Little Lolly's Small Adventures: Quebec City. Excursion - Best of Quebec & Countryside, With Lunch

It was a chilly start for the day and a bit overcast when the Maasdam docked in Quebec City. Guests were not deterred in the slightest and were soon off the ship, out and about.

I met up with the tour group I was assigned to and we were soon on our way. Five minutes later the bus stopped for us to get off (into the chilly air, groan …) for a bit of walking through the Plaza Royal to see a bit of building architecture, the funicular railway (up a steep slope), a small ‘village square’ with a church to one side of it, and a wall mural (La Fresque des Québécois) on the side of a building depicting different history eras of the city.

Back in the warm bus we headed along the St. Lawrence River to the Shrine of Sainte Anne de Beaupré and Basilica. It was a beautiful majestic building with huge embossed copper doors. We were allowed into the Basilica despite mass being in progress however we kept a respectful silence as we walked along the side isle towards the Sainte Anne’s shrine. After that our guide, Marie-Michelle, took us downstairs to the next level which was the Immaculate Conception Chapel with beautiful mosaics and paintings. We also saw the Pietà – sculpture which is the exact replica of one done by Michelangelo – and finally went to the tomb of Father Alfred Pampalon – the patron of those suffering from addictions. After that Marie-Michelle let us loose for 20 minutes to explore the site by ourselves but it wasn’t really enough time to explore properly. I would certainly like to go back again at some stage to see it more fully. Two guests lost track of time (I don’t blame them) and rocked up 10 minutes late with smiles on their faces.

Couvres D’Art/Copper Art Museum

Our next stop was at the Couvres D’Art/Copper Art Museum. It is there that the dying art
of copper embossing takes place. The artwork has been done by the Gilles family for over 90 years and the family continues its fine work to this day. The copper embossed doors of the Sainte Anne de Beaupré and Basilica and much more was done by its founder. You can read about the story here: http://albertgilles-copper-art.com/en/artists/ A member of the Gilles family demonstrated, on a small sheet of copper, how she does embossing. A template is first drawn and then the embossing starts, using tools to press or rub the copper which itself is on a soft rubber mat. The deeper the embossing the softer and thicker the mat has to be to cater for the depth of the embossing. One mistake can cost the artist quite a bit of wasted time and she/he has to start all over again with a fresh piece of copper.

The museum was lovely; about copper mining to what can be done with copper and copper artefacts. There were also hand embossed copper pictures, implements, trays, bookmarks, mirrors, clocks, jewellery and much more. Another part of the museum was an area set aside called ‘Christorama’ – where there were embossed plaques on display, picturing the life of Christ. Much as we would have liked to have stayed a bit longer, time was not on our side – we had to press on. Lunch was calling.

We crossed over to Orleans Island and had lunch at an old renovated mill, Le Moulin de St. Laurent. The inside of the building was beautiful, and the restaurant was tastefully decorated.

A sugar fix was next on the list, also on Orleans Island, a sugar shack – L’En-Tailleur Cabane à Sucre. The owner showed us how maple water is collected from maple trees (tapping) and then the process of boiling the water off to get the syrup. The maple syrup is then used in different products, made into toffee, sweets, taffy or a spreadable creamy mixture, or left as a syrup. We were given a sample of taffy to try. Maple syrup was heated up and poured in strips onto ice (or snow). We waited a bit for the liquid to semi-harden and were given wooden sticks to place onto the hardening liquid which we rolled up into a lolly. It was delicious! There was a shop at the site where we could buy maple products but I managed to restrain myself from emptying the purse and came away empty handed.

We had to head back on to the mainland to see Montmorency Falls. During the winter the waterfalls’ spray freezes into mounds and the river and falls themselves freeze solid, so much so that one can then go ice-wall climbing on it, or ice skating on the river. Others go tobogganing/tubing down the nearby slopes. It was a pretty site despite it being springtime with no snow.

Our final stop was in the old part of Quebec City. We were dropped off to have a bit of free time to wander around the town, museum and church. The wind had got up and it was chilly outside so some guests opted to remain on the bus to keep warm. The bus driver couldn’t stop for too long in the spot that he was in so he drove the bus around town until it was time to pick up the rest of the guests.

We made it back to the ship in time – 15 minutes before departure. It is always interesting to see the activities of staff when they are getting ready for departure. Carpets are rolled up, carried away and stored back on the ship; hand sanitisers, barriers, desks and other equipment taken back on board. The whole process is done fairly quickly but this time the staff had a long walk along the covered bridge walkway/gangway from the terminal to the ship. But it was all done in time.

On reflection, it has been a really lovely day and it was good to get out and about.

Back on the ship I discovered that the family that got left behind in Montreal yesterday had caught up with the ship and boarded without any further mishaps. Later on, however, I learnt that we left another family behind today. Dad discovered that a family member had lost a wallet somewhere in town and he and his wife went back to look for it whilst the kids went back and boarded the ship. Time was moving on and the kids decided to get off to wait for mum and dad in the terminal even though they were old enough to stay on the ship by themselves. Dad rocked up but mum was nowhere to be seen - he and his wife had got separated whilst looking for the wallet. So he waited for her in the terminal. By now it was time to go and the gangway was removed. Mum did make an appearance but at the wrong entrance at the bottom of the bridge gangway just as the ship was starting to pull away. With a schedule to run and in this case, strong and tricky tides in the river to work with as well as going underneath a bridge, the captain couldn’t delay departure. The family will have to find 2 night’s accommodation somewhere and find their own way to Prince Edward Island to re-join the ship in 2 days’ time. It is a mistake that has cost the family a pretty penny. I say no more.

Tomorrow is a sea day – yippee!

MORE PICTURES

Quebec City/Plaza Royal