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KLMNO The Impulsive Traveler In Quebec City, vive la difference, eh? BY ANNE GLUSKER Having recently moved back to the
United States from France, I was sorely craving a hit of Old Europe when I received the notice frommy son’s French immersion school: It was seeking volun- teers to accompany the fifth-grade class on an end-of-the-year field trip to Que- bec City. A 14-hour bus trip with 40 unruly tweens probably isn’t anyone’s idea of a good time, but I bit. I’d long been curious about la Nouvelle France, finding it hard to imagine what had resulted when French explorers set down roots in the New World. In just a fewwhirlwind days, I found out. Quebec really is its own unique
culture, neither French nor Anglo Cana- dian, and certainly not American. No place I visited in the city so perfectly encapsulated the melange of cultures as the Cochon Dingue in the Lower Town portion of Old Quebec. Inside the atmo- spheric cafe (the name translates as “Crazy Pig”) you could almost think you’re in Paris. Coffee: strong and aro- matic. Croissants: properly light and flaky. Newspaper-reading patrons: ap- propriate air of studied nonchalance. But one bite of the delicious, buttery toasted pain aux canneberges (cranber- ry bread), and you know you’re not anywhere near the Eiffel Tower. Cran- berries just aren’t aFrench thing; they’re aNorth American crop. The Cochon Dingue is a perfect place
to begin a wander through the 400-year- old walled city. Vieux Quebec is a UNES- CO World Heritage site, full of cobble- stone streets, narrow brick row houses, little shops and cafes.Many of the shops are chock-full of touristymoose-adorned T-shirts, but most of the cafes are invit- ing and very European in feel. When a guide explained that the houses with bricks arranged in a neat, orderly way are called “English style” and those designed in a more higgledy-piggledy manner are dubbed “French style,” we got a quick — and humorous — first glimpse of the divided nature of the place. French culture took firmhold early in
Quebec’s history,andduring the firstday of our trip, we made a stop at theMusee de l’Amerique Francaise (Museum of French America). The exhibition “Partir sur la Route des Francophones” (“Fol- lowing theFrench Speakers’ Route”) was a great introduction to a narrative of exploration and settlement that inmany ways mirrors the U.S. story, but with profound differences. Samuel Champlain founded the city
on the banks of the St.Lawrence River in 1608, and the town quickly became a bustling port populated by fur traders and other hardy pioneers. Families were large: An eye-popping 18 children was the average, according to the exhibit. Catholicism predominated in a way that was difficult for many of the kids in my group to understand, accustomed as they are to the multidenominational United States. They were struck by the number of churches in the city and the ubiquitous references to saints. Ironically, one of the most impressive
churches is the Anglican cathedral,Holy Trinity. Its shady courtyard is home to a
IFYOUGO
Want totakeaspur-of-the-moment trip toQuebecCity?Here’swhat youneed toknowfor theweekendofSept. 17-20:
GETTINGTHERE United flies nonstop fromWashingtonDulles toQuebec’s Jean Lesage Airportwith fares starting at$460round trip.
WHERE TOSTAY AubergeduTresor 20, rue Ste-Anne 418-694-1876
www.quebecweb.com/aubergedutresor A small, charming inn inOldQuebec.Doubles start at about$129.
Fairmont LeChateauFrontenac 1, rue desCarrieres 800-257-7544
www.fairmont.com A gorgeous historic building overlooking the St. LawrenceRiver.Doubles start at about $290.
WHERE TOEAT CochonDingue 46, boulevardChamplain 418-692-2013
www.cochondingue.com/fr/accueil.html Come here for a quick coffee or ameal to satisfy le “faimde loup” (awolf’s hunger). Prices fromabout$4for a small order of fries to$25for a huge pork dinner.
ALAMY Astreet winds through Old Quebec, where French and British influences meet to charming effect in theNewWorld. CANADA Ontario Toronto N.Y. Pa. New York D.C. Va. 0 MILES LARIS KARKLIS/THE WASHINGTON POST
creative group of artisans whose stalls offer beautifully handmade sweaters, jewelry, carvedwoodenboxes and more. Our meanderings took us past a vast
open field not far from the St. Lawrence. Called the Plains of Abraham, it was the scene of a decisive battle in 1759, during the French and Indian War (known as the Seven Years’ War in Canada). The British defeated the French, and Quebec became an English colony. But George III, eager to avoid his experience with the already restive American colonies, made a fateful decision not to try to forcibly impose British culture on his newsubjects.He gave the Quebecois the right to continue to speak French and to practice Catholicism. And thus began what the Quebecois call the “Age of Cohabitation” between the French and the British, which extended from 1760 to 1840.
