French Canada: Montreal, Quebec City, Ottawa. Aug, 2017

As you probably know, Canada is a bilingual country. French colonists settled in Canada in the early 17th century. The province of Quebec is the most French-speaking part of the country and, in some ways, tries to preserve its European culture. From time to time, Quebec makes attempts to separate from Canada, but they have never succeeded, and the desire eventually fades for a while. But that’s not what this story is about... Today I’ll show you how we explored the French-speaking province and tell you about some of its most interesting tourist attractions. So, our route was Toronto–Montreal–Quebec City–Ottawa. Let’s go! 

As usual, when planning our trips, I try to break up the journey so that we don’t have to spend more than 5 hours driving in a day. This way, we don’t get too tired and still have time to see lots of interesting places

Day 1

Our first stop was Montreal, the second-largest city in Canada, located in the province of Quebec. We stayed at the Universel hotel. It is located right next to the Botanical Garden and the Olympic Complex, which I’ll tell you about later, and just a 15-minute drive from downtown

In the evening, we headed to the Old Port area to stroll along one of the most famous streets — Rue Saint-Paul. We had dinner at a restaurant that many people recommended to us — Jardin Nelson. The restaurant is quite popular, and we had to wait in line to get in. But once inside, we enjoyed our dinner with live jazz music. Afterwards, we did a little souvenir shopping

Day 2

The next day we headed to the Jardin Botanique de Montréal. It is one of the largest botanical gardens in the world. The garden is divided into numerous themed gardens and several greenhouses. In summer, you can see every color imaginable. There are also indoor pavilions

But most of the flowers and plants are outdoors. The gardens are constantly being updated. For example, this time one of the most beautiful parts of the garden — the Chinese Garden — was being renovated, but in the meantime they created these original structures made from branches 

We also visited the Insectarium and took a look at lots of creepy-crawlies. In the last photo is an exhibit that we especially enjoyed — a branch of a flowering tree. On one side, the ants are building their nest. You can see for yourself how hard they work, carrying pieces of leaves, flowers, and other “building materials” along the branch to build their nest 

And then we came across a café with such an interesting menu: a cricket burger, ant tacos, termite ice cream, and other “delicacies”... As it turned out, it was no joke, and some of the bravest among us actually tried the termite ice cream 

Then we headed downtown, where we treated ourselves to some really delicious desserts at the café Juliette du Chocolat 

And then we headed to the city’s most famous hill — Mount Royal, to admire the city from a bird’s-eye view. We also stopped by Notre-Dame Basilica, but by that time it was already closed 

Later, we’ll visit some equally beautiful cathedrals. In the evening, those who were 18+ tried their luck at the Montreal Casino. Then we stopped by the Montreal Biosphere, a museum dedicated to environmental protection 

Day 3

The next day, the kids wanted to visit the Planetarium. Like the Botanical Garden, the Planetarium is located on the huge grounds of the Olympic Park, where the 1976 Summer Olympics were held. The Planetarium did not make quite the impression we had expected. There is a fairly small interactive hall, and the main activity is watching space-themed films. The theaters themselves are modern and very comfortable, but the films are not particularly easy to understand, even for adults

We took a little walk through the streets of Montreal, many of whose buildings are decorated with colorful graffiti

While in Montreal, we couldn’t miss trying the famous dish poutine — French fries with various toppings, covered in gravy. For this, we went to the popular little restaurant La Banquise. As expected, every seat in the restaurant was taken, and we had to wait in line just to order takeout, even in the middle of the workday. You can see the poutine in the photo

Our journey through Montreal had come to an end, and we headed to the next city — Quebec City

It is the capital of the French-speaking province of Quebec. A wonderful, romantic city, often called “Little France.” We stayed at the EconoLodge Montmorency Falls, about a 15-minute drive from downtown. We liked the hotel both for the price and the size of the room. It was large enough to comfortably accommodate up to six people. And practically right across the road was the beautiful Montmorency Falls

Day 4

In Quebec City, our first stop was the Cathedral-Basilica of Notre-Dame de Québec

And right across the street is a store where it’s Christmas all year round 

Quebec City is built on a hill and is divided into the Lower Town and Upper Town. Here is a view from above of the Lower Town and the St. Lawrence River. We admired the city’s most expensive hotel, Fairmont Le Château Frontenac 

And we watched a street performance by local circus artists, admired the work of local artists, and even spotted an unusual mode of transportation :) 

Then we went down to the Lower Town. And here we are at the oldest square in North America — Place Royale. After that, we wandered through all the small, cozy streets, which reminded us a lot of Montmartre 

And of course, we had lunch at the famous “jumping rabbit” — Le Lapin Sauté 

We also listened to local musicians and admired several beautiful murals depicting historical figures and important events in Quebec’s history 

Day 5

The next day we headed to a beautiful canyon with waterfalls — Canyon Sainte-Anne. Along the way, we stopped at the modern Catholic basilica — Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré

Каньон знаменит своим красивейшим 74 метровым вопопадом, а также тремя подвесными мостами, с которых этим водопадом можно полюбоваться. Но вначале мы в прямом смысле пролетели над водопадом. Это было незабываемо! 

And here are some views of the waterfall 

It was time to head home. On our way back from Quebec City to Toronto, we stopped for one night in Ottawa and stayed at the Best Western Plus. We chose this hotel because it is located right across from Jacques-Cartier Park. And at that time, the park was hosting a magnificent exhibition — MOSAÏCANADA 150

Day 6

The exhibition was dedicated to Canada’s 150th anniversary. The park featured 40 different figures made entirely from plants. The beauty was incredible. See for yourself

Our journey has come to an end. It’s time to head back to Toronto...