Quebec, the French Language, and Quebecois Identity

[New Brisavoine]

In any case you don't have to drive as far south as Agadir if you want to find air temperatures like in Florida. You can drive to Benidorm in Spain and temperature will be like the Orlando region most of the time in winter (sea is colder in winter though). It takes 15 hours of driving to go from Paris to Benidorm.

Paris-Benidorm would cost 101.9 Canadian dollars in tolls, and about 300 Canadian dollars in gas.

I would prefer to fly (only 2 hours flight, which can be as dirt cheap as 100 Canadian dollars round trip).

I only drive there when I'm at my parents' in Southern France. Then yes, driving to Alicante makes sense, especially since there are tolls only in France now that the Spanish government has removed all the tolls on the Med, and we live not far from the Spanish border, so we only have 20 Canadian dollars of tolls or so in France before reaching toll-free Spain. I also fill the tank to have just enough to reach the border, then I fill it at the first Spanish station after the border where it's 45 Canadian cents cheaper than in France per liter.

In total we usually spend about 200 Canadian dollars one way (toll + gas), and it's doable in 8 hours, so in just one day (but usually I like to break it and make it two days with visits in between, because my mom can't stand staying in the car for 8 hours).

At this time of the year, it's 8 hours of driving that takes you from winter (like 10C where they live in Southern France) to early summer (like 24C in Alicante). One year we went straight from snow to T-shirt in 6 hours of driving, it was pretty fun (February and November is the best time of the year for that, it's when you have maximum contrast between France and southern Spain).

[le calmar]

You won’t be able find real heat in winter anywhere in Europe like in Southern Florida though. I know the weather will be warm in a few spots, but I mean, it’s 30C in Orlando right now. Winters in Orlando usually vary more day to day, but the warmth is very consistent in Miami.

[Acajack]

Benidorm averages 16C as a maximum in January. Orlando averages 22C. This is a fairly big difference between feeling warm most every day and feeling cool on a lot of days.

Of course there is no "beach" in Orlando, but the Atlantic coast is about an hour drive away. The water there is about 22C in the winter.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

You can drive faster (130 km/h in France, 120 km/h in Spain and Morocco), and you have rest areas everywhere (plus the quality of the road surface is far better than US interstate freeways), but tolls are very expensive. Paris-Algeciras (Strait of Gibraltar) costs 146.5 Canadian dollars in tolls on the autoroutes. And then add 41.5 Canadian dollars for the tolls in Morocco from Ceuta to Agadir.

Anyway, here it's not recommended to drive more than 2 hours without resting for at least 30 minutes. I know few people who would drive 12 hours in a row, especially 2 straight days.

Gas also currently costs 2.65 Canadian dollars per liter in France, 2.34 Canadian dollars per liter in Spain, and 1.93 Canadian dollar per liter in Morocco.

It's cheaper and faster to fly really.

I would say I average about 120 kmh on my drives to Florida. Sometimes I push it to 125-130-135 if I feel good about the traffic around me. (Reducing the chances of getting caught.)

Of course we don't drive for 12 hours straight. We do make short stops. Maybe not every 2 hours for 30 minutes though. Maybe every 3-4 hours. If you have more than one driver it makes it a lot easier.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

Gas also currently costs 2.65 Canadian dollars per liter in France, 2.34 Canadian dollars per liter in Spain, and 1.93 Canadian dollar per liter in Morocco.

When you travel in the US you get to know which states have cheaper gas due to lower taxes.

New York State is lower than Canada so I would get there fairly empty and then fill up before Pennsylvania which has higher taxes.

Most of the "South" has lower gas taxes once you are there.

For example, the average price in South Carolina is currently 1 Canadian dollar per litre.

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by le calmar

You won’t be able find real heat in winter anywhere in Europe like in Southern Florida though. I know the weather will be warm in a few spots, but I mean, it’s 30C in Orlando right now. Winters in Orlando usually vary more day to day, but the warmth is very consistent in Miami.

Why would you want 30C anyway? It's way too hot.

24C is fine. More than that is not needed.

Checking temps, they've had only 21C in Alicante this year in February so far, which is a bit coolish (this winter has been pretty cold as I've already said), but even 21C would be just fine. I don't need upper 20s, no thanks.

[New Brisavoine]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Benidorm averages 16C as a maximum in January. Orlando averages 22C. This is a fairly big difference between feeling warm most every day and feeling cool on a lot of days.

Of course there is no "beach" in Orlando, but the Atlantic coast is about an hour drive away. The water there is about 22C in the winter.

