Half Nelson

The Man writes...unlike my previous trip to Montreal, this week I stayed in the heart of the city. It was a pleasure on a sultry evening to wander the pedestrianised streets of the old town and check out all the glowing restaurants on the lively Place Jacques-Cartier (although even on a Tuesday, all the outside seating was taken).

I rose early on a brilliant morning and joined the joggers and skippers on the quais - the St Lawrence River here is so wide it almost feels like a sea front. Then I returned to Place Jacques-Cartier and found, of all things, Nelson's Column.  It is less than half the height of the one in London, but was built thirty years earlier by English merchants to celebrate Nelson's victory over the French in Trafalgar. It was probably the last thing I expected to see in a province, where since the 1974 Official Language Act, the only official language is French.