"Then
it was that a third voice, mightier than the others, lifted itself up in
the silence : the voice of Quebec. . . .It came to her with the sound of
a church bell, with the majesty of an organ's tones, like a plaintive love-song,
like the long high call of woodsmen in the forest. For verily there was
in it all that makes the soul of the Province : the loved solemnities of
the ancestral faith; the lilt of that old speech guarded with jealous care;
the grandeur and the barbaric strength of this new land where an ancient
race has again found its youth." Louis Hemon, author
<----- A
farm at Tewkesbury in la belle province
Montreal, a dynamic metropolis,
is reputedly the second largest French-speaking city in the world after
Paris. From Ile Ste-Helene there is a striking view of the Montreal skyline.
Along with the two man-made islands, this was the site of an International
World Exposition --- Expo '67. The event now recurs each summer in a smaller
version known as "Terres des Hommes" --- "Man and His World".
St. Joseph's Oratory, Westmount,
is a notable feature of the city. The strength of Roman Catholicism in
the province has been reinforced over many years by New Canadians from
Ireland and Italy.
The
Plains of Abraham, Quebec, where in 1759 General Wolfe and the Marquis
de Montcalm fell, are in Battlefield Park, the city's largest park, which
extends from the city's boundaries to the walls of the dramatically situated
Citadelle. With good reason Quebec was sometimes called "the Gibraltar
of America". The narrowing of the river and the sheer heights combined
to make this a battlefield that was to change the course of Canada's history.
This was not the end of Quebec's history as a battleground. A few years
later, at the beginning of the American Revolution, troops were sent here
by the Thirteen Colonies to persuade the Quebecois to join the Revolution.
The troops and Benedict Arnold were repulsed.
Quebec,
its Chateau Frontenac (below) high above the Lower Town, encapsulates the
spirit of French Canada. Over a million visitors a year succumb to the
grace and beauty of the oldest city in Canada North America's most European.
The Upper Town, built on the heights of Cape Diamond, is the centre of
cultural and artistic life in the city. From the Dufferin Terrace in front
of the Chateau, one can rent a horsedrawn caleche, or simply stand and
admire the spectacular views of the river, the Ile d'Orleans, which here
divided the St. Lawrence in two, and the heights of Levis on the south
shore beyond. Pedestrians can enjoy the view from the stairs (right) which
link the Upper and Lower Towns.
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