(The first two notes below are just to get you warmed up. Scroll further down to find more information.)

Happy 400, Quebec City!(Broadcast transcript)

Festivities are underway Thursday to celebrate Quebec City's 400th anniversary.

French explorer Samuel de Champlain landed in what is now la vieille capitale on July 3, 1608.

To mark the historic occasion, Quebec is throwing what organizers are calling the biggest party on the continent.

More than 200,000 people are expected to attend various events, including the prime ministers of Canada, France, Quebec Premier Jean Charest and Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean.

A military parade with soldiers from the Valcartier base is expected to stir some controversy.

A busload of protesters from Montreal is heading towards the provincial capital to denounce Canada's mission in Afghanistan.

More than 2,000 people showed up for a free crepe and chocolate breakfast Thursday morning, provided courtesy of Quebec City.

The party will wrap up with a giant concert and fireworks display in the evening.

Festivities are planned in other parts of the country including in Vancouver and St. Boniface, Man.

About 400 churches across Canada will ring their bells in celebration.

With files from the Canadian Press

Living history in Quebec: New France Festival.(!Ojo!)

-- Pocock, Kate

King Louis XIV needs a break. Dressed in lace and topcoat, he's been strutting and posing for over an hour in Quebec City's crowded Place Royale. He's hot under his shoulder-length curls. "Do you mind?" asks the King. As he strikes a match against his silver-buckled shoe and lights up a very 21st-century cigarette, he smiles. "Our festival may not be 100 percent authentic," he explains. "For instance, Louis XIV never visited here," he adds with a puff and a wave toward the bust of his namesake in the square. "But everyone, including the king," he reassures us, "keeps within the spirit of the time. And that, I adore."

For five days each August, Quebec City residents descend on the cobblestone streets and along their historic ramparts, dressed as peasants and priests, bourgeois and royalty. With street theater, music, costumes, parades, and a Mardi Gras-style joie de vivre, they celebrate the days when France ruled the colony: from 1608 when Samuel de Champlain planted his French flag on the rocky promontory overlooking the scenic St. Lawrence River to 1760 when British rule took over after a battle on the Plains of Abraham.

 The library has placed the following titles on reserve (behind the front desk) for you to use in the library:

•  Crusaders of New France
•  Pioneers of France in the New World
•  Canada's Five Centuries
•  The Illustrated History of Canada
•  Champlain
•  The Battle for Quebec
•  Warships of the Great Lakes

 

 We also suggest you consult the following reference books:

 For information on Champlain:

•  Encyclopedia of World Biography (R 920 E56)
•  American National Biography (R 920 G238A)
•  Who Was Who in World Exploration (R 910 W164W)
•  The Discoverers (R 910.92 D611)

 For information on Quebec and its history:

 International Dictionary of Historic Places (R 910 R581i) and The Columbia Gazetteer of the World (R 910 C678C)

 You will also find reliable information in the appropriate library subscription databases. Check out the notes below.

Quebec: The First Permanent Settlement

 Full-text information from various sources is listed under the tabs

Quebec City