Another museum, the Musee de la
Civilisation, has a three-dimensional model of the pivotal Plains of Abraham battle, which held the three 11-year-old
Vt. N.H. Boston
Atlantic Ocean
300 Quebec Quebec Ottawa Maine
New Bruns.
boys inmy company completely captive for at least an hour. Over miniature figures arrayed for battle, the kids in- tently discussed the positions of the French and English forces, and why the Native Americans were there, and on whose side they must have been fight- ing. (Overall, theMuseedela Civilisation is a much livelier, more contemporary place than the Musee de l’Amerique Francaise, with a great basement science exhibition full of interactive activities. A fabulous music exhibition called “Riffs,” on view through March 13, 2011, traces the influence of African music on North American pop. You’re given free head- phones as you enter, and there’s lots of toe-tapping music to listen to and great video to watch.) Quebec is a province, not just a city, so
we devoted one of our days to a venture outside the city walls. The surrounding countryside is beautiful, and in autumn the foliage display rivals New England’s (so much so that the Old City is inundat- ed with cruise passengers on fall foliage forays). In the residential Beauport area east
of the city, the 275-foot-high Montmor- ency Falls are a bit vertigo-inducing — but absolutely worth a visit. You take a cable car to the top and hold your breath as you look down. If you’re really brave- hearted, you can walk across the falls via a swaying suspension bridge. I tottered feebly out about a third of theway before beating a wimpy retreat.Much moremy line would be a glass of wine or cupof tea on the inviting terrace of the elegant Manoir Montmorency restaurant at the top of the falls. (And if it hadn’t been for my son and his classmates, that’s exactly where you would have found me.)
A highlight of our trip was an only-in-
Canada visit towhat the Quebecois call a “sugar shack,” where visitors learn how maple syrup is made and something about the life of the early settlers. Some of the sugar shacks (erablieres in French) serve a frontier-era meal, and our dinner at the Erabliere du Lac- Beauport, high up in thickly forested hills, gave us not only a glimpse of Quebec’smaplesyrup industry but also a scrumptious feast, complete with a sort of fluffy egg omelet served with maple syrup (scoff all you want, but it’s actually quite good) and tourtiere, a very hearty meat pie. The dish that really lets you know you’ve menu-traveled to a distant time are les oreilles de Chris (literally, “the ears of Christ,” which for some reason lost the “t” over the years). These crunchy bits are nothing but fried lard, something no sane 21st-century dieti- tian would ever recommend. But they’re more than a little addictive.
travel@washpost.com
Glusker is a freelance writer inWashington.
ManoirMontmorency 2490, avenueRoyale,Beauport 418-663-3330 Head for the outdoor terrace to take in the spectacular viewof the falls. Fixed-price menus fromabout$14at lunch and about $35at dinner.
LapinSaute 52, rue du Petit-Champlain 418-692-5325 Another atmospheric cafe,with featuring interesting salads, tartines (open-faced sandwiches) and pastas. From$6for a Caesar salad to about$17 for rabbit pie (don’t knock it till you’ve tried it).
WHAT TODO Museedel’AmeriqueFrancaise 2, cote de la Fabrique 866-710-8031
www.mcq.org Open Tuesday-Sunday 10a.m. to5p.m. About$8, children 12-16$1.95, 11 and younger free.
MuseedelaCivilisation 85, rueDalhousie 866-710-8031
www.mcq.org Open Tuesday through Sunday, 10a.m. to5 p.m. About$12, children 12-16about$4, 11 and younger free.
ErabliereduLac-Beauport 200, chemin des Lacs, Lac-Beauport 418-849-0066
www.erabliere-lac-beauport.qc.ca A visit to the sugar shack is about$5, but ask about the frontier-stylemeal (prices vary).By reservation only.
MoreTravel this week
FRIDAY Escapes checks out Hampton, Va., on its 400th anniversary, inWeekend.
NEXT SUNDAY The Impulsive Traveler takes an overnight cruise
on Lake Champlain, in Travel.
Montmorency Falls Parc de laChute-Montmorency 418-663-3330
www.sepaq.com/chutemontmorency Admission to the falls is free; cable car ride about$9,$4.25for kids6to 17. The falls are open 9 a.m. to6p.m. throughOct.31, then closed throughDec.25, reopeningDec.26.
INFORMATION
www.quebecregion.com www.bonjourquebec.com
—A.G.
All flight and lodging information valid as of press time Thursday.
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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2010
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