Le Belle Province...

There is something that is both magical and romantic about the province of Quebec. I have been in Montreal for just over 8 hours and have been quite quickly reminded of the love affair i have with this city. This is a city where it doesn't matter if its -30 below and the snow is up to your waist...you still go out and be social. This is a city where the communities are truly communities. This is a city that despite all of the rising costs in our other urban centers has stayed somewhat grounded.
I love pretending that i am a francophone while conversing in the shops with retailers. I feel as if i can hold my own en francais, but promise that this year i spend some serious time studying the language and actually learning to speak it, instead of paraphrasing.
I remember when i was a young teenager living in Ontario and the province of Quebec was going to the polls in a referendum to determine whether or not they would separate from the rest of Canada. At the time i found this to be completely absurd and wondered why anyone would not want to be a part of our amazing country of Canada. However as i have grown older, and have travelled extensively throughout the world and my country i have come to believe that Quebec, Le Belle Province, really does march to the beat of its own drum. It is very European by design and language and im sure can feel restricted by our federal government. It is a province that in a country that is barely 100 years old actually has some history and heritage. Roots that we do not have in the west. I can see now why the vote was so close at the time, and just over 50% of Quebecers voted to remain a part of Canada. They needed a majority vote at the time to fully separate and that was not achieved.
I for one am proud that Quebec and all of its charm and history remain a part of our great nation.
Oh and the poutine is pretty damn good....