Hi! This is Dan Bilefsky, writing to you from the passenger seat of a tan Volvo as I travel from Quebec City to Saguenay, an industrial center in the province, on the last leg of my road trip across Quebec.

My head is spinning from the last few days in Quebec City, the stunning European-tinged capital of this province, where, among other things, I met with high school students and interviewed survivors of last year’s attack on a Quebec mosque.

I also had a wine-fueled meal at L’Affaire est Ketchup, where young chefs conjure up exquisitely wrought dishes of octopus and rack of lamb on an old-style electric stove as diners gyrate to loud French pop music in between shots of Vermouth.

On my quest to understand Québécois identity, I also traveled to the sleepy farming town of Hérouxville, in the Mauricie region,, population 1,300. It was among my most memorable experiences so far for what it showed me about today’s Quebec.