I bet you haven't been to Chibougamau

[puppysparkes]

Excellent TR and photos!

 

[irv]

Enjoyable and interesting, I love visiting and could live in Canada without a problem, the better half, once the gauge drops to single figures you would think we were in the ice ages. Maybe I should tell her it is double digits most months and omit the - sign

 

[RooFlyer]

Back to winter. I drove down to Quebec City for their annual Carnaval.

On the left is Bonhomme, the annual mascot:



Lots of ice sculptures, parades and drinking from candy canes hollowed out and filled with booze.






Quebec City is very pretty, especially capped off with some snow. It was of course the location of the battle of the Plains of Abraham, part of the Seven Years War between the English and the French in the mid 1700s. Here, the English defeated the French who were ensconced there, making Quebec part of the English Colony, and setting Canada up for several hundred years of Quebequois angst.

 

[pagingjoan]

Great report, thank you RooFlyer.
Closest I could come was a winter, long ago, spent in Montreal.
My brain was frozen for the whole period!

Despite the fact that my apartment was within two blocks of my place of work, I barely survived the experience.
Definitely a warm weather person!

I am full of admiration for those who can cope with such extreme conditions.
Keep up the nostalgic reporting, please.

 

[RooFlyer]

More views of Quebec City during Carnaval, mainly featuring the Chateau Frontenac, which will look familiar to anyone who knows Fairmont Hotels in Canada








Well, now to say goodbye to Quebec, and one last question. I wasn't going to put this pic in, but since I was talking to JohnM this evening, I thought I might as its agriculturally inspired.


What do you think this dork is up to? (.... and no, that bush is NOT what you might think it is!)





Replies invited; answer tomorrow.

 

[JohnM]

Well, now to say goodbye to Quebec, and one last question. I wasn't going to put this pic in, but since I was talking to JohnM this evening, I thought I might as its agriculturally inspired.


What do you think this dork is up to? (.... and no, that bush is NOT what you might think it is!)


View attachment 70869


Replies invited; answer tomorrow.

A geologist actually handling something living :shock:. Could that be a plant that absorbs some minerals and you're collecting some for analysis?

 

[RooFlyer]

Well, as far as audience participation goes, that was a fizzer!!

Absolutely correct JohnM - you win 6 months in Chibougamau during winter.

Yes, as geologists, we are looking for minerals in the rock. In Australia, you just sample the surface rock or drill a hole. In Canada, the bedrock is concealed with 1-10+m of glacial till.

So, look at the vegetation whose roots will sample both the till and, maybe, the bedrock. Sampling the till itself works because if there is mineralisation there, it must have come from some-where 'up-ice'. You can trace geochemical anomalies up the till train until the anomaly disappears ... therefore the source is back a bit, below you.

But that means taking big samples (because of the heterogeneity of the till) = expensive.

So, my job in Chibougamau was to trial geo-botanical sampling. We had several zones which we knew were gold bearing, so we did lines over the zones, sampling the vegetation.

Different species (birch, spruce, pine, shrubs...), different parts (old bark; new bark; leaves; twigs etc) ... sample, bag, send to lab where they were ashed and analyses for chemical signature.

Result? Only some vague correlations. Most of the organics were sourced from the till, not the bedrock . No gold mine discovery for me.

I spent a year in Chibougamau, and, frankly couldn't wait to leave. The general population was overtly unfriendly to 'Anglos'.

At that time, one of the periodic Quebec-rest-of-Canada reconciliation efforts had collapsed, with hostile input from the eastern Canadian provinces. Quebec always maintains itself as separate from Canada - identity, culture, language. The rest of Canada spent huge amounts on effective bribes to keep them sweet, but basically Quebec was never happy. So finally eastern Canada rebelled and said (effectively) "stuff you, we aren't going to bribe you any more - if you want to leave, then leave". The majority in Quebec don't want to leave, so that left a very resentful and bitter (large) minority. The northern part, where I was , was a very strong 'separatist' community. They can't tell my accent was Australian (and therefore a visitor) - they just heard English and treated me like a Angle Canadian - to be treated with absolute contempt.

I learned some valuable lessons that year - how it was to be a minority; to be isolated in the community by language and prejudice etc etc. The upside is that the students didn't have the same hang-up, and basically adopted me (they loved practicing their English) , so that was my social base. Had a great time with them; my squash game improved out of sight, as they were mostly about 10 years younger than me (30 vs <20) :shock: .

Another downside of Quebec was the cuisine. That's something the French did NOT leave behind. Witness the classic dishes:

Poutine. The nations (AKA provincial) 'fast food'. A polystyrene clamshell with French fries, covered in melted cheese and gravy. About a billion calories per serve.
Tortiere. Originally something like a family size meat pastie, or even a meat pie. Now a fat and gristle laden monstrosity, like one of the cheap frozen pasties you might buy at a supermarket.
Tarte d'sucre. "Sugar pie" originally a pastry case with maple syrup in the body, served with cream and berries. Now lots of fat laden pastry, with artificial maple syrup in the middle.

