Four hundred years ago on July 3, 1608 Samuel de Champlain established the first French settlement in Canada giving Québec City its start. Here's a shout out, even though the party began the first of the year, according to this CBC news report.

There's still plenty of time to participate since the celebration will continue until October 19 with Cirque de Soleil as the final act.

The article, written December 31, 2007 also mentioned that 80% of Canadians had no idea Quebec is 400 this year. I hope by now they do or they've missed out on good times already. The government has put $90 million towards the festivities.

Of all the events still to come, the one that piqued my interest is "Le chemin que marche: A glowing tribute to the St. Lawrence River." On the night of August 15 the river and its banks will be lit up and turned into a stage for "acrobatics, dance and megaprojections." The other events sound spectacular as well, but there's something extra special about river activities at night, particularly in the summer.

With 400 years under its belt, there are historical sites a-plenty to savor. Start off with the Historic District of Old Québec. The whole district is a UNESCO World Heritage site. According to the UNESCO Web site, this is one of the best examples of a fortified colonial city.

If I were going to Québec, one place I would take in the Henry-Stewart House. Generations of the same family occupied the house from 1918 to 1988. To me that translates to a more intimate perspective of this city through the lives of Stewart family members. Whenever I can attach real people to places I visit, I'm drawn in. Tea is included in the guided tour. How civilized is that?

Here's a link to other historic sites. There are so many worthy of note, it's hard to chose among them.

Other facts about Québec:

• The original name was Kébec
• Kébec is an Algonquin word that means "place where the river narrows"
  

When summertime rolls around I always get a hankering to go sailing again and borderfilm's Climb photo takes me straight back to my days tooling around Strawberry Lake in college. This shot, taken on the English Bay in Vancouver, perfectly lines up the trailing edge of the sail with the edge of the photo creating a false border, as the lines from the sand and skyline head towards each other in a slanted distance. A great shot.


***To have your photo considered for the Gadling Photo of the Day, go over to the Gadling Flickr Pool and post it. Make sure it is not copyrighted, otherwise we can't post it here.***

Run! Starting today, you can purchase tickets between New York to Toronto for as low as $1 at Trailwaysny.com or Greyhound.com. NeOn, short for New York-Ontario, has two round-trip express schedules each day between New York and Toronto.

NeOn tickets are available for purchase in advance at Trailwaysny.com, Greyhound.com or from a driver before boarding. One-way fares start at $1, plus a booking fee. The highest fare will adjust based on market demand. The earlier passengers purchase their tickets, the lower the fare they receive.

The best part? They offer free Wi-Fi, power outlets and video. Yay! I am convinced it won't be long before even riding a bus is more comfortable than flying.

I'm still trying to get my head around how this was possible: a couple and two grandparents FORGOT their 2-year old whilst trying to catch a flight from Vancouver to Winniepeg in Canada.

With only 10-minutes left for boarding, the family was running towards the gate, and apparently each of the 4 adults thought that the baby was with one of the other three.

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? Were they running so far from each other not to notice the absence a child? Also, their child is 2-years old, if you are adults running to catch a flight, surely you'd take him in your arms -- couldn't they see that no-one was running with a baby!? AND, even if you are not sitting together on the flight, how can you not realize that one of you is missing!? What world are you in!? This stuff is only allowed to happen in movies!

Anyway, the good news is that Air Canada took control of the situation well: they found the child, figured out who he belonged to, and put him onto another flight to regroup him with his family.

I think this is inexcusable and such families shouldn't have children at all.

These days, airlines are finding more and more ways to charge passengers for things they've long received for free-- headphones, food and drink, a second checked bag. Now you can add decent customer service to that list.

Air Canada began offering a service (ha!) yesterday called "On My Way," in which passengers can pay an extra $25 on shorter flights and $35 on longer flights, and in exchange they will receive "'speedy' access to 'specially-trained' customer service agents who will help rebook flights on Air Canada or other airlines, as well as pay for hotel stays and meals, if necessary."

