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…
I visited the National Gallery of Art in Ottawa and learned that behind Quebec City and Montreal, Baie-Saint-Paul is the third most painted location of all the artwork in the gallery. It’s known for having beautiful scenery at the foothills of the Laurentians looking out to the largest river estuary Read more…
Jacques Cartier set foot on the Île d’Orléans in 1535, but Saint-Pierre still only consisted of a handful of families into the 19th century. It wasn’t until 1935 when the 4.4km-long Post d’Île was built did Saint-Pierre see a period of growth. Located just to the north of the bridge, Read more…
Saint-Famille on Orléans Island is home to the island’s historical museum – the House of our Ancestors. It commemorates the 300 founding families of New France that now love all over the continent. The area in front of the museum is a wonderful waterfront park with a little artisan shop Read more…
The whole of South Dakota (and North Dakota) doesn’t have that much to show in terms of tourism. I suppose they might even be jealous of Wyoming, which has Yellowstone, Red Gulch, and the Badlands just to name a few famous national parks. Just like Wall, Mitchell is the kind Read more…