Montreal, an island city of approximately three million people, claims to be the largest French-speaking city outside of Paris. It was here in 1535 that Jacques Cartier, the first European to explore the St. Lawrence River, founded a small settlement on the island. This settlement failed, so the official founding date of the city is May 1642. In modern days, Expo 67 and the Summer Olympics of 1976 brought hundreds of thousands of visitors to Montreal. Major conventions, film festivals and cultural events are held in Montreal, attracted by the citys extensive facilities, fine hotels and excellent dining.

Havre-Saint-Pierre (Harbour St. Pierre in English), is a small town of 3,300 inhabitants, situated along Quebec’s North Shore. To the south is Anticosti Island and the great expanse of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. It was settled in 1857 by six Acadian-French families originally from the Îles de la Madeleine. Here they found a land rich in lumber and a sea rich in fish. Today’s inhabitants speak a dialect of Acadian French different from the French spoken in the rest of the Province of Quebec. Havre-Saint-Pierre is the jumping-off point to explore a dozen picturesque fishing villages, seabird colonies, marine wildlife concentrations and the beautiful Mingan Archipelago National Park Reserve. The shoreline of the Mingan Archipelago is a wonderland of sculpted limestone pinnacles and outcroppings. Eroded by thousands of years of wind and waves, the limestone forms are the largest group of such monoliths in Canada. The most recognizable limestone pillar in the park is called La Grande Dame (The Great Lady).

Located at the most northerly tip of Newfoundland, LAnse aux Meadows is nestled near the fishing village of St. Anthony. It is the site of the first European settlement in the New World, approximately 500 years before Columbus arrival. Other Norse groups had relocated from their homelands to the New World. In 1961, explorer and writer Helge Instad discovered a group of large mounds in the countryside. These mounds were excavated revealing the remains of a Norse settlement. This site became LAnse aux Meadows National Historic Park in 1977 and is noted on the UNESCO World Heritage List of important cultural properties. The site at LAnse aux Meadows has been completely excavated allowing visitors to see the remains of the homes, a smithy, and various worksheds. The parks interpretive center displays Norse artifacts from the excavation which include iron rivets, a flywheel and the floorboard of a boat. Researchers still debate as to whether the site at LAnse aux Meadows is Leif Erikssons Vinland, a lush, beautiful area where he settled in for the winter around the year 1000. Parks Canada will greet you on disembarking the ship and you may explore at leisure this first settlement of the New World.

St. Johns is the most easterly point in North America and closest point of land to Europe. Due to it strategic location, St. Johns has been vitally important for centuries to explorers, adventurers, merchants, soldiers, pirates, and all manner of seafarers, who provided the foundation for this thriving modern day city. Explore this, one of the oldest cities in North America, and a city unlike any other. This “City of Legends” is cradled in a harbor carved from granite, and surrounded by hills running down to the ocean. Quaint side streets of a thousand colors are home to friendly faces that wait to greet you.

St. Johns is the most easterly point in North America and closest point of land to Europe. Due to it strategic location, St. Johns has been vitally important for centuries to explorers, adventurers, merchants, soldiers, pirates, and all manner of seafarers, who provided the foundation for this thriving modern day city. Explore this, one of the oldest cities in North America, and a city unlike any other. This “City of Legends” is cradled in a harbor carved from granite, and surrounded by hills running down to the ocean. Quaint side streets of a thousand colors are home to friendly faces that wait to greet you.

Saint Pierre and Miquelon is a French archipelago south of the Canadian island of Newfoundland. Sparsely populated Miquelon-­Langlade island contains the Grand Barachois lagoon, home to seabirds and seals. The busier Saint Pierre island has a distinct French atmosphere, with a cathedral and the Musée Heritage, which celebrates regional history. An island nearby, Île-aux-Marins, features an abandoned fishing village.