Where is more scenic? BC or NS?

[Luisito80]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Some people do consider it as such, yeah.

The Gaspe peninsula is another heavy weight when it comes to natural beauty. It has amazing coastal views and a very mountainous interior. I feel like it's underrated though. Not enought people talk about this magical place.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Maritimes: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island

Atlantic Canada: Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland-and-Labrador

There is also the expression "Down East", which conflates with Atlantic Canada in the minds of most people.

Are both of these phrases in fairly common usage and most people in Canada would know what you're referencing?


Down East sounds pretty vague--is that a phrase whose usage is localized to a particular region?

[Acajack]

Yes, they're very widely known in (English-speaking) Canada. Though it's common for some low-information people to include NL in with the Maritimes, which Newfoundlanders especially are always quick to correct.

You also hear "out east" which often has the same meaning as "down east". Though I think "out east" if you're in Western Canada can often mean anywhere east of the Manitoba-Ontario border. "Down east" is really reserved for Atlantic Canada though.

French Canada of course has its own geographic vocabulary based on its specific realities and history.

[OyCrumbler]

Originally Posted by Acajack

Yes, they're very widely known in (English-speaking) Canada. Though it's common for some low-information people to include NL in with the Maritimes, which Newfoundlanders especially are always quick to correct.

You also hear "out east" which often has the same meaning as "down east". Though I think "out east" if you're in Western Canada can often mean anywhere east of the Manitoba-Ontario border. "Down east" is really reserved for Atlantic Canada though.

French Canada of course has its own geographic vocabulary based on its specific realities and history.

Ah, that's interesting especially the bit about Newfoundlanders being quick to correct. It's quite hard to get a gauge of how common terms are in usage from just looking them up, and this has been helpful.

What in your experience are the most common French Canadian terms?

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by OyCrumbler

Ah, that's interesting especially the bit about Newfoundlanders being quick to correct. It's quite hard to get a gauge of how common terms are in usage from just looking them up, and this has been helpful.

What in your experience are the most common French Canadian terms?

It's very situational and contextual in French.

But for example, "par en bas" or down below is often used to refer to anywhere downstream of Montreal and Quebec City. Including the Bas-St-Laurent and Gaspésie regions of Quebec, and Acadien regions of New Brunswick which are adjacent to Quebec. In French Canada you go up to Montreal (on monte) and you go down to Quebec City and points east (on descend).

The St. Lawrence River and the direction of its current is a huge reference point for a lot of this stuff BTW.

North, east, south and west would play out this way:

L'Est: when in Montreal, means the east end of town. Zooming out from Montreal, L'Est refers to eastern regions of Quebec and maybe Acadien regions of New Brunswick.

L'Ouest: almost always refers to Western Canada

Le Sud: almost always refers to sun destinations in the Caribbean

Le Nord: in Montreal refers to the Laurentian Mountains just north of the city.

Le Grand Nord: what most Québécois will use for the actual north, due to the Montreal usage above that rubs off on all of us

Les États: the US

Other than that, "les Maritimes" is very commonly used in French Canada, though some people might erroneously include Newfoundland in that. There are very few Newfoundlanders here to correct them.

"Acadie" is sometimes used to refer to Atlantic Canada in general, but often people are thinking only of those parts of the region where Acadiens live.

[OneHitWonder]

I may be biased, as I live in BC, lol. As mentioned, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but I love mountains and oceans. Different parts of BC offer different views. There's quite a variation in BC, from the rainforests of Vancouver Island to the semi-desert areas of the south Okanagan Valley that can resemble southern California. Or the snow covered mountains and Douglas Fir trees. Beautiful rivers. Almost seems like anywhere you look in BC is scenic.

I've never been to the east coast, so I can only go by what I've seen in pictures and videos, but it also looks very scenic, but in a different way. (not just Nova Scotia, but the whole east coast, I really want to see Newfoundland sometime).

As mentioned, even the (mostly) flat Prairies can be scenic too. I've spent some time in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Western Alberta can look a bit like BC once you're in or near the Rockies. Southern AB and SK are dry and mostly treeless, but drive north and you get alpine forests. You may have to look for it, but there are some cool areas in Saskatchewan too.

With all of the wide open spaces in the Prairies, there's nothing quite like seeing a storm rolling in - winter or summer. You can see it from quite a distance, very cool.