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Ok here goes. In my usual reveries, I, an American, always play with the idea of retiring North to Quebec. This is fantasy right now. Would love the pros and cons. There's ONE thing which holds me back but I don't want to bias anybody who is nice enough to let me know what's what up there and the complete lowdown in 'New France'. And please note I think I am a reasonable man, a humorous man, I get along with many people. Anything else I need? Merci!
If I get this straight, you are looking for a list of pros and cons? I will give it some thought, but it would help if we knew what it is you like to do. Is there something in particular (related to your place of residence) that you can't live without?
For starters, I don't believe you can actually retire to Canada unless you are independently wealthy (or something like that) and have money to start up a business or something. This is probably related to our social programs like Medicare that seniors tend to use more than younger people.
Ok here goes. In my usual reveries, I, an American, always play with the idea of retiring North to Quebec. This is fantasy right now. Would love the pros and cons. There's ONE thing which holds me back but I don't want to bias anybody who is nice enough to let me know what's what up there and the complete lowdown in 'New France'. And please note I think I am a reasonable man, a humorous man, I get along with many people. Anything else I need? Merci!
If you are retiring in Quebec (Montreal?) and dont mind winter and a predominance of the French language i cant think of any cons you'd encounter to living in Quebec.
My rants about the governments needless language laws shouldnt in any way cast aspersions on the quality and character of the Quebec people,their cultures or the fantastic geography. Maybe its time to take a vacation to your future home..eh
If you are retiring in Quebec (Montreal?) and dont mind winter and a predominance of the French language i cant think of any cons you'd encounter to living in Quebec.
My rants about the governments needless language laws shouldnt in any way cast aspersions on the quality and character of the Quebec people,their cultures or the fantastic geography. Maybe its time to take a vacation to your future home..eh
For starters, I don't believe you can actually retire to Canada unless you are independently wealthy (or something like that) and have money to start up a business or something. This is probably related to our social programs like Medicare that seniors tend to use more than younger people.
heheh..Well I don't have a trust fund, eh? But see? That's why my reveries for the Quebec are simply pure fantasy! I had a feeling something like that right off the bat messes things up.
jambo
Quote:
If you are retiring in Quebec (Montreal?) and dont mind winter and a predominance of the French language i cant think of any cons you'd encounter to living in Quebec.
My rants about the governments needless language laws shouldnt in any way cast aspersions on the quality and character of the Quebec people,their cultures or the fantastic geography. Maybe its time to take a vacation to your future home..eh
Well you said alot there and you noted the big bugaboo for me and that is the c.........o..........l..........d.......!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!
Chances are most of the time it goes below 15, right? You know I don't think I could take it but perhaps I'm speaking to soon because I personally have not experienced Quebec in winter. I think I should to get this out of my system, eh?
The reason that I enjoy Quebec so much is that it does have a tremendous sense of tradition, history and culture and I can see it is revered. I admire that very much, the idea to revere who and what went before. And all that certainly contributes to our attitudes about Quebec and how we are enthraled by it. We smell history in the air. And I could 'see' Louis XIV in the Place Royale...;-)....
You see where I live there are signs that the town was founded in 1665. But I believe it is simply lip-service. The signs
noting that are decrepit so that's my evidence. The relics of the past have all been knocked down in the name of modernity.
People for the most part don't care. The past doesn't mean anything to them. Not exactly what I'd like to see but there you go.
And really you don't have to worry about the 'rants' and its possibility of casting 'aspersions'. Never has, never will. I could tell you alot more of our experiences that I had with everybody we came into contact with during our early summer stay but you'd probably get bored with all the accolades. In fact, we are planning to go up again shortly and meet with some who we met along the way. Great people is what I can say. I am glad that we can all find beautiful common ground there. 10 hrs iosn't too long on the trail to get up there and have life-changing experiences with those in Quebec!
heheh..Well I don't have a trust fund, eh? But see? That's why my reveries for the Quebec are simply pure fantasy! I had a feeling something like that right off the bat messes things up.
jambo
Well you said alot there and you noted the big bugaboo for me and that is the c.........o..........l..........d.......!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!
Chances are most of the time it goes below 15, right?
Are you talking F or C?
Quebec City would be -7C or about 20F during the day in the winter and around -18 C or 0 F at night.
These are of course averages and winter temperatures are quite variable, and you might get a few days where it's slightly above the freezing mark. And then a few weeks later the daily high might not rise above -20 C or -5 F.
Montreal is generally a few degrees milder than Quebec City, and when it comes to extreme nighttime lows can sometimes be a good 10 C milder than Quebec City.
Playing a bit loose with the numbers and conversions here but Montreal would more around -5 C or 25F during the day and around -12 C or 10 F at night on average in the winter.
Have you ever been to a ski resort that has enough cold and snow that's it's open the entire winter? If so then imagine living in that type of weather every day for about three months. It should give you an idea.
Quebec City would be -7C or about 20F during the day in the winter and around -18 C or 0 F at night.
I used F. hmmm...20F is interesting. I thought it would be much colder on average. As noted, I really should come to visit in the winter for a while. Thanks.
I used F. hmmm...20F is interesting. I thought it would be much colder on average. As noted, I really should come to visit in the winter for a while. Thanks.
That's the overnight low, usually reached around 5 am or so in the winter.
Generally, the typical winter weather pattern is cloudy with snow flurries or a bigger snowfall with temperatures just below the freezing mark, followed by bright sunny skies with significantly colder temperatures for a few days, and then it starts up again with the clouds and snowflakes, and so on...
Generally the colder and sunny periods tend to be quite a bit longer than the cloudy snowy ones.
Winter sunshine hours tend to be lower because the days are shorter with the earlier sunsets and later sunrises, but in the winter a strong majority of days will be sunny. But cold of course. And very very bright because of the sun's reflection off the snow.
You could do the reverse snowbird thing and come up for the summer and return to where you are now for the winter,Youd eliminate the immigration procedure that way, although winter aint so bad 3 million of us deal with it.
As noted, I really should come to visit in the winter for a while.
Good idea, and you can stay at the Ice Hotel to see if you can bear it.
Be forewarned, however. Sometimes it gets so cold here that conversation is impossible. Your words freeze as soon as they leave your mouth, to shatter on the pavement below. You should hear the cacophony in the springtime, when all the words start thawing out. It's enough to induce a migraine.
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