rbose@hou2g.UUCP (R.BOSE) (03/01/84)
I visited Quebec City in the summer of 1976. Here is some (dated)
information, and some impressions that stuck.
Try and stay inside the walled city. There is a youth
hostel very close to the tourist office. When we were there, I
remember meeting a large group of kids who were on a trans-Canada
bicycle trip. I parked my car at a municipal parking lot nearby
for a few days. Unfortunately, the same parking lot was used
by numerous horse/buggy outfits as a resting place between trips.
One horse went beserk and smashed into my car.
Did lots of body damage. And of course, if you cant speak French,
the police are no help at all, they pretend not to understand a word
of English.
The highlight of the visit was a tour of the Citadel and the changing
of the Guards. There is a famous Canadian regiment that uses the Quebec
City fortress as its home base. Their mascot is a damned smelly goat,
(in 1976 he was called Baptiste III). The current version is probably
Baptiste V. He is driven in from his home in the zoo for the parade,
and as the guide pointed out, his chauffeur takes him home for
lunch with his wife and kids. Apparently there was a time when Baptiste
actually resided in the fort, but the Commandant couldnt take
the smell anymore.
The fort also has two cannon gifted to it by Gen. deGaulle on his
famous trip to PQ. They are prominently dispayed. One points towards
Ottawa, the other towards Washington D.C.
Ron Bose (AT&T-BL, Holmdel) hou2g!rbosesaquigley@watmath.UUCP (Sophie Quigley) (03/02/84)
It is not always obvious that people in Quebec city are "pretending" not to know english. This is the often the case in Montreal, where there is a large english population and most of the french people end up knowing some english because of their influence. If they refuse to speak english, it is for political reasons. Things are different in Quebec. Quebec city is a french city as french as toronto or vancouver are english, and people there have the same good reasons (I dont know what) not to learn english as the english have not to learn french in other parts of the country, laziness.. who knows. Anyway, 1976 was a very tense year with the PQ coming to power and talk of the referendum already starting. French people were much more defensive about their language than they are now. With the current language laws, french people do not feel as victimised about their language as they used to. Since it is now the english who are victimised in their place, they feel they are not as much on the defensive, and are nicer in general to "anglos". I think that if you were to go to Quebec now, you would notice quite a difference. However, if you go to some french parts, people might still refuse to speak english, simply because they do not know it. Sophie Quigley watmath!saquigley