Quebec - Strawberry Fields Forever

Tuesday was a good weather day. Windy, but no rain. We rode the mountain bikes out Chemin St. Joseph, which was the walk we'd taken the other day. It's really pretty out there. Here is a farm, I think they heat with wood.

Fields for a nursery out there.

What is this? There were fields of this everywhere. Huge fields. Farmers should label their fields for the city people. For me, it's all green stuff.



Here is an old barn with a UFO hovering in the background. Actually it's an aid to navigation for airplanes landing at the airport.

More scenic beauty.


Look at the yellow sign on the right. There are miles and miles of snowmobile trails up here.


Strawberry fields. There are a lot of them as well. They're good, too. We bought some on the Ile d'Orleans. They're all grown on black plastic, keeps them clean and warm.


After riding out in the country side, we decided to head back towards the RV park. The weather changes quickly here and I hate getting wet. We then rode over to the Parc des Chutes, which is a water fall. It's a teeny hydro station. They've made it into a lovely park. We were very happy to be on the mountain bikes, part of the road to get there has been scraped off and we were riding on dirt and gravel. Ditches are being dug for something, but we're not clear on why it was necessary to remove all of the asphalt in the process.


Wednesday we took my mountain bike in to get a riser stem put on it so I can sit more upright. We tried a bike path ride on the Serottas, but the paths here are really not suited to road bikes with skinny tires. They're rough with a lot of stops, plus when one rides on the streets, one often likes to be able to ride off the road on to the dirt shoulder when those crazy people towing trailers drive to close to one. So, the mountain bikes will be getting a lot of use. One wishes one had brought the slicks!
After leaving the bike, we drove into historic Levis. It's been there for 300 years. There are forts built there which were the final stage of Britain's defense program to keep those pesky people from the Etats Unis from invading. Who knew? I had no idea the US had threatened Canada to that extent. Should probably read more history, then I'd know these things.
Anyway, one of the many really cute little houses in Levis.

So, the weather continues to be snotty. Allegedly it's going to improve Monday. Sure sure, we've heard that before. Tomorrow may be ride-able so we'll do that. If not, there's always the mall with the roller coaster.

Quebec - Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation Church

Well, another day, another big church. We got up, went for a brisk 90 minute walk in the sun. Just delightful, a recently repaved road, low traffic, things to look at. What a beautiful bicycle ride it would make if it would just stop raining. Right after we got back a fairly impressive thunderstorm rolled in and then rolled out.
We've been seeing a big church with spires north of town, we finally found it on Google Earth so we could get the name and an address. Since the weather was iffy we drove up to see it.
This is the street leading up to the church, is it not picturesque?

The following text is cut and pasted from here:
The history of Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation Church goes back to the time of the Huron mission. Pierre-Joseph Chaumonot, a Jesuit priest, was in charge of this mission. In 1697, the Hurons had to leave their territory and move to a new village further north, which they called “la Jeune Lorette” (young Lorette). The former mission, that would eventually become the site of the parish, therefore took the name of “Vieille Lorette” (old Lorette) that eventually became, in 1722, l’Ancienne-Lorette.
The present-day church was erected between 1907 and 1910, following the plans of architect David Ouellet and his adopted son Pierre Lévesque, the latter being the architect of several churches throughout the province of Québec (Saint-Étienne-de-Lauzon, Saint-Louis de l’Île-aux-Coudres, and others). Notre-Dame-de-l’Annonciation Church follows the Beaux-Arts style that mixes both classical and gothic styles in order to produce an extraordinary result.

It is a beautiful church. It's interesting that unlike so many churches in the southwest, this did not come about as part of the effort to convert the native peoples, but was erected after they had been relocated.



The church is known for its paintings and other artifacts, but there was some sort of religious programming coming from the speakers, and people were praying; so it seemed sort of sacrilegious to be moving about taking pictures. There is a huge pipe organ somewhere, we may go back and look some more later.





I think this is the building where the priests live.


So, it was a pleasant outing. Then we came back and saw this sky just before we turned into the KOA. I feel so bad for the people who are here tent camping, some of them with infants. Can you imagine the misery index?

This is what weatherunderground had to say about it. We put the tv antenna down because of the wind, so we may be missing any weather updates.

Weather forecast for Quebec and outlying areas -

Weather conditions for these regions are favourable to the
development of severe thunderstorms. Some of them could produce
of the hail - high winds - heavy rain and frequent lightning.

People in these regions should take the necessary precautions
and listen for subsequent weather warnings, particularly a
severe weather warning which may be issued as severe weather
becomes imminent.

Quebec - Ste. Anne's Cathedral and Ile d'Orleans

Saturday morning we mooched around the RV for awhile and then decided we should go sight-see something. We headed out intending to see a waterfall at Montmorency. However, after missing the exit to the park, we looked at the waterfall from the freeway and decided it did not look that interesting. So we headed east for another waterfall, which was on the other side of Ste. Anne's Cathedral. Traffic was just horrendous due to construction and the mountain bike races further on down the road. So, we decided to go visit the cathedral.
The first thing you have to ask, is WHY is this HERE? We're out in the toolies in a small town with this! Ste. Anne is the mother of Mary who was the mother of Jesus.






