Archive for March, 2007
Saturday, March 31st, 2007
Petite Champlain, Quebec City
From Montreal we travelled deeper into Canada’s history to the city of Quebec, three hours north east on the VIA Railway. Perched on a cliff-face overlooking the St Lawrence River, Quebec has retained much of its old world charm and bustling atmosphere. The old part of Quebec, where we spent much of today, is made [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Eastern Canada by gemma
Friday, March 30th, 2007
Notre Dame Basilica, Montreal
Erected between 1824 and 1826, the Notre Dame Basilica was at the time the largest church in North America. The twin bell towers stand 66m high, the internal height from the floor to ceiling is more than 24 metres. Make sure to click on the photo to see the larger version, the interior is truly [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Eastern Canada by simmo
Friday, March 30th, 2007
Old Montreal
Montreal is one of the oldest cities in Canada, being founded by the French in 1642. It was originally named Ville-Marie, however after 25 years of growth the settlement gradually became known as Montreal. In 1760 Montreal fell into the hands of the British however this did little to suppress the french influences architectually and [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Eastern Canada by gemma
Friday, March 30th, 2007
Bienvenue Montreal
Last night Simon and I left Ottawa and took the train two hours North East to Montreal. Along the way we practiced a little french as once you cross the border from Ontario to Quebec engish becomes the second language. A friendly train guard assurred us the the main thing to remember is Bonjour, Merci, [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Eastern Canada by gemma
Wednesday, March 28th, 2007
Rideau Canal, Ottawa
Time for a history lesson. The city of Ottawa was originally named Bytown after Lieutenant-Colonel John By who supervised construction of the Rideau Canal. The 200km canal was constructed to join the Ottawa River to Lake Ontario via the town of Kingston. Construction followed the War of 1812, as the British colonies of Northern Canada [...]