Here's my "Americuhn Ethnocentrism":
I found everything beyond Ottawa on my trip home to be frustrating. I had thought that though the Quebec Province spoke a lot of French, English was still the primary language of Canada.
I was surprised....nay, pissy!.... that all the signs were in French only. Really? They can't have them in French with English underneath...like the other areas of Canada I witnessed with English AND French on the signs? Thank God for Alice (my GPS) or I don't know that I would be home yet...especially with all the construction around Montreal.
The rest of Canada was Awesome, though. I love you, Canada. Just fix the Quebec Crap.
Wherever we live and the country we live in, we are products of our history. To understand Quebec, the people and its quirks, requires an intense study of Canadian history. They are still upset that the British defeated the French back in the 1700s on the Plains of Abraham(just north of what is now Quebec City) and they make sure the rest of the country never forgets it.
From time to time, this relationship and the politics involved, can make life quite interesting.
For our American friends I would compare Quebec to Texas. They are a little more off the wall than most of the rest of the US(just look at their current oddball governor)and in their history, on a couple of occasions they have threatened to secede from the union.
I might suggest the next trip, although maybe a little out of your way, to avoid all this stuff, is through New York state crossing at maybe Gananoque(on the eastern end of Lake Ontario then along the 401 west to Toronto) OR further west to Niagara Falls or Buffalo up through Toronto and points north from there.
