• Home
  • About Carol
  • About us

Luxury Travel Magazine

An unpretentious guide to luxury travel, culture and adventure

  • About Luxury travel
  • Destinations
  • Spas
    • The Spa and Spa Travel
    • Hot Springs Spas and Thermal Baths: Why You Should Visit One
    • Spa Towns in Europe – 8 Reasons You Should Visit
  • Popular Articles
    • Things to Do in Canada
    • Top European Destinations
    • Things to Do in the South of France
    • Travel and Art: Artistic Cities, Art Fairs and Painting Holidays
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
Luxury travel blog » Travel articles by country » The King’s Daughters (les filles du roi) in Montreal, Canada

The King’s Daughters (les filles du roi) in Montreal, Canada

Montreal has a fascinating history when it comes to the King’s Daughters, les Filles du Roi, women who came over from France to marry and help settle Quebec. While most went to Quebec City, this article reveals the lives of the King’s Daughters in Montreal, and how it contrasts with life in the city today.

 

The King’s Daughters in Canada

Gliding over the ice, I look up from the rink in Old Montreal and see a giant Virgin Mary looming over the Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours, her arms outstretched over the harbour. The Leonard Cohen song “Suzanne” describes her as honey coloured, but on this biting afternoon she’s more a frosty steel silver.

And I wonder: Is this the view the King’s Daughters (les Filles du Roi) saw in Montreal saw, too?

Quays-Skating-Rink, King's Daughters Montreal

Skating like they did in the old days

 

New France and Soho-style chic meet in a clash of King’s Daughters history

A winter weekend in Old Montreal may require long johns, but it’s still a chance to enter a parallel universe where New France history and Soho-style chic merge. Take skating, for example. With Coldplay blasting over the loudspeaker and a skate-up Winter Bar, the Quays Skating Rink has an edgy contemporary flair. Yet, this is a sport with a past – it was brought over by Canada’s early immigrants.

Quays-Skating-Rink-Montreal, King's Daughters

More skating fun

 

That’s not the only historic custom I’m reliving. As an unmarried woman visiting Old Montreal, I’m following a 346-year old tradition.

The Filles du Roi come to Quebec

From 1663 to 1673 more than 700 eligible women sailed to New France to be married off in a bid to populate the colony. These Filles du Roi, the King’s Daughters, were so named for the financial sponsorship of the French King Louis XIV.  Some had education and money. Others were orphans, seeking a way out of poverty. All must have shared the spirit of adventure.

King’s Daughters in Montreal

Most of the King’s Daughters disembarked in Quebec City, but the ones who continued on to Montreal, then called Ville-Marie, likely found themselves under the wing of Marguerite Bourgeoys, Canada’s first female saint. Not only did she establish the original Chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours but also acted as guardian to the King’s Daughters, training them for life in a wild frontier.

Our-Lady-of-the-Harbour Old Montreal

Our Lady of the Harbour

 

Unlike the King’s Daughters, who often got hitched within days or weeks of arrival, I’m just here to have fun. Then again, I don’t have an eager cluster of men offering themselves up.

I do, however, have a date, Mark, who is a much better skater than I. If he were an early colonist, perhaps one of the Carignan-Salières Regiment who came in 1665 and stayed on as a settler, I doubt I’d be his first choice of bride. City girls were proving unsuitable, prompting Jean Talon, the French King’s representative, to request “strong, intelligent and beautiful girls of robust health, habituated to farm work.”

No, I am NOT habituated to farm work

Forget farm work. My ears are freezing off from a few rounds on the rink. I start looking over to the tented Winter Bar to see if it’s open yet. I may not have a 50 livres dowry from the king like the King’s Daughters (or more if I were a filles de qualité), but I can offer Mark a cup of hot chocolate at an illuminated bar that glows like a blue slab of ice.

