Canada: Exploring Old Quebec City

To show my European guests a bit more of Eastern Canada, I had booked a 3-day / 2-night bus tour that included Quebec City, Montreal, Ottawa and Kingston. On August 8, 2008 our bus headed off at 8 am, and our first stop was in Kingston, Ontario. Kingston is a beautiful town at the eastern end of Lake Ontario and is well-known for its historic limestone architecture. Kingston City Hall in particular is a particularly stunning example of this city’s architectural heritage. Kingston played an important role in Canada’s history due to its critical geographical location, and its fortifications were a base for the Great Lakes British naval fleet during the War of 1812. After the completion of the Rideau Canal in 1832, Kingston became Upper Canada’s most important military and economic centre and united Canada’s first capital from 1841 to 1844. Today Kingston’s economy is dominated by public sector institutions which include Queen’s University and the Royal Military College as well as correctional services which include the maximum security Kingston Penitentiary, often referred to as “Alcatraz North”.

After a six hour bus ride through pouring rain we arrived in Quebec City at about 7:30 pm. We set up shop for the night in the beautiful Loew’s Le Concorde Hotel which is located just steps from downtown Old Quebec City. Quebec City, the capital of Quebec, is a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site and is celebrating its 400th anniversary this year. The ramparts surrounding the city make it the only walled city in English-speaking North America. We took a stroll into the old area of town, past the Armory which was recently destroyed by fire. The streets of the city were hustling and bustling with visitors, and the historic French architecture provided a perfect ambience for an evening stroll. Various street performers were displaying their skills in different parts of the Vieux Québec, including Place d’Armes, the large central square that is crowned by the impressive Chateau Frontenac Hotel. ...

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• canada
• chateau
• city
• de
• frontenac
• josephs
• montreal
• oratory
• paris
• place
• quebec
• st

[AmaoNoBolso]

well it s like any other country....english is not spoken every where in the world...

people can speak few words but its not their languages, simple as that.

[babu981]

I live in Quebec City

If you're going to touristic places, you will have no problem being answer in English, but elsewhere it could be more difficult...it will just take a bit more time to get understand.

But remember, you'll have better chance with young people (a lot of them are bilingual)

[1brownpaperbag]

@malakaki111 with the number of tourists that comes in Quebec city i'm surprised people were goving you dirty looks. I live 45 minutes from Quebec City and I go their almost every weekend. For us, it's normal to see lots of people speaking English, that's just how it is and most of the people understand that and the one who don't, well, they're ridiculous...

[malakaki111]

As an Ontarian in a French program, we went to Quebec for a field trip.

Personally, I think Quebec looks amazing, especially old Quebec in particular, but the Frenchies all hated us as per usual, so we tended to get a lot of dirty looks when we weren't speaking French. xD

[race1717]

Old Quebec has a restaurant that uses the furnace instead of the oven to serve pizza. It's the best one I've tasted yet!

[MickScarborough]

There is no place on earth as nice as Quebec City

[mmm1494]

if you prefer montreal its like 50/50

[Star0Crossed]

97 percent of the people are french speaking :)

[spongebob541]

98% of the population is fluent in French. About 35-40% of people are bilingual in English and French. In the old city, most shop owners and waiters will have some knowledge of English

[AlatorrofUld]

Ha! I just got back from spending almost a week there, and we saw those same exact street performers!

[chbro69]

There's people who speak english.