QUÉBEC - LE BEAU NORD
By Dane Steele Green
So you’re a Francophile. The boys! The food! The… no, that’s it.
Oh, well, yeah – Paris and all that. But there’s this thing about Paris. And Marseille. And Bordeaux. And the Loire Valley. Can you say “sticker shock?” No offense to France, or to the rest of the Eurozone, but Europe is one expensive continent. Sucks for boy/food-crazy Francophones on a budget, right? No, as it turns out: What America tends to forget is that France 2.0 is right next door. It’s called Québec.
Montréal, Québec City, and maybe a few you haven’t heard of like Rimouski or Drummondville, are very, very (and very) proud of their Frenchness, and the culture of the whole province is decidedly different from the Native and English-speaking parts of the country. Montréal and Québec City are laid out in the French style, and as history goes, are some of the oldest European settlements in North America; Québec City popped into existence in 1608, and most of its city-center is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Even better, the strong U.S. dollar overpowers the weaker Canadian dollar; you make money just by showing up. You can indulge in your francophilia and still not break the bank! As it is, the whole province of Québec is pushing itself hard as a destination.
From an LGBTQ perspective, Montréal wins, hands down. Its clubs, along with the prerequisite restaurants, etc., are world class. Québec City, despite being the older, more dignified sibling, is a little more for the rough-n-ready crowd into sports (but has a gay scene all its own, thank you very much). That western section of the province between the St. Lawrence River and the U.S. border is particularly well-known for its wineries. Over in the east, the Gaspésie Peninsula, basically the entire southern shore of the Gulf of St. Lawrence, is even more butch than Québec City. I’m talking winter safari territory, and that includes whale watching. The province also has a very strong Native presence, and it’s something to check out if you want to give your vacation a little more of a cultural spine. It’s tough to sum up a territory larger than Texas into a 450-word article, but the gist here is that there is something for everyone, and it will be in French.
And for all those folks who want to experience French culture but cannot, in fact, speak French, have no fear. This is still Canada, and you would be hard-pressed to find Québecois that can’t speak English.
Visit www.quebecoriginal.com/en-us/discover for more information.
Steele Luxury Travel can assist you with all your travel plans. www.SteeleTravel.com
This was originally published in Wire Magazine Issue 19.2017