very colourful and visually amusing Gay area full of punks! It was 3 days of walking followed by poutine eating and then walking some more.

Some of the beautiful European style architecture of Montreal

Whilst wondering the streets we came across Notre Dame Cathedral and thought we might take a look inside. What we found we did not expect!!! The building was full of stain glass windows, marble carvings and beautiful old wooden pews but the most amazing part of the Cathedral was the display of the Last Supper at the very front. It was a sight that has to been seen to be truly appreciated. A treasure in the middle of the city!

The amazing Notre Dame Cathedral with it's stain glassed windows

It was time to head to the Capital of Quebec though for a further cultural immersion... Quebec city!

Quebec

Driving into Quebec City makes you feel like you’ve driven into an old French town or even a medieval town somewhere in Spain or Germany. With it’s citadel walls encompassing the city and the incredible Chateau Fontenac at the pinnacle of the town it was like we’d stepped back in time. With our hostel being located in old town Quebec it was perfect for more walking and meandering around the city streets. Cheaper on the pocket and better for the backside! On our first full day there, we decided to head into town to check out the shops and sights. However, we took a look out the window and the rain was pouring down. Being the intrepid travellers that we are, we decided that a little rain wasn’t going to stop us so rugging up (it was FREEZING by this stage!) we trotted off down the cobblestone streets. We were very proud of our efforts as we took in history, architecture, language and cultural stuff! Heading down towards Champlain Street we went in search of a cafe to get a hot chocolate but being a Sunday, wet and extremely cold, most cafes were closed so we took the only alternative we could find. We sat down under a large umbrella and had a glass of Sangria each!!!! Just perfect.

An arty shot of the Chateau Fontenac from the street below

The intrepid travellers in Quebec City

Wandering the Streets of Old Quebec town, Serena takes refuge from the rain

Walking down Champlain Street in search of hot chocolate...

.... but instead we found Sangria to warm the cockles of our hearts!

Taking a bit of initiative and to put it simply, because we are poor backpackers, we decided to do a bit of the tourist trail on foot and by public bus! Man we have mastered this public transport thing so well that we have people asking us for directions and we can give them the quickest route possible straight off the top of our heads!

Wandering around outside the gates of the Old Town, we found the Parliament house. We headed inside for a sticky beak and found that they ran free tours every half hour. We just heard the words ‘free tour’ and we were there! The interior of the building was just stunning. It makes our Parliament look so sterile. The two main rooms were painted blue and red and were rather regal looking. The following day we found the public bus and headed out to Mont Morency Falls. We walked around the falls and then down the many many flights of stairs and looking back up the stairs decided that the cable car on the other side of the river was a more enticing return! For $4 it was not a bad day’s worth of entertainment!

The main room of Parliament House was so beautiful