Getting to Know Quebec City

Québec City seduces from first view. Situated along the majestic Fleuve Saint-Laurent (St. Lawrence River), much of the oldest part of the city -- Vieux-Québec -- sits atop Cap Diamant, a rock bluff that once provided military defense. Fortress walls still encase the upper Old City, and the soaring Château Frontenac, a hotel with castlelike turrets, dominates the landscape. Hauntingly evocative of a coastal town in the motherland of France, the tableau is as romantic as any in Europe.

Québec City is, in fact, the soul of New France, and it holds fast to that history. Founded in 1608, 400 years ago, by Samuel de Champlain, it was the first significant settlement in Canada. Major sprucing up took place all over the city in 2007 and 2008 for the 400th-anniversary celebrations, including additional pedestrian-friendly access to the waterfront and a new waterside pavilion called Espace 400e that serves as a Parks Canada discovery center.

The city is almost entirely French in feeling, spirit, and language. Almost everyone -- 95% of the population -- is Francophone, or French speaking. But many of its 622,000 residents do know some English, especially those who work in hotels, restaurants, and shops. Although it's more difficult in Québec City than in Montréal to get by without French, the average Québécois goes out of his or her way to communicate -- in halting English, sign language, simplified French, or a combination of all three. Most of the Québécois are uncommonly gracious.

Because of its beauty, history, and unique stature as the only walled city north of Mexico (Campeche), Québec City's historic district was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1985 -- the only city so designated in North America.

Ile d'Orléans, an agricultural island within sight of Vieux-Québec, is less than 20 minutes from downtown and an easy day or overnight trip. Consider, too, a trip along the St. Lawrence's northern coast past the shrine of Ste-Anne-de-Beaupré, the waterfalls near Mont Ste-Anne, and on to pastoral Charlevoix and the Saguenay River, where whales come to play.