Let's parler Franglais

So, here we are in Quebec. All the way across Ontario the road signs have been in both English and French, but the minute we crossed the border, everything is in French with no attempt at English. It’s their way or no way. With all the French influence over here, we find it quite amusing that the dish they have given the world is Poutine – chips, gravy and cheese curds. We know French fries come from Belgium (we’ve even been to the Frites museum in Bruges), gravy is predominantly British and cheese curds that are so young that any self-respecting Frenchman would disown. I quite like chips and gravy, so I found it very palatable, especially with the addition of pulled pork or chopped up fried bacon J

We've spent the last two days walking around Montreal, and are quite footsore. We could have done one of the hop-on/hop-off bus tours but we managed to walk to most places we wanted to see. And besides, that’s another $100 saved towards a possible Alaskan cruise!

Day one – We parked near Mont Royal Park and walked down the hill, through Downtown, China Town and towards Old Montreal and the Old Port. Along the way we passed many churches and cathedrals, the largest being Notre-Dame Basilica. The city founders were missionaries, and therefore were out to convert the local ‘savages’ to Catholicism. Notre-Dame was founded in 1642 however, the current Basilica was constructed between 1824-1829. Due to lack of funds, the interior took a while to complete and it wasn't finished until 1880.

And the (not so) little chapel

Next it was down to the old part of town and Old Port on the St Lawrence River

After lunch it was back up the hill…

... and a 100m climb up the steps from street level to the look out and the highest point in Montreal. The view was definitely worth it!

Day 2 – time to do the museums and learn about the history of Montreal. First stop was the Pointe-a-Calliere, Cite D’Archeologie (Archaeology museum) and how Montreal was born. Next was the Centre D’Histoire de Montreal, showing the timeline from the First People to date. Lastly, Lieu Historique National du Commerce-de-la Fourrure-a-Lachine, or The Fur Trade museum of Lachine, This museum explained how the fur trade helped Montreal to thrive, the history of the voyageurs and the ongoing battle between the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company until they eventually merged.

Time to move on and tomorrow we head for the capital, Ottawa.