Lily Iona MacKenzie's Blog, page 62

Vive le Québec

No place in North America equals Quebec City for its charm, unique culture, and beauty. The only walled city north of Mexico, when you pass through the portal into the city’s historic section, the focus for most visitors, it’s like entering a fairy tale complete with a castle. The century-old Fairmont Le Château Frontenac—with its towering top ringed by steeples and turrets—overlooks the St. Lawrence River and soars over the town, adding to the magical feeling.

But this impressive hotel hasn’t always dominated the old city. Many museums, churches, homes, and scenic lanes date back to the 1600s. These are the structures that define QC and give it so much charisma. The Frontenac is the icing on the cake.

Quebec’s Upper Town (Haute-Ville) is perched on cliffs overlooking the St. Lawrence River and provides views of the countryside for many miles beyond. Accessible by steep stairs or via a funicular car, Old Quebec’s Lower Town has its own historic charms. The Basse-Ville sprang up around the city’s harbor and was the original neighborhood of the city. Homes, shops, and ancient streets sprawled here at the base of the cliffs centering around Place Royale—a square on the site of the garden of Champlain’s Habitation (1608).

The preferred entry to old Quebec City is via the Grande Allee. Time seems to have stood still here. It’s like entering another world, another time, another place, and it works its magic on you. Only Rottenburg, another walled city, has had such an effect on me.

A horse drawn cab is the appropriate way to view this wonderful place. Our driver was a redhead, of Irish descent, but born and raised in Quebec. He spoke very clear English, his words carefully enunciated. He wore a straw hat, and the horse’s name was Dixie. We learned that the animals aren’t overworked. A vet checks them every day, and they only pull a carriage every other day.

On our fire-engine red cab, we wove through narrow cobblestone streets past stone houses festooned with window planters. In the more commercial area, the vividly colored umbrellas at sidewalk cafes competed with the flowers for lending bright patches to the scenes. We also passed the Hotel Clarendon, built in 1870, where we stayed. It’s the oldest hotel in the walled city. Located a little away from the most festive streets, it’s still in the center of the action. Our room had a window overlooking the St. Lawrence, a clock tower, a part of the Château Frontenac, and a park.

If I can generalize, this link between French and English-speaking Canada that our driver represented captures the essence of Canada, with Ottawa the head and Quebec City the heart. Without Quebec, something precious would be lost to Canadians. It’s a touchstone and, Quebec City, which lost once to the British, must not lose again. It has the exuberance, the emotional life, and the sensuality that some Anglos can lack. Quebec City also is the heart in that the Americas emerged out of European sensibility, and that presence is felt here perhaps more than anywhere else.

Filed under: Links Tagged: Fairmont Le Château Frontenac, hotel clarendon, quebec, quebec city, St. Lawrence River, walled city

In Praise of Libraries!

Yesterday, I had to kill time (terrible metaphor) while waiting to hear a friend of mine do a reading of his memoir Blackboard at Book Passage in Corte Madera. I didn’t want to drive home to the East Bay and then make another trip to Marin County, so after I finished teaching in San Francisco, I took the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin County and hung out at the Corte Madera Library.

With audio and ebooks so popular, I half expected the library to be a ghost town, inhabited by print books but no one there to read them. Happily, I was wrong, and while I only check out library books to listen to on Overdrive, I was reminded of what an amazing place libraries are. I also discovered that readers still use them!

When I first arrived, there were no parking spaces near the building (I’d expected the lot to be vacant). I had to drive around for 10 minutes before I found a spot. When I walked in the door, I realized this was a happening place. It wasn’t just buzzing with library workers. But people of all ages were using the space.

The children’s section had a steady stream of kids carrying books that they wanted to check out. As I walked from the entrance to the back of the building, hoping to find an empty seat where I could work on my laptop, I discovered that nearly every seat was filled. Some visitors were sitting in overstuffed chairs reading magazines or newspapers. Others were in the computer areas, intently focused on the screens. But even more were strolling the aisles of books, checking out the latest and selecting ones they wanted to borrow.

All of this was encouraging: traditional reading has not died out in America. But what I loved most was the feeling of community I felt with this world of readers. The Corte Madera Library’s physical plant has lots of light and wood paneling, so the atmosphere is welcoming. But it also was lovely just to sit there silently with others who were enjoying the space.

No words were exchanged, yet we all clearly were there because we wanted to embrace the world that the words in these books and other printed sources represented. They opened portals onto subjects we otherwise wouldn’t know about. And I was grateful for this opportunity to reconnect with what libraries signify: the egg of learning that never stops hatching as long as we’re open to what it offers.

Filed under: Links Tagged: books, corte madera library, libraries, library, place of learning