Travel

[bargainsgirl]

For those who have traveled to Quebec,  what did you like best and what would you recommend?  Restaurants, places to stay, side trips, things to see and do of interest...

Also,  should one have basic knowledge of French or is English spoken as much as French?

[Shelbelle]

French is very helpful like to read menus, etc. Very cold this time of year. 

[PickyPicky3]

Canada is a bilingual country except for Quebec. Many people speak English -- and many refuse to. Street and traffic signs are in French.

For a period of about ten years I went to Montreal every year and always stayed at the same small hotel. The owner was close to my age and knew many languages but would only speak to her guests in French. I could understand French but not speak it. So I spoke English and she spoke French and over the years we became dear friends. 

[kaydee50]

Quebec City is charming!  The closest thing to Paris outside of Paris!  We stayed at the Chateau Frontenac.  Montreal is more cosmopolitan, IMO.  Both are worth visiting.  In Montreal we stayed at the Queen Elizabeth.  

I don't remember the language being any problem although we do have a basic knowledge of French.

Bon voyage!

[riley1]

I agree the city of Quebec is charming. People, imo, not so much. I found them rude and I'm pretty sure they speak English as well as French, and would not answer even the most basic of questions.

I did like Toronto - great city to visit and so very clean.

[StylishLady2]

I'm from Toronto. DH calls it his favorite American city in Canada. We found the attitude about language in Quebc annoying at times. So much for bilingualism. 

[fthunt]

@StylishLady2 Yes Yes-= = =  be prepared for a ...cold shoulder from time to time..

[Effie54]

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@riley1 wrote:

I agree the city of Quebec is charming. People, imo, not so much. I found them rude and I'm pretty sure they speak English as well as French, and would not answer even the most basic of questions.

I did like Toronto - great city to visit and so very clean.

Agreed! The city is charming, but I found at the time we went; years ago, The prices of everything was very high. Like Paris, I found the people in Quebec not very friendly.....at all. My mother was very, very fluent in French and taught me quite a bit. Even with that under my belt, I still didn't feel very comfortable there. The Château Frontenac is gorgeous. 

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[jlkz]

@kaydee50 

After driving many, many hours DH and I arrived at the Chateau Frontenac after midnight on a cold and starry moonlit night.  The exterior was like a postcard !

The nightmare of sorts began when we got to the room.  The closet was extremely tiny.  The bed was so bad that we had to place the mattress on the floor to sleep.

We had dinner in their dining room the next evening. I ordered lobster and agreed to have the waiter remove the shell.  Well thank goodness: there was so little lobster on that oversized plate, it would have been embarrassing to him.  So, he placed the shells on the plate !

At the time I was just starting my MA degree in French, so I could speak the language.  Such condescension!  When DH tried the language out on the elevator, the elevator operator snakily translated DH's French into English !

Tried walking about and a few sights; however, after a second trip to the mall, we decided to drive home days early.   So much for Quebec !

[kaydee50]

Sorry to hear all the negative comments about Quebec City.  Have to admit it has been a few years since we've been there but don't remember any of the problems mentioned.  Sounds as though the Quebecers are starting to take after their Parisienne cousins--LOL--too bad!