National Capital Region, Canada

In Pakistan, drivers decorate their buses and trucks to express their enthusiasm and the romance of traveling far and wide. This British-made "Bedford" bus was decorated in Peshawar, Pakistan.

The eighteenth-century inn located at one end of the Place de la Nouvelle-France was a popular meeting place for travellers and local men. Its modest size meant that guests could take a mattress and a blanket and sleep on the floor in front of the hearth. Food was cooked over the fireplace, and the selection of alcoholic beverages included wine, cider, eau de vie, rum, and locally brewed spruce beer. When spruce boughs adorned the inn's outdoor sign, clients knew that spruce beer had just been brewed. The sign on this inn, in the shape of the sun, may represent le Roi-Soleil, King Louis XIV of France. For entertainment, guests enjoyed games such as nine-pin bowling, checkers, chess, cards, and a solitary version of Chinese checkers. Since much of the inn's clientele consisted of travellers and sailors on shore leave, the inn was a good place for local folk to get news from overseas. Business deals were discussed, gossip was exchanged, and sometimes exotic goods were purchased from travellers passing through town. In short, there was always a great deal of activity in the taverns and inns of New France.