O JOY, O PARTY, O CANADA
A huge North American country is celebrating all year, writes Alexia Santamaria.
On July 1, Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary of confederation — Canada Day — and there's a run up of other celebrations including last week’s National Aboriginal Day (a celebration of indigenous culture and heritage); St-Jean-Baptiste Day (celebrating French culture in Canada) yesterday, June 24; and Canadian Multiculturalism Day on June 27 to celebrate more recent waves of immigration. Canada is all dressed up and ready to party, but even when it’s not a sesquicentennial year there are endless reasons to visit this beautiful country. Here are just some I discovered on a recent Trafalgar Costsaver Canada Tour.
The Rockies
Where to begin with the Western side of Canada? Banff and Jasper National Parks provide the kind of dramatic scenery that makes your jaw drop wide open and stay that way for some time. Towering mountains, iridescent blue and green lakes, glaciers, thundering waterfalls. All of these stunning wonders of nature certainly make you contemplate your size and importance in the world. It’s no wonder people flock to see impressive natural wonders such as Lake Louise, the Icefields Parkway, Mt Robson and so much more. And as for the wildlife — there’s a reason Canadian gift shops are full of bear and moose soft toys.
The French experience of Quebec
With the Chateau Frontenac Hotel casting its huge castle-like shadow over Quebec’s cobblestoned streets, it’s really hard to connect with the fact you are not, in fact, in Europe when you’re wandering round Quebec City. French is spoken everywhere and the architecture screams France, Germany, Belgium — anywhere but North America. There’s so much to explore down every street — quirky shops, cute boutiques, tiny squares with cafes. We loved our visit to Epicerie JA Moisan, which was like stepping back in time to a grocery shop that hasn’t changed significantly since 1871.
Hip Montreal
Montreal is so hip it hurts. Art, modern creative food, fantastic design are intertwined with centuries-old churches, Victorian-looking architecture and old-world French charm. You can’t deny the Jewish influence with bagels and Reuben sandwiches ahoy but you’ll hear French spoken widely and freely, along with English. Hipster bars, marvellous markets and a diverse fun, young population make you feel truly alive in this city. And we loved the fact that when it rained, you can shop underground. We visited just one of the huge underground malls but there’s a whole network going on down there
— so people can get from office to office to hotel to mall without freezing to death in the long Canadian winter.
Art and Architecture in Ottawa
Ottawa is a small, but very picturesque city and a lovely place to spend a couple of days. The towering Gothic-style government buildings on Parliament Hill are stunning, as is the Notre-Dame Basilica with its unusual silver spires (even more breathtaking inside with its magnificent arches, opulent altar and resplendent blue ceiling). We spent half a day in the gorgeous National Gallery of Canada fawning over local art — including modern Inuit works — plus plenty of sculptures and paintings by masters such as Monet, Dali, Renoir, Rodin and many others. The building itself is part of the attraction; an incredible modern high ceiling feat of architecture looking out over the St Lawrence River.,