About the time I was there the Quebec legislature introduced Bill 101, which effectively banned the use and display of the English language in public, except for a few designated Anglo suburbs in Montreal, and even then, when you could have bilingual signs, the French had to be 'larger and more prominent'. A "for Sale" sign in other areas was illegal. A large department store chain was "Simpson's". Another, still around, was "The Hudson's Bay Company" They are people's names, therefore not 'English' per se. But they had to change. Can you tell why?

Its all in the apostrophe. That's an English construct. So they had to change the name of the store to eliminate the apostrophe - all the signs, branding, merchandise etc. Simpsons, not Simpson's

English language newspapers became like cigarettes in Australia today - under-the-counter. This in bi-lingual Canada. If you use a provincial government service in Alberta or Saskatchewan, notwithstanding French speakers are a TINY minority, you must be able to have service in French, if you wish. But in Quebec, with a large English minority, (not to mention the overwhelming national language) no service in English at provincial government offices.

There was a mine run by my company in the town (I was involved in a separate, exploration office). There was a strike and industrial campaign by the miners and their union. It went on for a month or so. One of the union tactics was to drive to the house of any of the managers during a work day, and park outside. Whenever the wives went out in their car, they would be followed. Anywhere they went, they would be followed. If kids were dropped off at school, the follower would remain outside the school. ... and so on. Charming people.

So, when I eventually left Chibougamau, I drove out of town and didn't look in the rear vision mirror. It was an interesting experience, rather unique for an Aussie, but the people (with some very honourable exceptions) were horrible.

"My country is not my country - its winter" - and they can keep it.

I bet you weren't expecting that end to the Trip Report Sorry, but the culture was part of the 'trip'.

 

[JohnM]

Absolutely correct JohnM - you win 6 months in Chibougamau during winter.

No I haven't, folks! He jests! What I've actually won is three weeks travelling with Rooflyer in Chile and Argentina next Feb-Mar - seriously.

We are going to meet in SCL, jump in a rental car, high-tail it S to Puerto Montt, with a night at Pucon (which will look something like this):


on the way, nearly a week cruising the Chilean fjords including Chiloe Island
(which will look something like this):



and then 1.5 weeks driving into Argy and heading up the famed Ruta 40

(which will be something like this):


to wind up slurping the odd Malbec and Pinot, probably at Salentien in the Valle de Ucco, south of Mendoza.

(Which will look something like this, sans snow at that time of year):



I love winning prizes :!::mrgreen:.

 

[kermatu]

I trust there'll be a TR of this JohnM.

Really liked your report RooFlyer.

 

[JohnM]

I trust there'll be a TR of this JohnM.

When I'm at the feet of the master :shock:.

It's part of a DONE5 for me, so I'll TR the rest :mrgreen:.

 

[kermatu]

When I'm at the feet of the master :shock:.

It's part of a DONE5 for me, so I'll TR the rest :mrgreen:.

Perhaps a combined TR. Or maybe a TR competition??

 

[JohnM]

Or maybe a TR competition??

Now that might strain the friendship :shock: - plus I'd lose .

 

[scaredeycat]

Fascinating stuff and interesting insights on the Quebecois. Thanks!

 

[irv]

I bet you weren't expecting that end to the Trip Report Sorry, but the culture was part of the 'trip'.[/QUOTE]

Interesting to hear that side from someone from the outside's perspective. Is it still like that now, when we visited found the people in Quebec quite charming, but then we were visiting tourist spots

 

[love_the_life]

Well, as far as audience participation goes, that was a fizzer!!

Absolutely correct JohnM - you win 6 months in Chibougamau during winter.

Yes, as geologists, we are looking for minerals in the rock. In Australia, you just sample the surface rock or drill a hole. In Canada, the bedrock is concealed with 1-10+m of glacial till..

Oh no. i missed reading, but then again don't think I really wanted the prize :shock:

 

[JohnM]

Oh no. i missed reading, but then again don't think I really wanted the prize :shock:

I wouldn't have minded 6 days there in winter - but I gave RF a better offer in Chile .

 

[TomVexille]

A very interesting little insight RooFlyer​. Thanks for taking the time to share.

 

[amaroo]

Just catching up on all these excellent TRs. Love Quebec, been three times and can't get enough...

 

[RooFlyer]

Just catching up on all these excellent TRs. Love Quebec, been three times and can't get enough...

You might,like me, say "A nice place to visit but I wouldn't like to live there"

 

[VPS]

thanks for the TR - like the cold weather but that's just a bit too much of a good thing