Skating in Old Montreal

Ice cold drinks

 

The Winter Bar makes a cold day of skating better

Once I’ve warmed up, I’m ready to explore. I consider visiting Maison Saint-Gabriel, the farmhouse turned museum that once housed the Filles du Roi but that would mean leaving the neighbourhood. Instead, I visit Marguerite Bourgeoys’ tomb at Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours and the adjacent museum of her life.

Montreal, the King's Daughters,

Aren’t they dolls!

 

Exploring Old Montreal

Then, bypassing the tourists at Place Jacques-Cartier square I head west where there’s a more urban local vibe, and streets like rue McGill with its animated bars and restos show the regeneration of this once-neglected neighbourhood.

At the Pointe-à-Callière Archaeology and History Museum, built over the foundations of the original Ville-Marie Fort, I descend into history. Literally. On a dim lower level the excavated site of Montreal’s first Catholic cemetery, while predating the King’s Daughters, still brings home how fragile life was. Many of the women thrived, outlasting a number of husbands; others died from disease, in childbirth or were killed by the Iroquois.

No, I am not habituated to churning butter and skinning muskrats

Life was chancy and daily chores a grind. Thankful that instead of churning butter and skinning muskrats I can reap the benefits of the colonialists’ tradition of good cuisine, I spend the rest of my weekend eating through Old Montreal, where a number of boutique hotels have infiltrated the area’s historic buildings.

At Aix Cuisine du Terroir in the gorgeous stone Place d’Armes Hotel local cuisine goes haute using Quebec’s freshest produce. Over a quiet brunch at the Hotel Gault, I soak up the minimalist décor that sets off the exposed brick and original cast-iron columns of this former textile headquarters.

Old-Montreal King's Daughters (les filles du roi)

Old Montreal

 

It’s exactly this fusion of heritage and hip that makes Old Montreal so seductive – with or without a contingent of eligible bachelors.

 

Montreal travel tips

Getting to Montreal by train is relaxed and easy.

Where to stay in Montreal: The venerable Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel is conveniently located right over the train station. For something with bling, try the glam Hotel Crystal.

Spending just a day in Montreal? Here’s the perfect one day in Montreal itinerary.

Dive deeper, and explore Montreal’s Stained Glass Mysteries.

 

Read more about Canada: For more about travel to Canada visit my Things to do in Canada article. Happy planning!

Comments

  1. Cheryl Lussier Poppe says

    October 26, 2019 at 5:22 pm

    Great article thank you!

Talk to me! Leave a comment Cancel reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search

Subscribe and you won't miss an article!

About Wandering Carol

circle profileIn my 10+ years as a travel writer and columnist I've seen the best of what the world has to offer and written for some top publications around the globe - and now my goal is to bring this expertise to you. For more blah blah blah, visit my
About page.

Connect with me online

  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • RSS
  • Twitter
Carol Perehudoff published in top media, logos for newspapers and magazines

Categories

How to use this adventure and luxury travel site

  • Click on the ‘DESTINATIONS TO TRAVEL TO’ tab on the menu bar to go to my destinations page.
  • The CATEGORIES drop down menu above will point you to locations and travel themes such as hotels, outdoor adventure and tours.
  • SUBSCRIBE to keep up with the latest articles and get tips to make your next journey inspiring.

Recent Posts

  • A (Lost) Love for Travel on Valentine’s Day
  • Best Beach Resorts in South Africa: Top 9 Luxury Stays for 2021
  • A Chocolate Christmas in Switzerland
  • Best Place to Live in South Africa | Cheapest, Safest and Best on Offer
  • Romantic Budapest

Recent Comments

  • Carol Perehudoff on A Tropical Island Cocktail Cure at Paradisus Palma Real
  • chrisrochfort on Who worked at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel?
  • brittshedhappens on My shamanic healing in the Amazon, Peru
  • Christa McKinney on A Tropical Island Cocktail Cure at Paradisus Palma Real
  • Ruth Reynolds on Bad Kreuznach – the German Spa Town You Probably Never Heard of

Terms of Use

Terms of Use

Copyright @2020 WanderingCarol.com Luxury Travel Blog