During two weeks of travel in Quebec Province with my wife and two children, I encountered several instances of petty dishonesty. I've never experienced anything like this in the English-speaking parts of Canada, so it seems as though the explanation must be either a French/English cultural difference, or a manifestation of the hostility that some French Canadians feel towards English speakers.
I have some difficulty assigning a rating to the Cap Aux Pierres hotel. The hotel accommodations themselves were adequate, but the behavior of restaurant staff (the restaurant is under the same management) was sub-par. When inquiring about breakfast at the restaurant, we were shown a price of $9.50 CAD per person. After we had eaten the meal, it turned out that this price was a "mistake", and we were charged $13.50 CAD per person. During the meal, the waitress frequently visited tables of French speakers to refill coffee cups and water glasses, but consistently avoided our table until I was rose and politely requested service. The same waitress then managed to spill juice on our table and on one of us, but neither apologized nor wiped up the mess.
Dr. Phillip M. Feldman
- Hotel Cap Aux Pierres
