Pardon my French

With Russell at the wheel, we proceed north-east into the province of Quebec. While the highways system of Canada, like that of the USA, is supposed to enhance safety, it's surprisingly complex as we negotiate the endless approach roads, slipways and turnoffs. Canada abhors a roundabout, so any self-respecting city has perhaps 10 entrances to, and exits from, the freeway. Montreal has about 50. Another challenge, totally self-inflicted, is the lingo; we have forgotten to check what grade of fuel the car uses, so at the first gas station I have to clarify this. It's never easy when technology collides with a new language!

Quebec is as different to Ontario as France is to England. Here the people are much more elegant or "chic" than those across the border, there is less of a weight problem here, the food is classier, and the shops are smarter. Our first port of call is Trois Rivieres. It's a city of about 130,000 where the 3 rivers of the same name spill into the mighty St. Lawrence. Thanks to the construction of the Seaway in the 1950s, oceangoing ships can pass all the way from Lake Superior to the Atlantic.

Bypassing Montreal, we spend the next two days at Quebec City. Deciding not to navigate to the city centre, we stay at a grubby motel several miles away. It's the only bad accommodation of our trip but via a taxi into town, the entertainment is the best. First, an intimate jazz bar where the players in the trio (piano, bass, drums) alternate, and there's a friendly vibe. Better still us the Pub St. Alexandre, which bills itself as Irish but is more Chicago as the Denis Vien duo play numbers by Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and esteemed others.

After breakfasting on poutine (a dish including proper French fries and cheese curds, we get the cameras out again. The Chateau Frontenac, dating from 1893, is a wonderful take on a French chateau and perhaps the most elegant railway hotel in the world. Despite the mini-heatwave we are experiencing, its walls warn us of winter perils. The governmental buildings, mostly from around the same period, are equally majestic. As are the statues, arms outstretched as if making a speech.

Finally we chill out on the Plains of Abraham with its commanding views of the St. Lawrence.Read more