In the heart of the eastern townships of Quebec, Sherbrooke reminds me of Lausanne in Switzerland. It’s not quite as beautiful, but the St. Micheal’s Cathedral on the top of a hill can be seen from Rue Dufferin like how the Lausanne Cathedral can be seen from Post Charles Bessières. Read more…
With fortifications stretching back to the 17th century Slubice has a complicated history of sovereignty going back to the Holy Roman Empire. However, all is good nowadays with Slubice and neighbouring Frankfurt (Oder) sharing waste management systems, open borderless bridges, cross-border taxis, public transit, and schools mandating both German and Read more…
Like how the German border town of Frankfurt an der Oder is frequently mistaken for Frankfurt am Main, the Polish border town Kostrzyn nad Odra is sometimes confused with the smaller Kostrzyn near Poznan. The name is a mouthful for anyone who can’t speak Eastern European languages so I know Read more…
Arthabaska has been amalgamated with Victoriaville, but it was inhabited as early as 1830 while Victoriaville was only named after Queen Victoria in 1861. More famously, Arthabaska is known to be the summer home of Sir Wilfred Laurier, the first Prime Minister of Canada who spoke French as a first Read more…
Like other industrial towns of Quebec, Shawinigan used to be ruled by an anglophone elite on Rue des Érables. The land was owned by the Shawinigan Water and Power Company and the town was centrally planned as company land. The Olmstead Brothers Agency planted the trees in Shawinigan in the Read more…
Not to be confused with Frankfurt an der Oder, Frankfurt am Main is the bustling urban centre of Europe. I’ve probably been to Frankfurt about a dozen times for railway transfers that took anywhere between two to six hours each time. Because the Frankfurt Hbf is located right in the Read more…
Saguenay is known for being the name of a map on Age of Empires III, the one with the huge lake in the middle. However, Saguenay is not the name of the lake, the lake is called Lac-Saint-Jean and is about a 20-minute drive west of the city. Saguenay isn’t Read more…
Asbestos was discovered here in 1876 and the rest is history. The region was the largest producer of asbestos in the Western World until the closure of the last mine in 2012. Former mine pits in Thetford Mines, Black Lake, and Asbestos can be viewed from observation points. Yes, there Read more…
Drummondville is probably the prettiest town in Quebec south of the St. Lawrence and north of Sherbrooke. Yet, it’s so obscure that even the Reader’s Digest’s Canadian Book of the Road omits to mention the place. I’ve searched every page between Montreal and Quebec City and couldn’t find a single Read more…
There’s the regular Beaupré and then there’s Saint-Anne-de-Beaupré. If it sounds like this town is deeply religious, that’s because it is. Pilgrims arrive just before the saints feast on July 28 and have done so since the 1650s. The iconic Basilica of Saint-Anne-de-Beaupré is the town’s centrepiece. Built during the Read more…