Pour la suite du monde

I visited Ile-aux-Coudres last month. The St. Lawrence is wide there and it smells like the sea.

Pour la suite du monde by Michel Brault & Pierre Perrault - NFB

"This feature-length documentary is the unrehearsed story of what happened when old-timers from Ile-aux-Coudres, a small island in the St. Lawrence River, were persuaded to revive a local whale-catching practice. Through the magic of words and the mystery of the catch, the film uncovers a spirituality rooted in the moon and the rhythm of the tides. More than a documentary; it is a fresco of the myths and legends among the traditional fishing communities of Quebec. In French with English subtitles."

Quebec City and environs

LES PLUS BEAUX VILLAGES DU QUÉBEC

The Most Beautiful Villages of Quebec is a website with lovely photos of exceptional villages, most of them bordering on lakes and rivers. I've driven through many of them along the St. Lawrence between Montreal and Tadoussac and in the Eastern Townships just south of Montreal. Having spent an hour looking at all the beautiful villages I'm now determined to take a Quebec roadtrip later this year.

I Was A Ye Ye Girl

Thanks to CCBC for the fantastic link.

The Crees of Northern Québec

Ethnographic Portraits

On April 30th, 1971, the Québec Provincial Government announced that Hydro-Québec, a Crown Corporation, would develop the river systems draining into James Bay, Canada, for hydroelectric power. Since that time the landscape has undergone a significant change including the diversion and daming of major rivers and the formation of huge reservoirs. This geographical alteration has also transformed the life of the indigenous Crees - an Algonqian-speaking people who moved into the region long before the arrival of Europeans. Today, controversies continue to rage over the need for increased hydroelectric power versus energy conservation as well as protracted contestations over Native rights, mercury pollution, loss of wildlife habitat, and other forms of cultural and environmental disruption.

Via

Red Bull Crashed Ice - Quebec 2008

2008 Red Bull Crashed Ice Final in Quebec City. Extreme skating!
Thanks Crispin

Historic Quebec 1940s

Historic Quebec 1940s

Le Refus global

On Aug. 9, 1948, an attractive group of young artists and intellectuals gathered at a bookstore on Montreal's St. Catherine street. They had come to launch an anti-religious and anti-establishment manifesto called Le Refus global (Total Refusal). It was signed by 16 artists.
The controversial booklet contained a number of essays, two short plays, drawings as well as photographs by different contributors but at its heart was the main text penned by painter and mentor Paul-Emile Borduas.
In Le Refus global, Borduas called for a total rejection of all conventional thinking and advocated a freedom of ideas. It would become one of the most influential artistic and social documents in modern Quebec society.

Vive le Québec libre!

In Montreal on this day in 1967, French President Charles de Gaulle was welcomed by the mayor, Jean Drapeau, and then made an unscheduled address from the balcony of the city hall to an enthusiastic crowd, ending the speech with the words, "Vive Montréal ! Vive le Québec ! Vive le Québec libre ! Vive le Canada français et Vive la France ! (Long live Montreal ! Long live Quebec ! Long live free Quebec ! Long live French Canada and long live France !)"
"Vive le Quebec libre!" - three words that unleashed an unbelievable furor. It was a breach of international protocol that reverberated for years and gave momentum to the Quebec sovereignty movement.

Quebec's 400th Anniversary and la famille Trudel

There are huge happenings in beautiful Quebec City as it celebrates its 400th anniversary, marking the founding of what has become modern day Quebec City on July 3rd, 1608 by the French explorer Samuel De Champlain.
My ancestor, Jean Trudel, came to Quebec from France in 1655 (not quite 400 years ago but pretty close) and settled in L'Ange Gardien, a small town just outside of the city. Here are some historical notes:

The first mass celebrated at L'Ange Gardien was in the house of your ancestor Jean Trudel. A pioneer of the parish of L'Ange Gardien, Jean Trudel settled on the coast of Beaupré, near Québec, in 1655. His farm was approximately a mile and a half on the side of the Montmorency Falls. In 1911, a monument commemorating Jean Trudel was erected by his descendants on the site of his original house which still had visible foundations at that time.

At the beginning of colonization, up until the time that churches and chapels were built, services were held in a settler's home by missionnary priests. At L'Ange Gardien, these services were held in the house of Jean Trudel. This is noted in an act of 1664 whose subject was the election of marguilliers (?).

It is interesting to note that during the census of 1666, Jean Trudel was identified as 'canvas weaver'. For many generations, one of our national industries was this weaving and your ancestor Jean Trudel was one of those who contributed in its development.

There is a Trudel website with the family crest, the monument and more, although I can't imagine why you'd be interested unless you're a Trudel.

A Proustian remembrance of la musique québécoise

In the 1960s when I was a younger teenager in Montreal, skinny and flat-chested, yé-yé was the music of the francophone boys I hung with. Acts like Les Classels, Les Baronets, César et les Romains, Les Sultans, Les Excentriques, Les Miladys, Tony Roman and Jenny Rock were hot. French kids watched them on Jeunesse d'aujourd'hui. English speaking girls were exposed to them in the pool halls and on the street corners where the guys with ducktail haircuts played them on their transistor radios. These guys (Les Classels) had a unique look. They were a little before my time but some of my less cool friends liked them.

   

Then there were the bands that did cover versions of the English top ten. This group (César et les Romains) had hit after hit. Go figure.

    

And these guys! If the Quebec pop scene needed anything it was definitely not dudes doing The Freddy en francais. 

 Bang bang, somebody should have shot this song down when Cher did it.

 At some point local anglo groups appeared. Maybe they were always there and all it took was a move to an English speaking neighbourhood for me to discover them. By this time I was old enough to go out and wait (often in vain) for guys to ask me to dance. I hated those days but I really loved this band:

 

The Rabble was arguably the best of the Montreal bands of this era although some of their songs like Black Potato and Can I Squeeze Your Boil were a little weird even for the times.

La Saint-Jean-Baptiste

Bonne Saint-Jean à tous mes amis au Québec!