Le Québec

Je me souviens. This is what the Québec license plate says. I remember. Growing up in central Maine, my family took our first road trip to the city of Québec when I was 14. During early summer, we drove through the verdant cuts of western Maine, on highway 73, and it was a five hour journey. When I got to the city of Quebec, I was flummoxed. I couldn't believe the history, grandeur of buildings such as the Chateau Frontenac, the detailing of the cobblestone streets, the boardwalk, the language immersion, the cafes, the purity of clean Canadian air. It made me happy to see the beauty there, and we actually had the pleasure of staying at the Chateau Frontenac, because the American to Canadian dollar (also called a loony) exchange rate was lopsided towards the U.S., so we could afford to stay there even on a limited budget. Our excitement came to a dull end when we turned on TV and noticed everything was in French. That's when my mom said, "get your tails outside," and here are some fun facts about the city of Quebec.

According to thelonelyplanet.com, "Explorer Samuel de Champlain gets the credit for finally founding the city for the French in 1608, calling it Kebec from the Algonquian word meaning 'the river narrows here,'". However, before that, it had been inhabited by Iroquois people with a village at the current state of Quebec, with a land being called "Stadacona". They fished, built longhouses, cultivated crops, and moved on to greener pastures when the land got tired. Jacques Cartier traveled to the area of Quebec in the middle of the 15th century, but had a hard time living through one winter. (That's another thing that shocks me about Quebec's province: Montreal, Quebec, and Sherbrooke have such a bevy of old buildings, such as the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Montreal built in the 1800s,and knowing that construction crews had to erect such colossal, multi-floored buildings during the cold spells, and humid summers, that the province is known to experience, makes me respect the fortitude they had to endure).

In Montreal, which is an abbreviated expression for "Mount Royal", on which one can gain a great view of the downtown and surrounding land expanses of this city dubbed "the Paris of North America", tourists gain exposure to a full-fledged French-Canadian metropolis. I attached a photo I took when I was up there last summer. Jacques Cartier is credited for naming it Mont-Royal. Battles ensued in the coming centuries. The American rebels, backed by the French, sent Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain boys, based out of Vermont, to defend the land of Montreal, and Mount Royal, against British Forces. There was then a skirmish whereby Benedict Arnold, a brigadier general for the British army, traveled with great difficulty through the wilderness of to reach Quebec city. Another British force joined them there, but the British were defeated at the Battle of Quebec in December 1775.
Je me souviens

From the top of Mount Royal in Montreal


The famed Château Frontenac, Ville de Québec


City Hall, Montreal

Rue St. Antoine-Ouest as a Metro station in Montreal

Frederick Law Olmstead

Before I forget, "Mount royal" in Montreal was part of a sleeping volcanic complex about 150 million years ago. The mountain now stands as an eroded version of its previous self. Also, the famed and widely regarded landscape architect Frederick Law Olmstead, set out the first official plans for "Mount Royal Park". He's the same fellow who co-designed Central Park, much of Washington D.C., and the village green promenade at the University of Maine, Orono.
There are so many other glimmering facts that lie within Quebec's history, and I have just brushed upon the few things associated with Montreal and city Quebec. St. Lawrence river, the farmland of southern Quebec, and the great tundras of norther Quebec all contribute to an awe-inspiring kaleidoscope of "New France". I nod to the Quebecois for their residence and appreciation for their heritage.
Sources:
Google maps
https://frenchly.us
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/quebec/
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/canada/quebec-city/history
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/patriots-take-montreal
https://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/battles/1775-skirmish/
https://www.mtlblog.com/lifestyle/15-things-mount-royal 

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