La Vie en Quebec...

Hello my readers from the faraway land of Quebec, a province all unto its own. :)

My mother and I were available this summer to take a week jaunt to a timeshare in Beaupre, just a few miles from Quebec City. We left late last week and flew into Boston, of which the first few pictures are from.

We arrived early evening in Boston and found our hotel. We had not been to Boston for 12 years I believe and the last time we were there we ate at a restaurant chain called "Legal Seafoods". It was still to date the best fish I've ever eaten. It's well known for it's excellent seafood, obviously. We decided that we HAD to go there again and low and behold, there was at least 3 restaurants near our hotel (they've evidentally expanded).

Below is a small structure in a park that we found on our way to the restaurant.

We had a 15 minute wait, so we walked around nearby. We ran across a street that didn't have the "walk" sign on and were concerned that the policemen on the wharf had noticed. :P If he did, he didn't care, because he happily offered to take the picture below of us. ;)

Below was my dish. I had the butter and caper salmon with sauteed spinach and buttermilk mashed potatoes. The fish was soooo tender, the sauce was so flavorful, the mashed potatoes melted in your mouth, the spinach was perfectly cooked and seasoned. It doesn't get much better than that. It was very dark inside, so I had to use flash, making the picture no do justice to how it actually looked.

The following day we drove to Montreal hoping to see the Old Town on our way up and over to Quebec City, but we left too late, had TONS of construction to deal with, and ended up reaching Montreal during rush-hour. It took almost an hour to try and get out of town (and we never had time to stop) so that we wouldn't get to our resort too late that evening. We were afraid that we wouldn't make it in time to check in.

So, we spent the ENTIRE day driving. Blah. We did stop by a Tim Horton's and had a sandwich and Hot Chocolate, which helped us keep our sanity. Mom though is the one you should feel sorry for.  Only she can drive the rental car, and with all the detours, construction, and side trips, she drove almost a solid 11 hours in one day.

The next day we took a much needed break and rested (this was Saturday).

Sunday we decided to get out and see some sights, but it was SOOO hot we only ended up exploring the Basilique de Sainte Anne, pictured below.

It's actually pretty new, as it was rebuilt in 1965, but it was done in the "old style" as you can see. It's a very impressive building for many reasons.

I had never heard of Sainte Anne before, but according to some sacred writings written 150-200 AD (I'm forgetting the name now) that was circulated in the Middle East and then later Europe and now North America, Anne was the mother of the Virgin Mary. It tells of how her and her husband Joachim met and married and how they raised Mary to be the other of the Messiah. She was evidentally barren and became pregnant with Mary miraculously. People from all over the world venerate her as Jesus' grandmother and this place had a TON of pilgrims coming for a pilgrimage, healing, intercession, etc. When the story was brought to Quebec, it really resonated with the Native Tribes living in Quebec. This church (it was still just a church then) did a good job of ministering to them and helping them with their needs. Also, this church's priests and nuns were well known for their care and concern of the poor, in particular the poor children and are today honored for their contributions to the community.

One of the most striking things is how alive this basilica is. It is not filled with tourists, but locals and pilgrims. There was a service going on when we arrived late Sunday morning, as we expected, but at least 200 people were there specifically for it. I've been to a very good share of Basilicas in my life so far, and this one has been the most well-loved and well-used that I've seen with maybe the exception of St. Peter's in Vatican City (and there there's so many people, it's hard to tell who's all tourists and who's not).

The decor here was also quite different. Modern artists from the area and all over the world came to decorate the Basilica. There was a FULL fresco for the floors, copper statues, huge gorgeous paintings, stained glass, all marble alcoves, tons of detail work. All things the older churches are usually without or have faded over time. This place was vibrant in color. Underneath the sanctuary was the lower level which was a huge chapel, just as decorated as above.

Below is a video that I took while walking into the Basilica. No pictures allowed of course because flash would disturb people inside, so I surreptitiously took a video to give you at least a small glimpse of the inside.

The grounds of course were very nice. Here's a large fountain down the pathway. It was so unbearably hot we had to "accidentally" walk through it...twice.

We went to see the museum that explained the history of Saint Anne (is it true? I don't know, but I don't think that was really the point. She evidentally means a lot to a lot of people.). But, we have since been informed that there was an UPSTAIRS to the museum that we didn't know existed! It had the old frescos and stained glass that were previously in the Basilica. We just might have to go back if we have time....

All in all it was a good day and was only dampened by the heat rash on my stomach. :P And yes, dampened probably is the right word, considering the humidity here.

Today I will have to post about later. The internet here is shoddy at best and it took my FOREVER to download the one video. I tried and tried to download another video I took of the inside of the basilica, but to no avail. Sorry. :(

So, when the internet cooperates, a post about a more than adequate lightening storm, a gorgeous falls taller than the Niagara, a little art gallery where the sweetest lady directed us to the must-see sites, and some maple sugar. :)

If any of you blogging readers know how to put accents into text, I'd be much appreciated. The keystrokes for PC don't work. I haven't tried copy/paste yet from another document.

•

read: Fire, part of the continuing series of "Graceling" This was an EXCELLENT book. I would recommend to anyone, but if you like fantasy, it's a MUST.
taste: maple caramel yogurt
see: a computer screen I suppose
hear: the wind kicking up, perhaps another storm?
smell: fresh air as I have the sliding glass door open
touch: hot weather makes me itch *wrinkles nose*
think: how much she is looking forward to tomorrow. Hopefully it's not so hot...
feel: lovely, but hot. I went to the pool today, so I'm doing better than I could be.
via