17.2C average daily maximum in Alicante in the past 30 years. Your Benidorm figure is not an official weather station, and is based only on 2000-2015 observations, whereas Alicante is an official weather station and is based on 1991-2020 observations. Benidorm has the same temperatures as Alicante.

And due to global warming, this 30 year average is already way off. In January this year (2025), the average daily max temperature in Alicante has been 18.9C, and this was a coolish winter! Last year, January 2024 had an average daily max temperature of 19.5C in Alicante.

Alicante in winter (and spring, and summer, and autumn) is also extremely sunny, like a desert, not overcast and humid like Florida, so when you have 19C in winter it feels like 25C in the sun. Totally T-shirtable, with just a light jacket after 6pm, which is what I wear when I go there in winter.

That was me actually at sunset (almost 6pm) in the winter of two years ago only a few km from Benidorm. I had brought a towel as I wanted to try swimming, but we were late as usual since we spend our days exploring places and never rest, so didn't have time anymore to swim as it was too late. But still warm enough outside to be in a T-shirt. That night on the paseo (seaside walking plaza) of Benidorm there were tons of people, and it was frankly warm (I don't even think I put a jacket on that evening).

[Acajack]

But then one has to assume that Orlando is probably often warmer than its 22c daily January average these days as well, due to climate change.

I think it’s still clear that this one is « advantage America » for having a place which is year-round summer that we can cheaply and easily drive to. (The Caribbean is also easily accessible and there at least we can fly and stay cheaply.)

Don’t get me wrong. There are tons of things I envy about Europe that I wish we had over here. But this is one of the great things about this continent for sure.

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

Why would you want 30C anyway? It's way too hot.

24C is fine. More than that is not needed.

Checking temps, they've had only 21C in Alicante this year in February so far, which is a bit coolish (this winter has been pretty cold as I've already said), but even 21C would be just fine. I don't need upper 20s, no thanks.

Depends what you want to do. Walking / hiking exploring, yeah low-mid 20s.

Sitting on a beach or patio, drinking and reading in between dips? Bake me at 30 all day, baby.

Anyway, is thread about Quebec? Its seems to be "New Brisavoine comments on North America",

[niwell]

I have very little interest in swimming if it's not at least 25. 30 is perfect for that, particularly if there's minimal humidity or a coastal breeze, ditto patio drinks. 30+ can get stifling in an urban environment if it's humid of course.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by niwell

I have very little interest in swimming if it's not at least 25. 30 is perfect for that, particularly if there's minimal humidity or a coastal breeze, ditto patio drinks. 30+ can get stifling in an urban environment if it's humid of course.

For me it depends on the mix between the air and water temperature.

22C air temperature and 30C water is fine.

30C air and 22C water is fine too.

22C water and 22C air is not so nice.

Same for 30C air and 30C water.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by jonny24

Depends what you want to do. Walking / hiking exploring, yeah low-mid 20s.

Sitting on a beach or patio, drinking and reading in between dips? Bake me at 30 all day, baby.

Anyway, is thread about Quebec? Its seems to be "New Brisavoine comments on North America",

Well, one could say that all of this is related to the advatanges (and disadvantages) of Quebec being located in North America.

[EnvisionSaintJohn]

I guess I could start a thread for French Language/ French Canadian identity outside of Quebec, but for now, this seems to be the place to share it.

• Video Link

For the longest time, this film was not available with English subtitles... a glaring omission by the National Film Board of Canada, considering the importance of this film regarding Canada's only bilingual province.

I'm pleased to see that they have FINALLY added it to their website with English subtitles.

Bilingualism is still quite the boogeyman in NB politics and society... but I think this film really goes to show how and why it's important that NB became officially bilingual.

Still, I think there's a long, long way to go in terms of increasing levels of bilingualism in NB... starting with bilingual schools for the non-French Anglophone side of the public school system. Montreal has much better bilingual public schools for Anglophones than Canada's only bilingual province. Heck, most provinces in Western Canada even have a better French immersion program than what is offered in "Nouveau-Brunswick".

One interesting thing I've noticed with how the public school system is set up in New Brunswick, is that students who have at least one parent who speaks English as a second language are eligible to be enrolled in the French School.

Here in Saint John, "Centre scolaire Samuel-de-Champlain" is generally considered the best public school in the city, but children of two anglophone parents are not eligible to attend. I think many newcomers, regardless of their ability to speak French or not, will chose to send their children to this school, as it gives them the best opportunity to become fully bilingual. Although, I could see the French school system change their policy to "at least one parent that speaks French".

