There are a few things that I wish we’d known before renting a car in Quebec – for example, something that I already mentioned – that Vieux-Montréal translates to Old Montréal.

I’m not sure if I mentioned this before, but driving and navigating in a land where everything is in a foreign language can be confusing. For the entire US visit, we never took a wrong turn or got lost – even for a second. In Quebec, by comparison, we drove for a fraction of that time, and took two wrong turns. Luckily, the ugly industrial area outside Montréal is very small, and after driving for just a few minutes, you find yourself in the beautiful countryside.

Tags: countryside, driving, farmland, horses, Montréal, Quebec

I mentioned yesterday that we had taken a return flight, but we didn’t make it all the way to Newfoundland before making a quick stop over in Montréal.

I’d been there many times in the past, and even though most of those memories are a little blurry, I still have a deep fondness for the city. It’s one of the few places on the continent where you can find a decent croissant, make out in public without turning heads or stomachs, and take a horse and carriage ride through some of the oldest streets in North America.

Now, I should say that I have a bit of a problem with their liberal use of the word “oldest”. It seems that they have this idea in Quebec that they pretty much have the “oldest everything” and it’s kinda pissing me off. As you walk around, you can overhear hear many a tour guide tout Quebec City is the oldest city in North America. What the hell?

I’m afraid that Newfoundland tourism is falling short, perhaps lead by the short sightedness (or total lack) of preservation efforts on the part of the the provincial and municipal governments. I guess if Quebec is smarter about preservation and promotion, then they get the crown. And rightly so. If Newfoundland continues on the route it’s going we’ll have little more to promote than ridiculously colourful shores peppered by disproportionately large whales that surface on very convenient schedules.

We were around a couple hundred years before these guys, but we’re slowly pissing it away. And, in any case, I don’t think a settlement that was stolen from the natives should count.

Anyway… I digress. Here are some damn pictures.

Tags: Montréal, Newfoundland, oldest city in North America, Quebec