Quebec City, 1608/2008

by Lucille de Saint-Andre
photos by Bob Sandbo

Québec City, this lovely 17^th century citadel, located at the mighty St. Lawrence, celebrates its 400^th birthday this year and more than one million visitors came to join in the festivities at press time.

"You don’t think you’re in North America," said my husband as we wandered through its narrow winding streets. "It feels so European," -- natural enough-- given its history. Perched atop Cap-Diamant, Old Québec was built for defense with a 17^th century "star" fort on a high point (the Citadel) and the upper part of the city is surrounded by massive walls. There are a lot of old houses both in the upper part of the town and down along the shore. The custom in the 17^th century was to build in limestone and there has been an effort to make additions and repairs in the same style, and also even the colours used for trim seem to be the same as those used in France.

The "Plains of Abraham," where Wolfe’s army fought Montcalme’s, is preserved as a park. Céline Dion’s performance there was an August highlight in the anniversary celebrations. We just learned that the designer of New York’s Central Park, Frederick Law Olmstead, did the landscaping for "The Plains". However, not all of the old battlefield is included in the park, city streets and houses have encroached on some parts of it. Also on the historic old battlefield of Québec City are "martello towers," a very successful 17^th century military technology, they were small stone towers and so very effective that often opposing commanders would avoid them and just try some other approach.

400^th anniversary celebrations took place at Éspace 400, the Bassin Louise in the Old Port area where St. Lawrence and Saint Charles rivers meet, from June 3 to September 28.

Among highlights were the "Passengers" exhibition, The Image Mill, the Ephemeral Gardens, nightly entertainment and daily activities in the Grand Square and near the Fountain de Tourny.

"Passengers" depicts the interactive and multi-sensorial experience of the history of the settlement of the city over 400 years, with five million people flowing through or settling in: Amerindian, French, English, Irish, Scottish, Chinese, Romanian, German, Haitian, African making Québec a universal meeting place. It was a provoking experience to move from station to station in a dimly lit room watching projections and listening through earphones to the voices of a variety of immigrants.

Then there is The Image Mill, a mighty mega projection of an enormous size designed by Film & Theatre Director Robert Lepage & Ex Machina. The largest outdoor architectural projection ever created, the 40-minute show celebrates four centuries of the city’s history in three-dimensional animation in four eras of life in Québec City on the enormous surface of the Bunge Company’s grain silos, the highest and longest "projection-screen" we had ever seen.

A stroll through The Ephemeral Gardens, 11 contemporary artistic gardens designed by creators from The First Nations and a number of different countries brings nature into the urban environment.

Québec City is very much a tourist town, many of the old houses host restaurants, art galleries and souvenir shops. The clean and well maintained streets teem with people, lining up for shows and for food. On Notre-Dame, close by Place Royale, we paused to listen to a marvelous group of fiddlers. They had drawn a large crowd who listened under the gaze of historical figures on the huge mural looming above the space.

The visionary garden on the roof of the Musée de la civilisation features a combination of water, light and plants and the Musée national des beaux-arts du Québec, the Québec Louvre, has major works from the Paris Louvre on loan.

In the Place d’Armes in front of the Château Frontenac, we hear a military band, (but it was clearly ‘no ordinary’ military band) playing excerpts from "Peléas and Melisande". The military musical groups form part of 13 countries including close to 1,300 musicians.

We wandered along the Promenade (Dufferin Terrace) to get a closer look of the fabled Château Frontenac. (Now the Fairmont Château Frontenac), a legendary hotel, and a landmark universally recognized, the signature of Québec City. For more than 100 years it has catered to celebrities, politicians, crowned heads, and a discerning public. Like Québec City itself, it has been added to from time to time with consistent civic pride and attention to style.

Founded in 1608 by Samuel de Champlain, Québec by 1620 was the site of rudimentary fortifications and the modest quarters of settlers and soldiers and by 1725 there was a three- floor structure called Château Saint-Louis and still later Château Frontenac, after the comte de Frontenac. The strongest influence on the present shape of the famous Hotel was the châteaux of the Loire Valley.

In contrast to the Château Frontenac is Hotel Pur, Québec’s first urban lifestyle hotel, facing Eglise Saint Roch, in a newly hip downtown strip of designer shops and nightlife. It is ‘ultra-modern,’ all white and charcoal black, and has blocks as chairs and Japanese soaking tubs. And, like the Frontenac, a very friendly and helpful multilingual staff.

The historic site of the Parc de la Chute-Montmorency is a short trip from the city. It has a 83-meter-high waterfall, which is higher than Niagara Falls, and is bordered by trails and lookouts over the mighty St. Lawrence river, the green oasis of ÎIle d’Orléans and the foaming rush of the falls. A cable car takes you down to the base of the falls and a suspension bridge brings you closer on top. The Manoir Montmorency on top is a popular meeting place and probably the first villa built in Canada, named in honour of the Duke of Montmorency.

For further information: www.bonjourquebec.com