Quebec Remains Last Bastion of ‘New France’ : Canada’s colorful walled city on the St. Lawrence River remains thoroughly Gallic in spirit, language and lifestyle.

Any Frenchman visiting this city must surely feel a vague mixture of joy and melancholy: joy for the colorful mansard roofs, superb food, sidewalk cafes and bubbling joie de vivre of its Gallic-spirited citizens that can only remind him of his beloved Paris; melancholy for the lost cause of a “New France” that for more than two centuries stretched between the Rocky Mountains and Appalachians, from New Orleans north to Hudson Bay and Newfoundland.

What started the dream was the arrival of Jacques Cartier in 1535, but after a devastating winter with a friendly Indian tribe, he tossed in his snowshoes, rebuilt his tiny ship and set sail back down the St. Lawrence River into the stormy Atlantic and on to France.

Still, tales and dreams of Eastern Canada’s wealth of virgin resources died slowly, and in 1608 Samuel de Champlain arrived, built a fortress and, for the next 150 years, the town grew and flourished as the center of all French activity in North America.

The dream of a budding New France came to a tragic end in a 20-minute battle on the city’s Plains of Abraham in 1759, where the armies of English Gen. James Wolfe and the French Marquis de Montcalm locked in combat that proved mortal for both generals: Wolfe died on the battlefield and Montcalm succumbed to his wounds the next day. But the British prevailed and thereafter ruled Canada until 1867, when it became a member of the Commonwealth.

Even with the British crown still the titular head of the country, today’s Quebec remains a thoroughly French city in spirit, language and lifestyle. About 80% of the Quebec province’s population speaks French, and in the provincial capital the number must surely be greater. And as any newspaper reader knows, there is a periodic resurgence of efforts to make Quebec a separate entity from Canada, although many French-speaking Quebecois want no part of such efforts and are quite content to remain as they are.

With its long, colorful and muddled bi-national history, one would think Canada’s oldest city would be forever locked in its past. But, like Paris, it is a heady mixture of the old and new.

Quebec’s glorious setting astride the St. Lawrence River is enough to start any pulse pounding. Now throw in the rich and vibrant colors of those mansard roofs in Vieux Quebec, the Old Town area known here simply as Le Vieux, and you feel as though you’ve stumbled upon a collection of Faberge Easter eggs.

Old city walls and fortifications, begun before 1759, join with four stately gates to set off Le Vieux from the newer part of town. Just outside one gate and along the Grande Allee is an endless rainbow of umbrellas before the boulevard’s 26 restaurants and cafes, which are usually lively and crowded during bright summer weather.

Getting settled in: Le Manoir d’Auteuil, built in 1853, has the definite feeling of a small, intimate European hotel of the period, with a few Art Deco touches added in the 1930s. Each room is decorated differently in restful colors, and some baths are absolutely huge, with tubs that Cleopatra could have floated her barge in. The Manoir is right across the street from the city tourist office.

While all of these hotels are in Old Town and convenient to everything, Chateau de la Terrasse is right beside the American Consulate. The Chateau’s huge bedrooms have splendid views across the St. Lawrence, some with balconies and kitchenettes.

The newest and one of the loveliest small hotels in town is the absolutely elegant Auberge St-Antoine. Elegant may seem a strange word for an 1830 shipping warehouse right on the St. Lawrence, but the massive wooden beams and stone walls of the lobby are set off perfectly with contemporary furnishings.

Each bedroom’s decor is different, with imaginative use of fabrics, much of the furniture designed and made just for the Auberge. It’s hands down the finest small hotel we’ve seen in ages.

Regional food and drink: La bonne cuisine Quebecois has its share of heavy dishes, probably to go with those ferocious winters, but they are satisfying and delicious in the manner of sturdy French provincial cooking.

Feves au lard are broad beans cooked at least 12 hours and eaten at any meal, including breakfast; we’ve even seen them served with a leg of pheasant. And yes, that lard is undeniably bacon fat. Try a tourtiere du Quebec , a minced pork pie laced with sage that is a holiday favorite but still available year-round to those for whom calories don’t count.

Ragout de pattes , a pig-foot stew, tarte au suif , a suet pie, and cretons , a chilled pate of ground pork and spices, can all make weight watchers blanch, but the great variety and innovative preparation of seafood, lamb, veal and other dishes with Gallic flavor and panache can balance the scales figuratively if not literally.

Most restaurants have excellent lists of French wines, and Canada’s own vintners are now producing their share of good reds and whites.

Good local dining: Restaurant Gambrinus (15 Rue du Fort) still gets our vote for the town’s most pleasant atmosphere, plus being conveniently located right on the Place d’Armes at the heart of things. Run by two gentlemen from the Piedmont region of Italy, Gambrinus mixes elegance with Italian-French cuisine and exemplary service.

