The Province of Quebec - Insiders' Guide

For Americans, visiting the province of Québec is like traveling overseas. It’s a real foreign country in looks, sounds, tastes, and the electricity in the air, and yet it has a familiar ring too. Québec is European and French, but with a distinctly New World flavor. For one thing, although it fiercely protects its language, it is not as disdainful of things American as its European parent. (Nor, in fact, as critical of American influence as its neighbors just west in Ontario.) It embraces all sorts of Americanisms, from fast food to shopping malls, but insists that they be renamed in French. You’ll find the familiar face of Colonel Sanders over a sign that reads Pulet Frit a la Kentucky. While we may (and often do) laugh at the absurdities of Québec’s “Language Police” (which even many local Francophones call “Tongue Troopers”), this very Gallic crankiness accounts for many of Québec’s appealing quirks. And with it comes a passion, a verve, a sparkle of pure joie de vivre. And it’s infectious. As you might expect of a place populated mainly by people of French heritage—however many centuries removed from their homeland—Québécois are passionate about food and wine. They demand quality and they usually get it, so much so that it is not unusual for people to travel here just for a weekend of fine dining in Montréal or at one of the numerous country inns. Many of these auberges are known as much for the accolades of their chefs as for the stylish warmth of their ambience. If you have visited only the smart cosmopolitan cities of Montréal and Québec, you may have a surprise coming when you venture into the hinterlands of the province. The French charm and joie de vivre are still there, but once you stray from the resort areas and tourist paths, you will find yourself in a different world. Small communities cluster both literally and metaphorically around their parish church, which often looms as a large physical presence in their midst. Community social, political, and spiritual life is centered there, and the parish priest has a great deal more influence over the lives and opinions of his parishioners than his colleagues do in the city parishes. One result of this influence is that it is these rural towns that provide the strongest push for Québec separatism. On the recurring referendum votes, the oui votes come heavily from these areas, which have less involvement in the economic and political realities of modern culture in the province as a whole. But these differences make travel among them all the more interesting. For a real linguistic and cultural immersion, as well as a rollicking good time, join them at a church supper or in a cabane à sucre for a spirited evening of good, hearty habitant food. Here you are likely to hear the unforgettable sound that personifies the indomitable spirit of these regions: fiddle music. We promise you that your feet will be tapping in tune within five minutes. For those who long for facts, here are a few about Québec. Its population exceeds seven million, of which 80 percent speak French. The other 20 percent represent a shrinking number of Anglophones, more of whom move away with each referendum on separatism. Their numbers are replaced by immigrants who arrive in Montréal in a regular stream. These immigrants, on becoming voting citizens, also represent a firm voting bloc against separatism. This eTrail is a chapter excerpted from the book "Insiders' Guide to Eastern Canada." It is packed with information on each destination including history, getting there & around, major cities & regions, and what to do & where to stay when you get there.