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California native here, planning a first-time visit to both Quebec and New England. I had some questions about what driving around Quebec, and just generally communicating with people, will be like.
1) The first question that I'm sure everyone asks: Will we be fine if we don't speak any French? I already know the answer to this question in Montreal and Quebec City (which is yes, because they're used to dealing with tourists). And I know things go more smoothly if you learn at least a few French phrases (apparently the protocol is that this causes anyone capable of speaking English to realize how bad an American's French is and switch to English, sparing them further embarrassment). What I'm more concerned about is driving between destinations. Say we need to stop for gas or food, or just to see something interesting we spotted from the side of the road. Will this become an awkward fish-out-of-water scenario, or is English still pretty widely used outside of the bigger cities?
2) What are Quebec's drivers typically like, both in cities and in rural areas? Other Canadian cities I've driven in are Vancouver, Victoria, and Calgary. And I've driven across small sections of rural Alberta to reach Waterton Lakes and Banff. Nothing terribly different from driving on US Interstates there. I can deal with kilometers instead of miles just fine, and I can probably figure out the French signage with little difficulty. It's more that I don't want to ignorantly break laws or do something dumb in traffic that immediately outs me as a tourist (though the rental car with New York plates will probably do that much). I already know about the whole no-right-turn-on-red thing in Montreal.
3) Our planned route is New York City --> Montreal --> Quebec City --> Acadia National Park (crossing back into the U.S. via Saint-Georges). Anything interesting I should know about this area of Quebec, such as interesting things to see/do that aren't too far off our route?
1) Knowledge of English is hit or miss in rural areas or small towns. Everybody can understand simple sentences but not everyone is able to carry out a conversation or give directions in English. People working at chain restaurants are used to getting English-speaking tourists. Outside of Montreal and a few places in Outaouais and the Eastern Townships, English is almost never used except with tourists.
2) Quebec drivers are nothing special, neither especially fast or slow, nor dangerous. They tend to respect driving laws (except speed limits of course) and expect others to do the same -- as a result they are not especially patient with drivers that stray from that pattern (e.g. no left-lane hogging, will only yield if they HAVE to, won't stop for pedestrians or bikes, etc).. in all, Quebec drivers are not especially courteous but you won't go back home thinking they're crazy!
3) Montreal - Quebec City goes through the St. Lawrence lowlands, which are boring as hell from the freeway. If you have some time, the routes bordering the St. Lawrence will be more scenic (with some good-looking rural Quebec villages) -- those are routes 132 and 138, especially between Trois-Rivières and Quebec City.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
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My American ex-husband thought that Montreal drivers were insane. I'm used to it, so... whatever. Everyone here drives on the offense; that's just how it is. That said, I was gone (living in New England) for almost 10 years, and the Montreal drivers seem much better now. I don't know what happened, but it's good.
If you've driven in Vancouver, this should be a walk in the park for you. They're crazy there; they just don't know how to drive.
1) Knowledge of English is hit or miss in rural areas or small towns. Everybody can understand simple sentences but not everyone is able to carry out a conversation or give directions in English. People working at chain restaurants are used to getting English-speaking tourists. Outside of Montreal and a few places in Outaouais and the Eastern Townships, English is almost never used except with tourists.
And I can probably manage just fine with simple sentences - I'd be doing the same in French, if that. It's more that I have a certain level of social anxiety in dealing with communication difficulties (even if it's English and the person is hard of hearing or something). Like, will that person get frustrated with me if they can't understand what I'm asking? I plan to get a translation app for my iPhone so that I can at least know the equivalent of a basic word or phrase in French, and attempt to say that if the person doesn't understand what I'm asking for in English. I suppose part of my reason for wanting to visit Quebec as opposed to any other province is specifically to experience the "foreign-ness" of being somewhere English isn't the primary language, and then being less anxious about it when I eventually get around to traveling outside of North America.
That being said, I'll probably try to keep stops in between my Quebec destinations to a minimum - gas up and eat near the bigger cities and so forth.
Quote:
Originally Posted by barneyg
2) Quebec drivers are nothing special, neither especially fast or slow, nor dangerous. They tend to respect driving laws (except speed limits of course) and expect others to do the same -- as a result they are not especially patient with drivers that stray from that pattern (e.g. no left-lane hogging, will only yield if they HAVE to, won't stop for pedestrians or bikes, etc).. in all, Quebec drivers are not especially courteous but you won't go back home thinking they're crazy!
