Trippin' in Canada: Québec, Québec, Québec! (pt. 1)

I'm ashamed to admit I didn't know where Quebec was.

              Canada is often regarded as America's brother country, but it's surprising how few people have been there. Literally, my experience crossing the border felt more like stopping at a toll booth (granted, you do need a passport). This summer I had the wonderful experience of spending a week with my northern sibling. We rejected Montreal for now to check out another famous Canadian city in its province of the same name, Québec.
             Québec city is home to over 500,000 people, and although Canada's official languages are both English and French, the majority of the ville's people and buildings use French. Québec is a city that elegantly combines the old and the new. There are homey European-style blocks, and sleek, modern high-rise buildings- sometimes in close proximity. Its people are also a vibrant mix of the two, with an interesting, sometimes eclectic crowd of young and old people (and trust me, it's not always the young who are strange). The women are beautiful in a Parisian sort of way, and the men are everything but standard or drab. There's your typical rebellious young type, your thuggish, bodyguard kind, and the highly classy sort. For the most part, the civilians are proud of their French history and older culture, and that shows in their resistance to fully adopt English. It isn't too hard to find someone that's bilingual, (the phrase "Parlez-vous anglais?" goes a long way here) but not everyone that can speak English will want to. Some reason that by giving in, they are sacrificing the two.

Huge mass of people.

           Rather contrary to this belief , there is a huge tourist block in the Ville de Québec. As soon as I got off the ferry (see photo) from Lévis, I noticed a huge mass of people by an old mural, as well as plenty of interesting-looking shops on the streets. Looking into the shops, though, it was pretty obvious there wasn't much of anything authentically Canadian of French. Now, if you will, let me get a point across right now: postcards and cheap souvenirs disgust me. Key-chains and generic pens disgust me. I might never talk to you again if you went to a foreign country and that was what you brought back.  American-style food designed to masquerade as native (e.g. pizza) is also not my thing. If, however, these things attract you, as they seemed to do to swarms of tourists, then by all means come see the Centré Commercial.
           We took a couple hours' walk to the Citadel (Citadelle), which is a functioning military base with tons of history located on the south side of Québec. The wall of the Citadel stretches deep through the entire city, and I enjoyed pretending to be a daredevil walking along the path the walls created (see photo). The citadel is not open to the public, unfortunately, but the landscape around and the building itself are to die for. If you don't believe me, check out the photo.
           Need something more invigorating? The following day, we took a 40-minute car ride to a little place called Mont St. Anne. The place is open to golfing, hiking, biking, skiing (cold season only, obviously), and more, but we only came to see the waterfall. Canyon St. Anne is open year-round to people who come to sight-see, rock climb, or zip line, but I would recommend going during warmer seasons. I did the latter for the first time, and it was ridiculous (in a good way!). In reality, though,  there are tons of beautiful sights to be seen and activities to be done on the outskirts of Québec, this was just one of them. I encourage you to explore whatever you please!
           Honestly, though, simply being in the city was an experience by itself. If you take the time to look around, you'll probably notice something that I couldn't help but observe: no matter where you go, people are inherently the same. Their attitudes, desires, and behavior are all similar, and they'll treat you just like your own kind might treat strangers. Some will give warm welcomes, some may not. I almost got short-changed for 5 dollars at a gas station by a shifty fast-talking fellow. Québec is a city of humans, that's all. So as the British said/say, keep calm and carry on.
             

Find the photos I'm talking about, and more, at this crazy place.