Italy rears its head with a half-dozen superb pastas (seafood linguine, $15), and four innovative versions of veal scaloppine averaging about the same. The magret de canard (duck breast) with rosemary and olives is $19, and to cry over. Gambrinus’ wine book resembles a small telephone directory, covering France and Italy like the morning dew.

Quebec’s oldest house, built in 1675 and once an historic inn, now houses Aux Anciens Canadiens (34 Rue St-Louis), a restaurant that takes commendable pride in preserving the culinary legacy of the city. Four small dining rooms have 17th-Century character in the thick casement walls with cupboards embedded, beautiful wainscoting, a fireplace, old wood carvings and period dishes hanging here and there.

This is the place for feves au lard with a pheasant leg, a quiche of shrimp or tourtiere du Quebec . Complete menus run about $19, plus wine from an extensive list.

Le Vendome (36 Cote de la Montagne) is about the nearest thing to a true Paris bistro one finds in town, and has been for the past four decades. The decor is best described as Parisienne-homey, and the menu captures the same feeling. Try the seafood bisque ($3) or Burgundian snails with butter and garlic for starters. Then move to rabbit with mustard ($13) or rack of lamb for two ($27), or a host of other Gallic specialties. Le Vendome’s wine cellar is formidable indeed, and you won’t find a more comfortable ambience in the city.

And don’t forget to check all those restaurants and cafes along the Grande Allee for good food at sensible prices.

Going first-class: Paris has its Eiffel Tower and Quebec has its Le Chateau Frontenac, both casting their presence over the cities below as unforgettable landmarks. The Chateau, as it is known locally, opened its doors in 1893 and, standing on a cliff separating the upper and lower towns, resembles nothing so much as a French Renaissance castle, with its copper roof and a forest of turrets. The views over the town and up and down the river are spellbinding. The Chateau is celebrating its centennial this year with many festivities.

Bedrooms are comfortable, spacious and many are done in period furnishings. Several dining rooms offer a broad choice of menus, pricing and formality, and the Chateau is a short walk from almost any part of the city one cares to visit.

On your own: One of the most scenic walks in North America is along the riverside Promenade des Gouverneurs, from Le Vieux to the Plains of Abraham. It, along with walking tours of Vieux Quebec starting from the tourist office (60 Rue d’Auteuil), will give you a splendid overview of the fortified city.

We’ve seen our share of dioramas, cycloramas and such, but the one at the Musee du Fort (10 Rue Ste-Anne by Place d’Armes) is something special. On a 1750 relief map of the city and river, the diorama re-enacts six sieges of Quebec, the Plains of Abraham battle and the American invasion of 1775. It’s history made colorful, painless and thoroughly enjoyable, and is not to be missed.

Place Royale, below the cliff in the lower town by the river, is where Champlain built his first house in 1608. It’s a shopper’s paradise, with many little boutiques, handicraft shops and restaurants. While here, be sure to visit the lovely Maison Chevalier, a three-home complex built between 1695 and 1752 that gives a delightful insight into early Quebec life. Then continue walking into the narrow streets of Quartier Petit-Champlain, a small port village that is now chockablock with shops, restaurants and street entertainment.

Ile d’Orleans, lying in the St. Lawrence northeast of town, takes one back to the rural life of the province’s early days with old farms and homesteads, churches, fruit orchards and roadside stands for produce and handicrafts. There’s a bridge over the channel separating Ile d’Orleans from the mainland.

From fall to late spring, try to visit a cabane a sucre , or “sugar shack,” along the 25-mile road from Quebec to Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre (or the parallel Avenue Royale). One may feast on great chunks of homemade bread with maple syrup butter; ham with syrup; snow with syrup, and, would you believe, a belt of gin mixed with the stuff.

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Qualities of Quebec

Getting there: Fly Air Canada from Los Angeles, with a stop in Toronto. An advance-purchase, round-trip ticket will cost $572.

A few fast facts: Canada’s dollar was recently worth about 83 cents, making ours worth about $1.21 up there.

Where to stay: Le Manoir d’Auteuil (49 Rue d’Auteuil, telephone 418-694-1173; $59-$75 double); Chateau de la Terrasse (6 Place Terrasse Dufferin, tel. 418-694-9472; $54-$77 double); Auberge St-Antoine (10 Rue St-Antoine, tel. 418-692-2211; $79-$158 double); Chateau Frontenac (1 Rue des Carrieres, tel. 800-828- 7447; $102-$142).

For more information: Call Tourisme Quebec at (800) 363-7777, or write (C.P. 20,000, Quebec G1K 7X2, Canada) for brochures and maps on Quebec City and the entire province.