MONTRÉAL , Canada's second-largest city, is
geographically as close to the European coast as to
Vancouver, and in look and feel it combines some of
the finest aspects of the two continents. Its North
American skyline of glass and concrete rises above
churches and monuments in a melange of European
styles as varied as Montréal's social mix. This is
also the second-largest French-speaking metropolis
after Paris, but only two-thirds of the city's three
and a half million people are of French extraction,
the other third being a cosmopolitan mishmash of
les autres - including British, Eastern
Europeans, Chinese, Italians, Greeks, Jews, South
Americans and West Indians. The result is a truly
multidimensional city, with a global variety of
eateries, bars and clubs, matched by a calendar of
festivals that makes this the most vibrant place in
Canada.
Montréal has always played a major role in
advancing Québec separatism , as it's here
that the two main linguistic groups come into
greatest contact with one another. The tension
between English and French culminated in the
terrorist campaign that the Front de Libération du
Québec focused on the city in the late 1960s, and
the consequent political changes affected Montréal
more than anywhere else in the province. In the wake
of the "francization" of Québec, English-Canadians
hit Hwy 401 in droves, tipping the nation's economic
supremacy from Montréal to Toronto. Though written
off by Canada's English-speaking majority, the city
did not sink into oblivion. Instead, the city has
undergone a resurgence, becoming the driving force
behind the high-tech industry that's transforming
Canada's economy.
Everywhere you look there are the signs of civic
pride and prosperity. In the historic quarter of
Vieux-Montréal , on the banks of the St Lawrence
River, the streets and squares are flanked by
well-tended buildings, from the mammoth Basilique
de Notre-Dame and steepled Chapelle de
Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours , to sleek and stately
commercial buildings. Old houses have been converted
into lively restaurants and shops, abandoned
warehouses into condos and the disused Vieux-Port
into a summer playground with landscaped parklands
facing onto the St Lawrence. Beneath the forested
rise of Mont Royal, downtown 's boulevards
and leafy squares are alive from the morning rush
hour right through to the wee hours, when revellers
return from the clubs that pulsate along rue
Ste-Catherine and the more intimate bars and
lounges of the Plateau and Quartier Latin
. Below ground, the walkways of the Underground
City and the outstanding Métro system
link the nodal points of the city, while towards the
eastern outskirts, the Stade Olympique 's
leaning tower overshadows the vast Jardin
Botanique , second in international status only
to London's Kew Gardens.
In addition, the city boasts some excellent
museums. The Centre Canadien d'Architecture
has one of the continent's most impressive
specialist collections, the Musée d'Art
Contemporain is Canada's only museum devoted
entirely to contemporary art, and the Musée des
Beaux Arts is the oldest fine-arts museum in the
country. Equally fine are the museums devoted to
Montréal and Canadian history; of these, the
Musée McCord has a mint collection of native
artefacts, while the Musée d'Archéologie et
d'Histoire de Montréal delivers a
state-of-the-art presentation of archeological
findings at the site of Montréal's founding in 1642.
Beyond the city limits, Montréalers are blessed
with superb holiday regions, most within an hour or
two of the metropolis. To the west, the forested
region of the Outaouais makes for great
outdoor activities, while to the north the fertile
banks of the St Lawrence and the lake-sprinkled
mountains of the Laurentians offer a reprieve
from muggy summer temperatures and an escape from
the winter blues. To the east, the charm of the
Cantons-de-l'Est (Eastern Townships) lies in the
acres of farmlands, orchards, maple woods and
lakeshore hamlets popular among antique collectors.
En route to Québec City, the Mauricie valley,
the province's smallest national park, has a web of
waterways and lakes amidst a landscape of
mountainous forest.