Here is a link for more on Basilica of Sainte-Anne de Beaupre'. Some form of a shrine to Ste. Anne has been here since the mid-1600s. The current basilica was built in the 1920s. Millions of pilgrims have been coming here for hundreds of years.



This is the miraculous statue. It was carved from a single piece of oak. Apparently being in the presence of the statue effects healing. As in St. Joseph's Oratory, there are piles of canes and crutches that are no longer needed.

The back of the basilica has niches for the path to Reconciliation. All the text was French, and being non-Catholics we weren't clear on what was being represented. But the niches were beautiful.



A replica of the Pieta.


Downstairs are two more chapels. The larger of the two is the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception. This is the front of the area.


A look at the ceiling. The design is tile mosaic.


The outer edge of the chapel is decorated with paintings of various religious situations. Again, all in French so I can supply no narrative.



This is the other smaller chapel. It's just beautiful. I did not use the flash because there were several people in there praying, and I hate being the ugly American. The light coming through te windows was glowing.

So - the cathedral turned out to be a good destination all on its own. Below is a picture of the surrounding area. Small town, not a lot there other than the cathedral.

After the cathedral we went to Subway for lunch. It was comical. The farther away you go from Montreal the less English is spoken, and this is even more pronounced as you move away from Quebec. I know the word for turkey, dinde, but did not know how to pronounce it. I tried several variations but the young woman behind the counter either could not or would not understand me. Sometimes I think they enjoy not speaking English with the people from the United States. Anyway, we eventually got the order in. Another thing I have noticed is that persons from the United States should not refer to themselves as Americans. The Canadians take offense at this, and rightly so, because they are also citizens of the American continent. So, I have curbed that speech pattern.

Then it was off to the Ile d'Orleans. Very agricultural but very lovely. It's a huge island in the St. Lawrence river. The bridge.

One of the many cute farm houses. If you look at the island with Google Earth you see how much of it is devoted to agriculture.


This looked like a gathering of the family. There are 4 RV's on the front yard. How would you like to mow all of that grass?

A resto on the island - featuring rabbit.

Coming back was a trial. We were on 440 which suddenly branched, 440 continued with one lane which really looked like an off ramp, so we didn't go there and suddenly found ourselves in downtown Quebec. The abandoned building is interesting as it has no back wall anymore. Anyway, we were able to make a U turn in town and avoided the massive Jazz Fest traffic. The navigation system took us through parts of Quebec we never would have seen otherwise, then way far north, but eventually returned us home. I have always wanted to talk to navigation system programmers and ask them what were they thinking?

Sunday, today, we're moving the RV to a different site. It should be less muddy and it has a concrete patio so maybe we'll quit tracking in so much grass into the RV.

Quebec - More tourism

Another day without rain. It was beauty. We went back into Quebec to see more stuff while the sun shines. We got off the shuttle at the Museum of Civilization. On top of the museum is a wonderful garden. It's terraced up the roof line. The wavy copper tubes deliver water to the plants.


Once you climb the stairs there is a flat upper level.


If you go right, you go to the blue beach area.


Blue herons by the blue beach.


If you go left, you go to the pink garden with outdoor art.


Click on the picture to enlarge. He has a sack full of frogs. The garden was just wonderful. There was Cirque de Soleil type music playing and the whimsy and fantasy of the space was very enjoyable.


After the garden, it was up the big hill into the old part of Quebec. There are many tourist shops to be found on the street. This is not the norm, we thought it was funny that it was there.


Rue des Remparts. Old Quebec seems to have cornered the market on old cannons.


Laval University. It's difficult to photograph because it is so big.


Today we set out to see the Basilica of Notre-Dame. We'd walked right by it yesterday, not recognizing it for what it was. We were expecting it to look like Notre-Dame in France. But it doesn't. Inside it's very impressive.




This is the seminary attached to the Basilica.


I love this about Quebec. There is color and whimsy everywhere. Check out the giant red pots.


Cathedral of the Holy Trinity. It was the first Anglican cathedral built outside of the British Isles.



Department of Finance.


Rue St. Louis. I believe the Quebecois have "out-Franced" France in terms of village cuteness. We had lunch on this street and it was so good. After lunch we did fast urban walking to minimize the damage from all the butter.



One of the gates in the wall around Old Quebec.


Quebec Provincial Parliment.


Grand Allee Drill Hall. Originally built in the late 1800s, it allowed the military to drill inside in the winter.

The forecast for tomorrow is dismal. The system coming in will bring us thunderstorms and heavy rain. Oh frabjous day. It's a bummer for the mountain bike races that will be held at Mount Ste. Anne this weekend. But, there is a covered mall with a roller coaster inside to be explored.