VIEUX-QUEBEC
by
Bruce Burnett
It
is said that an American tourist visiting Quebec City once asked to see
the Jewish Aviation Museum. "The Jewish Aviation Museum?" queried
the puzzled tourist guide. "Yea, you know, the Planes of Abraham."
exclaimed the tourist.
The story is no doubt apocryphal, but it underscores the fact that Quebec
boasts a different language and culture from the rest of North America.
And vive la difference. Quebec City is the cradle of French civilization
in North America. Founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, French soldier,
navigator, geographer and explorer, it is the only walled city north of
Mexico.
The name Quebec is derived from the Indian word "Kebec," meaning
"narrowing of the waters." The city is perched on a 106 meter
(350ft) cliff overlooking the St. Lawrence River and is divided into the
Upper and Lower town. In colonial times the Upper Town was the domain
of the military and the government. The Lower Town encompassed the port
and trading district where supplies from Europe were unloaded to be replaced
by the rich furs of "New France."
Authentic restoration ensures that today's Lower Town retains the ambience
of early New France, including the thick stonewalls, dormer windows, wooden
doors and shutters and bright tin roofs. The art galleries, boutiques
and quaint alfresco cafes that have replaced the old warehouses give Quebec
that uniquely European look unknown in other North American cities.
The heart of the Lower Town was, and still is, Place Royale, named after
Louis X1V whose bust stands in the square. Hard by Place Royale is Quartier
Petit-Champlain, the oldest district in North America, dating back to
the city's founding in 1608. Originally it was a busy port village with
trading posts and elegant residences built of wood, then stone and brick.
Towards the end of the 19th century Quartier Petit-Champlain deteriorated.
Modern renovation, with strict adherence to authenticity, has again turned
the quarter into a quaint riverside village where pedestrians can stroll
the narrow streets enjoying the local color. Over 60 craftspeople and
artists offer their wares here and visitors can enjoy the native entertainers
and musicians while partaking of Quebec's sumptuous French cuisine.
To get to the Upper Town from the Lower Town you can climb the aptly named
"Break-neck Stairs" or take a small funicular railway.
Dominating the skyline up top is that majestic symbol of Quebec City,
the Chateau Frontenac. The hotel was built in 1893 and its turrets and
towers make it look more like a castle. It is on the site of Fort St.
Louis, a governor's residence in colonial times, and was named after Comte
de Frontenac, an early governor of New France.
The
battle for the
Plains of Abraham in 1759.
In
a final irony, both Wolfe and
Montcalm were killed in the battle.
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From
the front of the Chateau Frontenac you can take the Promenade des
Gouverneurs, a picturesque boardwalk, round to the famous Plains of
Abraham or Battlefields Park. This 95-hectare (235 acres) park was
the site of the pivotal battle between General Wolfe and General Montcalm
in 1759 that irrevocably sealed the fate of New France as a British
colony. The boardwalk itself is suspended 92 meters (280ft) above
the St. Lawrence and offers spectacular views of the river and Quebec's
busy harbor. |
Visitors
arriving in Quebec City by car from Montreal are likely to drive down the
Grande Allee. The road dates from colonial times when the indigenous people
of the Sillery reserve took what was then the longest road in the colony
into town to sell their furs. Today the road is lined with restaurants and
small hotels all housed in Victorian buildings. It's great fun to stroll
this busy street at night reading the menus posted outside the restaurants.
The quality of the restaurants in Quebec City is unequalled anywhere in
North America, including New York and San Francisco. Meandering down the
Grande Allee in the evening one regrets that one can eat only one dinner.
A
visit to Quebec would be incomplete without a tour of L'ile d'Orleans,
a 35 kilometer (21 miles) by nine-kilometer (five miles) island in the
middle of the St. Lawrence River.
Quebec
poet and folksinger, Felix Leclerc, describes the road that circumscribes
the island as "quarante-deux milles de choses tranquilles ..."
(42 miles of tranquility). The island is certainly a living museum of
colonial New France with houses, churches and mills that are centuries
old.
Of particular interest in the village of Saint-Jean is the Manoir Mauvide-Genest.
Built in 1734 for Mr. Mauvide, surgeon to Louis XV, it is a Norman-style
manor and one of the most beautiful rural buildings in the province of
Quebec. Today it houses a restaurant on the first floor and a museum on
the second.
The bridge connecting the island with the mainland was built in 1935.
Prior to this the only contact with the island was by boat in summer and
ice-bridge in winter. From the bridge one gets a superb view of Montmorency
Falls on the mainland. With a height of 85 meters (274 ft) it is over
30 meters (100 ft) higher than Niagara Falls. On top of the cliff and
to the left of the falls stands the Kent House, once the home of the Duke
of Kent, father of Queen Victoria.
The uniqueness of Quebec was summed up by the English writer Rudyard Kipling
in a letter home upon visiting the city in 1907. He wrote: "Quebec
... ranks by herself among those Mother-cities of whom none can say, 'This
reminds me ….'"
VIEUX-QUEBEC
was first published by the Vancouver Province
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