I remember...

Hello! It's been too long... It's not that I've nothing to say, more that I'm not sure where to start. So (if anyone's still checking this page) I'll start where I finished last time. I made my flight, feeling slightly the worse for wear, and walked into a hot, sticky, French-speaking Montreal. Three days there, then a couple in Quebec city, a few more in Ottawa and now Toronto.

Montreal didn't start well. Hungover and tired, I thought maybe they were speaking French just to spite me. But it turns out they speak French to each other as well. So just like France - a bit surly, food's not as good as they think, people still listen to soft rock, everything shuts early (or when they feel like it). And that was pretty much how I spent the first day. The next day it rained. But I did see some more old stuff, found a few nice bars, and found out a bit more about Montreal. And on the third day I decided to go to a zoo and then to the archaeology museum and then to some more bars. Maybe Montreal is ok.

But it was in Quebec City that things started to click. It's an amazing city - apparently the only city in North America with its original fortifications (apart from Mexico), home of the Quebec Parliament and spiritual home of the Quebec "nation". I think I'd been too quick to call it French - it's about as much French as the Americans are English. It's Quebec. And if you go far enough back, it's Canada - before 1713, most of what's now Canada was (in theory at least) part of France. In 1713 they ceded Nova Scotia (complete with 12,000 'Acadian' farmers) to Britain - prompting the British, in one of its finer hours of empire, to evict most of them - and in 1759/60 they lost the lot in a short, one-sided war. What followed was effectively a recolonisation, firstly by British and Irish (protestant) merchants and aristocrats, and later by Irish (catholic) settlers, effectively refugees from the famines of the 19th century. For a time, the colony of Lower Canada (as it was known) was minority French. And even now they reckon that maybe 40% of Quebecois have Irish ancestors.

This is all reflected in the Quebecois parliament, which repeats throughout the three phases of Quebe:- French colony, British colony, Canadian province. To emphasise this the architect inscribed "je me souviens" ("I remember"). This became the official motto for the province and ironically, for some, has gone one to mean something else entirely - a kind of "never forget" that Quebec was once part of France and (almost) self-governing.

So Quebec was complicated. Strong echoes of France (the food, language, architecture), echoes of Irish (the music - they're well into their folk, which is basically Irish music in French), and even some of Britain (the system of government, sport... not much else...) I entered Quebec thinking of it as "French Canada", but I left with no clue what to call it - Francophone, Quebecois, maybe just another bit of Canada. But I do find it a bit weird that Montreal, the second largest French speaking city in the world behind Paris, has Queen Elizabeth as head of state.

And so on to Ottowa. Not much to say really - some cool parliament buildings and stuff, nice river, good Museum of Civilisation. But not much else going on - a bit like a worse version of Washington. The youth hostel was great (an old prison, and the site of the last public hanging in Canada) but after two days I busted a move to Toronto - which is a basically a huge, North American city with a big tower that you can go up and lots of skyscrapers. Both cities are in the province of Ontario, which is the most populous in Canada and a lot more like the Canada off the telly (Anglophone, safe, laid back, friendly, but still no mounties). But I think what's struck me most is that this is just a part of Canada - albeit the biggest, richest and loudest. Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, Quebec, Ontario... take your pick.

My top tip: Take ferries; they're like cheap cruises. I went out to Toronto islands (which are great) today for the equivalent of three pounds return, great views of the harbour; in Boston you get unlimited travel on the harbour taxis included in a day travel pass; in Quebec you can take the ferry across the St Lawrence River to Nevis for less than a pint.
What I'm listening to: Nothing. I spent a day fretting that I'd lost my MP3 player (what'd I do then?) but then I found it wrapped up inside my tent. Phew.
Where next: Niagara falls!! I'm jumping over the edge in a barrel. Apparently only 13 people have ever tried it (only eight were successful).

PS - loads more photos online...