La Fête nationale du Québec

This weekend just been we attended a parade along Sherbrooke street in celebration of Quebec’s national day (June 24th). To me it sounds strange for a province to have a ‘national day’, it could just be an English translation misunderstanding, but I don’t think so. If any Canadian province were to have a ‘national day’, it would make the most sense in my mind for it to be Quebec. This part of Canada, with the French cultural influence is certainly the most different from the rest of the country, and I understand that there is the most support towards independence of all the Canadian provinces.

Although we could not understand the French conversations around us, or the loudspeaker commentary blaring out from occasional parade floats we could feel the pride the people around us have for their province.

We’ve attended a few other parades in Montreal. The Christmas parade and the Saint Patrick’s Day parade come to mind. I’m not sure if it was the lack of obviously corporate sponsored floats or the more historic nature of many of the displays – but we enjoyed watching them pass by and left genuinely feeling that this actually is a celebration of Quebec and not just another corporate excuse for a holiday.

Feeling all Quebec inspired afterwards we left and ate Poutine. This time we visited Poutineville on Ontario St after hearing a few recommendations for this small Poutine chain. I had their signature Poutine; it had a lot (mounds) of beef. I found it a little too ‘gluggy’ for my taste; the gravy was heavy, the cheese was melted. In a choice between Poutineville and La Banquise on Rue Rachel, I’d go for La Banquise hands down.