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From just northeast of Quebec City to a short distance beyond Ste-Anne-de-Beaupre, the St Lawrence is bottlenecked by the Ile d'Orleans , a fertile islet whose bucolic atmosphere and handy location have made it a popular spot for holiday-making Quebecois. More than most places on the mainland, Ile d'Orleans, with its old stone churches, little cottages and seigneurial manors, has kept a flavour of eighteenth-century French Canada. This is largely because it was cut off from the mainland until 1935, when a suspension bridge was constructed from Hwy 440, about 10km out of the city, connecting it to the west end of the island. To its first inhabitants, the Algonquins , the island was known as Minigo, which means "enchanting place". Jacques Cartier christened it Ile de Bacchus because the wild grapes he saw here were "such as we had seen nowhere else in the world". (He was soon to change the name to Ile d'Orleans in honour of the king's son). Tourism and agriculture are the mainstays for the population of seven thousand: roadside stalls heave under the weight of fresh fruit and vegetables, jams, dairy products, home-made bread and maple syrup, and the island's restaurants and B&Bs are some of the best in the province, thanks to the supplies from local farms. Encircling the island, the 67-kilometre chemin Royal (Hwy 368, though the name occasionally changes) dips and climbs over gentle slopes and terraces past acres of neat farmland and orchards, passing through the six villages with their churches evenly spaced around the island's periphery. The island's information office (tel 828-9411, www.iledorleans.qc.ca ) is on the right at the top of the hill after the bridge at 490 cote du Pont. The place is well set up for finding a B&B - photos and descriptions of the properties have numbers corresponding to roadside plaques that are also indicated on the adequate map in the l'Ile d'Orleans Tourist Guide ($1), which also lists other stops of interest. The centre also has self-guided driving tours (cassette or CD; English available) for $10. From here it's best to head west towards Ste-Petronille in the region known locally as the "end of the island", a district still characterized by the grand homes of the merchants who made their fortunes trading farm produce with Quebec City
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