Yeah, sounds like I'll be just fine there. I'm definitely not as aggressive as most L.A. drivers, but I'm not as intimidated by their driving as a lot of other tourists would be visiting here. I do what I can to avoid getting in some other driver or pedestrian's way, or otherwise pissing them off in traffic. So long as I can fit into the normal flow of how people drive, I'm not afraid to drive in an unfamiliar city or country. (NYC and Boston will probably be more "interesting" stops on our journey in that regard.)
Quote:
Originally Posted by barneyg
3) Montreal - Quebec City goes through the St. Lawrence lowlands, which are boring as hell from the freeway. If you have some time, the routes bordering the St. Lawrence will be more scenic (with some good-looking rural Quebec villages) -- those are routes 132 and 138, especially between Trois-Rivières and Quebec City.
Just looking at the route on Google Maps, following the St. Lawrence seemed like the more interesting way to go anyway. I won't have a ton of time to go too far off-route, but I don't like to spend entire days cooped up in cities either - when I visit American cities, I'm often more interested in what parks and trails and so forth are within striking distance of those cities, than I am in the cities themselves. (Unless the cities have intriguing historical architecture or something. Definitely the case here.)
I was wondering whether it'd be worth my time to make a side trip to Mont Tremblant while we're in Montreal. It looks like a good place to spend some time outdoors, but I don't know whether September is considered summer or "off-season" up there, and how crowded it may be as a result. In America, I've enjoyed visiting ski resort-type places in the summer because they tend to be good for hiking and scenery in the absence of snow.
If you've driven in Vancouver, this should be a walk in the park for you. They're crazy there; they just don't know how to drive.
I was only in Vancouver for two days, and other than hitting a nightmarish traffic jam going through the tunnel into Vancouver on a weekday, we didn't have any unpleasant driving experiences there. (Actually, I had one of my most fun driving experiences ever in B.C. - getting to drive right on to the ferry to Victoria made me feel as excited as a little boy!) I wasn't thrilled about having no option but to valet park at our hotel, but that was our own fault for staying in the core of the city rather than a little ways away from the hub of its activity. We plan to apply that lesson to Montreal and stay somewhere that's close enough to easily access public transit, but far enough that parking isn't a hassle.
Hmm, are the police bilingual? Could one possibly get out of a ticket with a french unilingual cop, and a unilingual English speaking American driver, who just doesn't understand the crazy Quebec ways? Hahaha
Hmm, are the police bilingual? Could one possibly get out of a ticket with a french unilingual cop, and a unilingual English speaking American driver, who just doesn't understand the crazy Quebec ways? Hahaha
Pretty sure that would go over about as well as a Spanish speaker getting pulled over here in L.A.
1) The first question that I'm sure everyone asks: Will we be fine if we don't
speak any French? I already know the answer to this question in Montreal and
Quebec City (which is yes, because they're used to dealing with tourists). And I
know things go more smoothly if you learn at least a few French phrases
(apparently the protocol is that this causes anyone capable of speaking English
to realize how bad an American's French is and switch to English, sparing them
further embarrassment). What I'm more concerned about is driving between
destinations. Say we need to stop for gas or food, or just to see something
interesting we spotted from the side of the road. Will this become an awkward
fish-out-of-water scenario, or is English still pretty widely used outside of
the bigger cities?
Rural towns are predominantly unilingual francophone (except for the Eastern Townships), but honestly, you shouldn't really have a problem. If they know you're from another country, they'll usually make allowances and try to help you out. They'll either call someone over who speaks a little broken English or it can turn into an interesting game of charades. I let my friend from Vermont have the use of my cottage in Lanaudiere for a week and she doesn't speak a lick of French. She managed to go horseback riding, ate in restaurants and rented a motorboat at the marina. You'll be OK.
Quebec drivers are nothing special, neither especially fast or slow, nor
dangerous. They tend to respect driving laws (except speed limits of course) and
expect others to do the same
Especially the speed limits. I've done 150 on the highway and had buses blow by me like I was standing still. Just try to keep up with the flow of traffic.
And watch for deer and moose on the rural roads.
(There's an old adage that was going around a while back. "For a population that speeds so much, there are surprisingly few injuries from car accidents. That's because they're all fatalities."
I was wondering whether it'd be worth my time to make a side trip to Mont
Tremblant while we're in Montreal. It looks like a good place to spend some time
outdoors, but I don't know whether September is considered summer or
"off-season" up there, and how crowded it may be as a result. In America, I've
enjoyed visiting ski resort-type places in the summer because they tend to be
good for hiking and scenery in the absence of snow.
Tremblant should be perfect in September for hiking and the like. End of the summer rush and before ski season sets in.
And they speak English.
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