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MONTREAL , Canada's second-largest
city, is geographically as close to the European coast as to Vancouver,
and in look and feel it combines some of the finest aspects of
the two continents. Its North American skyline of glass and concrete
rises above churches and monuments in a melange of European styles
as varied as Montreal's social mix. This is also the second-largest
French-speaking metropolis after Paris, but only two-thirds of
the city's three and a half million people are of French extraction,
the other third being a cosmopolitan mishmash of les autres -
including British, Eastern Europeans, Chinese, Italians, Greeks,
Jews, South Americans and West Indians. The result is a truly
multidimensional city, with a global variety of eateries, bars
and clubs, matched by a calendar of festivals that makes this
the most vibrant place in Canada.
Montreal has always played a major role in advancing
Quebec separatism , as it's here that the two
main linguistic groups come into greatest contact with one another.
The tension between English and French culminated in the terrorist
campaign that the Front de Liberation du Quebec focused on the
city in the late 1960s, and the consequent political changes affected
Montreal more than anywhere else in the province. In the wake
of the "francization" of Quebec, English-Canadians hit
Hwy 401 in droves, tipping the nation's economic supremacy from
Montreal to Toronto. Though written off by Canada's English-speaking
majority, the city did not sink into oblivion. Instead, the city
has undergone a resurgence, becoming the driving force behind
the high-tech industry that's transforming Canada's economy.
Everywhere you look there are the signs of civic
pride and prosperity. In the historic quarter of Vieux-Montreal
, on the banks of the St Lawrence River, the streets
and squares are flanked by well-tended buildings, from the mammoth
Basilique de Notre-Dame and steepled Chapelle
de Notre-Dame-de-Bonsecours , to sleek and stately commercial
buildings. Old houses have been converted into lively restaurants
and shops, abandoned warehouses into condos and the disused
Vieux-Port into a summer playground with landscaped parklands
facing onto the St Lawrence. Beneath the forested rise of
Mont Royal, downtown 's boulevards and leafy squares
are alive from the morning rush hour right through to the wee
hours, when revellers return from the clubs that pulsate along
rue Ste-Catherine and the more intimate bars
and lounges of the Plateau and Quartier
Latin . Below ground, the walkways of the Underground
City and the outstanding Metro system
link the nodal points of the city, while towards the eastern outskirts,
the Stade Olympique 's leaning tower overshadows
the vast Jardin Botanique , second in international
status only to London's Kew Gardens.
In addition, the city boasts some excellent museums.
The Centre Canadien d'Architecture has one of
the continent's most impressive specialist collections, the Musuee
d'Art Contemporain is Canada's only museum devoted entirely
to contemporary art, and the Musiee des Beaux Arts
is the oldest fine-arts museum in the country. Equally fine are
the museums devoted to Montreal and Canadian history; of these,
the Musee McCord has a mint collection of native
artefacts, while the Musee d'Archeologie et d'Histoire
de Montreal delivers a state-of-the-art presentation
of archeological findings at the site of Montr?al's founding in
1642.
Beyond the city limits, Montrealers are blessed
with superb holiday regions, most within an hour or two of the
metropolis. To the west, the forested region of the Outaouais
makes for great outdoor activities, while to the north the fertile
banks of the St Lawrence and the lake-sprinkled mountains of the
Laurentians offer a reprieve from muggy summer temperatures
and an escape from the winter blues. To the east, the charm of
the Cantons-de-l'Est (Eastern Townships) lies
in the acres of farmlands, orchards, maple woods and lakeshore
hamlets popular among antique collectors. En route to Quebec City,
the Mauricie valley, the province's smallest
national park, has a web of waterways and lakes amidst a landscape
of mountainous forest.
