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DC should be the winner here in a physical sense. MTL and QC resemble Paris in the sense that French is spoken there, but it’s like the similarity between Boston and London (not super close). They have totally different cuisines and accents/dialects beyond the simple aesthetic differences.
But I agree with the poster above. DC's urban planning might be modeled on Paris's, but, culturally it has a very different feel. We can't downplay similarities in Francophone culture, just as we can't downplay similarities in Anglophone culture between, say, Australia and the UK.
We can't downplay similarities in Francophone culture, just as we can't downplay similarities in Anglophone culture between, say, Australia and the UK.
Jamaica is also Anglophone. Doesn’t mean that Sydney is more similar to Kingston than to Montreal.
Yes, Francophone culture is significant. Quebec City is surely more similar to Toulouse than it is to any American city. But the thing about Francophone cities (in my experience) is that they’re all SO unique, Paris especially. Marseille is not as similar to Bordeaux or Lyon as DC is to Boston or Philadelphia. Following that logic, being Francophone alone isn’t enough to link Montreal or Quebec City to Paris. The three are just too different in too many other ways.
DC should be the winner here in a physical sense. MTL and QC resemble Paris in the sense that French is spoken there, but it’s like the similarity between Boston and London (not super close). They have totally different cuisines and accents/dialects beyond the simple aesthetic differences.
Bit of nitpick, but culturally Quebec and France are much closer than that. More like the difference between London and Melbourne. Two different cities, but Melbourne still has a slightly British vibe due to the fact that Australian culture still resembles British culture to a degree.
Jamaica is also Anglophone. Doesn’t mean that Sydney is more similar to Kingston than to Montreal.
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Though honestly such a comparison would be a bit of stretch anyway.
Jamaica might speak English and have British (and even American) influences but its people are still fundamentally Afro-Caribbean. That is the dominant cultural marker.
In Quebec something like 85% of the population is primarily of European French origin. The roots are distant but they are still there in spite of many influences that have also exerted themselves on Quebec over the centuries.
I've had those discussions as well. They're fun and there are some surprising similarities.
Still, owing to contemporary France's size and our shared history, France looms way larger here.
Add to this the fact that there are tons of commonalities between francophone Belgians and the French, and in many ways francophone Belgium and France share a virtually seamless common cultural sphere similarly to how the U.S. and Anglo-Canada do.
Bit of nitpick, but culturally Quebec and France are much closer than that. More like the difference between London and Melbourne. Two different cities, but Melbourne still has a slightly British vibe due to the fact that Australian culture still resembles British culture to a degree.
I’ll take your word for it, I guess. Is it easy to find good poutine in France?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Acajack
Though honestly such a comparison would be a bit of stretch anyway.
Yeah, I know it’s a bit of a stretch. I just wanted to make the point that language isn’t everything.
Sherbrooke (on the other hand) seems aggressively similar to tons of small, New England cities. I’ve never been, but it’s on my list.
That makes sense as it was never part of New France (at least not in terms of permanent settlement) and was founded by New Englanders (generally loyal to the British Crown) after the American Revolution.
For the first half of the 1800s Sherbrooke and the surrounding region (Eastern Townships) was very predominantly British demographically, and around the turn of the 20th century anglophones were probably still a majority there - albeit a bare one.
Today the region still has an anglophone minority population but both the city of Sherbrooke and the wider Eastern Townships region are about 95% French-speaking.
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