As someone who occasionally writes about airlines, I am now required by law to mention that the rising cost of jet fuel is to blame for this ill-conceived insult to every passenger's dignity.

[via Boing Boing]

What strange things have been found on planes?

Click the image to read the bizarre story...

Snow season might be winding down, but that's no reason not to start thinking about next year's fresh powder. While you're waiting, why not check out the iPod and iPhone-compatible skiing and snowboarding guides by Podpro? The company offers free downloadable trail maps for a number of the most popular resorts in both the U.S. and Canada.

iPhone users will be pleased to find full maps for more than thirty resorts across the United States and Canada, including top spots like Whistler, Aspen, Snowbird, and Snowmass. What's more, iPhone owners who visit the Podpro website will have access to live updates on current weather and ski conditions as well as a rundown of local lodging options. iPod users don't have quite as many options as their iPhone friends, though they still have access to Podpro's free guides to British Columbia's Whistler resort. Glove fingers crossed that they'll add a few more options in the near future.

Now all you need to figure out is how to avoid dropping your precious Apple device in a snowdrift when you wipe out.

The world now apparently sees the US slightly more positively, according to the BBC World Service Survey. The average percentage of people saying that the US has a positive influence has risen to 35% from 31% a year ago. Those saying the US has a negative influence fell five percentage points to 47%.

The reason? Probably the upcoming presidential election. I would think the recession probably also helps. People generally like people better when they can pity them or express schadenfreude (taking pleasure in another person's misfortune.) Or wait, maybe this is just how things work in Central Europe.

Don't get too excited though. Views of US influence in the world are still mainly negative, though they improved in 11 out of the 23 countries also polled a year ago. Perceptions of the US worsened in three countries - Canada, Lebanon and Egypt.

Umm, Canada?

Martha can probably comment on this as well, but I'm pretty sure I understand hitting the limits of snowy weather. Right now the berms lining my driveway are around 10 feet (we eventually gave up shoveling because we couldn't throw the snow that high), and everyone is ready for spring. Apparently we Alaskans aren't the only people hit with a heavy load this winter: Reuters reports that Quebec is dealing with all-time record amounts of snow this year (210 inches!).

Dealing, but not that well.

Quebec City police have been called to a dozen snow-related disputes, including one man who flashed a gun at a woman from a snow-removal service who was putting snow on his yard. Another man produced a toy gun in an argument over a parking space (that might not be directly snow-related, but I'm willing to bet tensions are high simply from the long winter). Most arguments have to do with snow from one property ending up on someone else's land; understandable if the loads get too big. One berm in Montreal is so high it likely won't melt before next winter.

Environment Canada suggests that the end of winter isn't anywhere near, and snow just fell again today in the province.

If you're curious as to what countries have the most conducive environments for tourism, you might want to check out the second annual World Economic Forum Travel & Tourism Competitiveness Report 2008. Basically it's a report full of a lot of economic figures used to measure how good tourism industries are in countries around the world. This year's report put a special emphasis on economic development and environmental sustainability. Here are the top ten:

1. Switzerland
2. Austria
3. Germany
4. Australia
5. Spain
6. United Kingdom
7. United States
8. Sweden
9. Canada
10. France

I've been to 7 out of the top 10, meaning that the tourism boards are probably doing their job -- or I'm just visiting popular destinations. Surprisingly, popular backpacker destinations like Cambodia, Vietnam, and Nepal are at the bottom of the list. For the complete PDF of rankings go here.

There's beauty in things that change over time. This bridge that is no longer in use reminds me of old lace. Although the era has passed for this bridge, it remains as evidence of people and goods passing through. Where did they go? Who once stood by this track, looking up, watching the trains go by? Are there any coins flattened on the rail in a child's experiment? expixero who posted this shot said this was taken by the Old Port in Montreal.

What evidence have you found in your travels of people who once passed through? Share with us at Gadling's Flickr photo pool.