Western Canada

Antoine's view

Although the eastern part of Canada, Québec, is dear to French speaking people, the rest of the country, all the way to the shores of the Pacific, is immense, spectacular and diverse. From west to east, leaving from Vancouver, one successively discovers:
British Columbia : close to the city of Vancouver (famous for its park, its aquarium, and for the « sails » of the great center called Canada Place) can be found the island that bears the same name, and the Province?s capital city, Victoria. The island?s western shore, exposed to the full force of the ocean, is especially impressive. Here, visitors discover marine animals, a beautiful rainforest and hot springs ; the channels that separate the island from the continent, in fact, leads all the way to Alaska; less rainy than the island, the continental shore bears the name of Sunshine Coast.

British Columbia ends at the top of the Rocky Mountains, where the National Parks of Baff and Jasper attract many visitors, as well as Waterton Lake, close to the border of the United States.

Further east stretch the Great Prairies of Canada, the states of Alberta and Manitoba, with the cities of Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg ; a good way to discover this part of Canada is to take the legendary train called The Canadian. Along the diverse regions visited, one revives the past at Calgary?s Heritage Park, or in Winnipeg?s French quarter, above which looms the memory of the Métis people, and their hero Louis Riel.

Then the train passes north of the Great Lakes, and beautiful Georgian Bay, before reaching Canada?s largest city, Toronto; from here, one can go and discover, at the border with the United States, the fabulous Niagara Falls, and, among the innumerable lakes of Ontario, take kayak excursions in parks such as Algonquin Park. A short distance east of Ottawa, which also includes a large French district, one leaves English-speaking Canada for the Province of Québec.