I still find it incredibly perplexing that Blaine Higgs's plan to roll out a bilingual school system for the Anglophone school system was bemoaned by many as a an anti French plan, when in my opinion, it could have drastically increased levels of bilingualism among the non Francophone demographic, which is the vast majority of the population of NB. Even if it would have been slightly less immersive than the traditional French immersion system, It would have set up students in high school and high school graduates across the whole province to learn French using the plethora of language learning resources that exist today.

I have a suspicion that had the exact same plan been announced by the perfectly bilingual Susan Holt's Liberals, it would have been warmly received as a plan to improve levels of bilingualism in the province... Higgs, however, was long perceived as anti-French, and that is why I think his plan received so much derision and criticism.

New Brunswick/Nouveau-Brunswick has a long, long way to go in terms of making official bilingualism be perceived as an asset or a benefit to the province... and a bilingual public school system seems to the be the logical place to start. (The French School system would remain unchanged, of course, as it is protected in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms)

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by EnvisionSaintJohn

I guess I could start a thread for French Language/ French Canadian identity outside of Quebec, but for now, this seems to be the place to share it.

• Video Link

For the longest time, this film was not available with English subtitles... a glaring omission by the National Film Board of Canada, considering the importance of this film regarding Canada's only bilingual province.

I'm pleased to see that they have FINALLY added it to their website with English subtitles.

)

Ah yes. Anti-bilingualism Moncton mayor Leonard Jones figures in that movie. I can't recall if they show it in the movie but at one point young Acadien activists put a pig's head on his doorstep. (It had nothing to do with Islam.)

[Acajack]

Gettting back to warm-weather destinations...

I am not a big winter sun-seeker but I'd say Benidorm-type weather or the winter weather in southern France or the Greek islands is not the type of weather I'd drive a day or two for, or fly to.

If I am going to go all that trouble to get away from winter, I'd go somewhere where it's going to be consistently above 20, and ideally 25.

There are lots of places way closer to us before you get to Florida where it's 16-18 in the winter, but Canadians generally don't go there. Not in the winter anyway.

Note also that southern Arizona and far southern Texas near the Mexican border in the McAllen-Brownsville-South Padre Island area also have average highs of 20C or more in every month of the year. Arizona doesn't have beaches but South Padre does, right on the Gulf of Ame.... erm... Mexico!

[jonny24]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Gettting back to warm-weather destinations...

I am not a big winter sun-seeker but I'd say Benidorm-type weather or the winter weather in southern France or the Greek islands is not the type of weather I'd drive a day or two for, or fly to.

If I am going to go all that trouble to get away from winter, I'd go somewhere where it's going to be consistently above 20, and ideally 25.

There are lots of places way closer to us before you get to Florida where it's 16-18 in the winter, but Canadians generally don't go there. Not in the winter anyway.

Note also that southern Arizona and far southern Texas near the Mexican border in the McAllen-Brownsville-South Padre Island area also have average highs of 20C or more in every month of the year. Arizona doesn't have beaches but South Padre does, right on the Gulf of Ame.... erm... Mexico!

Funnily enough, this is exactly what my wife and I did one year: "Just how far do we have to drive to get to 15C?". Did a week long road trip to Tennessee, and it was as high as 22 one day in Memphis.

We usually sleep in the car when we do road trips like that, and the night spent in Ohio before we got down to the warmth was cold. Not as cold as spending the night in the car near the Quebec/NB border in December, but we had more blankets for that one!

[harls]

Originally Posted by New Brisavoine

You're shattering their fantasies, you realize that? They somehow pictured a dream life that they could perhaps aspire to, and now you're just another Jean-Pierre shivering in sub-zero temperatures in Brossard. What a disappointment. This thread has suddenly lost 80% of its Anglo readership.

Dream life and Lio is something I would never had thought to put together in the same sentence.

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by jonny24

Funnily enough, this is exactly what my wife and I did one year: "Just how far do we have to drive to get to 15C?". Did a week long road trip to Tennessee, and it was as high as 22 one day in Memphis.

We usually sleep in the car when we do road trips like that, and the night spent in Ohio before we got down to the warmth was cold. Not as cold as spending the night in the car near the Quebec/NB border in December, but we had more blankets for that one!

I know some people might do that, but obviously most people won't.

[lio45]

Originally Posted by harls

Dream life and Lio is something I would never had thought to put together in the same sentence.

That sounds unreasonable, I could have retired any time since my late 20s and done whatever I wanted (I already have a lot of flexibility in my life despite not being 100% retired).

[lio45]

Originally Posted by Acajack

I know some people might do that, but obviously most people won't.

I always sleep in the car. I’m a pro at this, the way I set it up, it’s as comfy as a bed. It’s nice to be able to stop anywhere, no need to check in, check out, zero waste of time, and it’s free