Sometimes I feel a wee bit culture starved in Vancouver (sshh, it’s a secret I don’t want to offend. We’re so spoiled in Europe). Fortunately, I managed to immerse myself so completely in museums, galleries and theatre during our time in Quebec that I think I will survive with just small injections until my next jaunt out of the city.
There were so many great experiences, but I think my major highlight was a crazy theatrical dance show that we stumbled upon in Quebec City, don’t you love it when that happens? It was such an extraordinary sight. The entire cast were dressed in white and they were accompanied by a small musical ensemble dressed as chefs, I didn’t really understand why.
 The group enacted a wedding through the medium of dance, song, acting and acrobatics, and the whole audience was completely entranced by the entire experience.
 We also saw a 3D light show which was spectacular. It lasted around 50 minutes and took you through the entire history of Quebec City, projected across the water onto the side of a factory. You also got to wear these funky glasses, which made everyone look ridiculous and kept falling off my face.
In Montreal we managed to catch a performance of Macbeth as part of the summer Shakespeare in the park season. Each evening a different park in the city is treated with the performance and local people congregate to watch, bringing chairs, blankets and picnics. We spent the performance sitting on a memorial which got very hard after a while. The performance began with a loud clap of thunder, immediately producing a collective jump from the audience and from then on everyone was hooked, completely oblivious to other community members walking through the park and the cars passing by.
We visited several museums and galleries but two in particular stand out in my memory. The Foundry for its sparse décor and fun interactive construction outside – we saw it being used as a skate park, but it is also a performance venue, picnic bench and climbing frame. We also went to see the Jean Paul Gautier exhibition at the Musee des Beaux Arts, recommended by a friend it was incredible and such a treat to see so much couture up close. The detail that goes into the construction of each garment is truly astonishing. The mannequins had faces projected onto them which was really bizarre as every so often they would blink or speak or sing catching you by surprise.
We saw one other show, but I think this is long enough and the other one was so spectacular it deserves its own post.
