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Though recognized as part of Canada's capital region in 1969, HULL remains distinctly separate and predominantly francophone. For years, it served mainly as Ottawa's nightlife spot, as its bars closed two hours later than those of its Ontario neighbour - a disparity that has ended with both cities now closing shop at 2am. The shift has resul-ted, unfortunately, in the decline of Place Aubry - the pretty pedestrian-only square where the greatest concentration of bars was found. Still, the opening of a casino in 1996 has given Ottawa bureaucrats and tourists another late-night playground.

Originally a paper-milling town, Hull was an industrial working-class area removed from the bureaucratic rat-race on the south side of the Ottawa River separating the city from Ottawa. Pressure on the Canadian government to share the wealth - both financially and job-wise - prompted the construction of high-rise administrative buildings and the Musée Canadien des Civilisations , the curvy contours of which dominate the waterfront. The city's other main attraction, the sprawling Gatineau Park , is a nature-lover's paradise intersected with numerous bike paths, lakes and wildlife, and the site of the MacKenzie King Estate , former Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King's summer hideout.

The Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train , at 165 rue Devault (tel 819/778-7246 or 1-800/871-7246; $29 return-trip; reservations recommended) departs daily for Wakefield, 32km north of Hull. Built in 1907, Canada's only still-functioning steam train travels ninety minutes through the lush foliage and cottage country along the Gatineau River, while a musical troupe plays amusing ditties to pass the time.