Quebec City, Day 2

Our second day was spent again on a bus tour, but this time a bit further from the City. It was raining in the morning, but cleared up by afternoon and we had a marvelous day. Our very first stop was some 50+ km from the campground. Roger had the driver (a new one whose name I didn’t catch) take us on some scenic routes; most of the way is along the river, so it was quite stunning.

He pointed out typical Quebecois houses. Most have a covered front porch (no snow falling on your head at the door at least), very sloped roofs to help snow slide off, and dormers; they had large families so would use attic space for more rooms.

After 40 minutes of travel, we arrived to our destination. The Basilica of St. Anne de Beupre.

The current Basilica was built in 1926 after a fire destroyed the first basilica. However, a church dedicated to St. Anne has stood on this site since 1658. St. Anne is the patron saint of sailors. Roger explained a bad storm on the river nearly killed some fisherman; they prayed to Anne and survived and vowed to build a chapel in her honor. This church became known for it’s miracle cures; it is said that there were storage rooms full of walkers, canes, and wheelchairs no longer needed by the supplicant. Many to this day make a pilgrimage to venerate the mother of the Virgin Mary (and the grandmother of Jesus as Roger kept pointing out).

The Basilica has 2 levels. Both are covered in mosaics. The main nave is on the upper level, and it is spectacular. the outer doors leading into the sanctuary are of embossed copper. After our visit to the basilica, we went to the art studio of the man, Albert Gilles, who created the pieces. More on this later.

Then, you enter the vestibule and even here I had trouble not taking a million pictures.

However, the sanctuary itself was magnificent. It was awe inspiring.

The floors are even mosaics. There are scenes that depict the Seven Deadly Sins through the nave.

Each wooden pew at both ends has had an animal representing a species in North America hand carved into it. I could have spent hours looking at them, but here are a few.

Two of the pews in the very front feature animals that represent Canada and the United States. Roger stumped everyone when he asked what the official animal of Canada was, with people wrongly guessing moose, bears, etc. I think when someone tossed out “loon” Roger was a bit offended. But they are on Loonies. Then I remembered a video I saw years ago of a beaver welcoming people to Canada; the beaver is correct!

I loved looking at the ceiling detail.

Gold leaf was everywhere!

The altar area had some kind of polished stone columns supporting a railing and surrounding it.

As well as a mosaic of the serpent and apple tree

It seemed as though everywhere you turned there was something beautiful.

Now, the pictures above are all from the upper santuary. There’s another one below it. This one is dedicated to St. Anne’s daughter, the Virgin Mary. We were told that it features a lot of blue and white colors due to it being for Mary. Again, it’s all mosaic work. And every column had a mosaic of an animal or plant. Again, I wish I could have photographed all of them, but you have to have a limit or this post would be much longer than it already is.

And the final amazing piece at the Basilica was also in the lower sanctuary, to the left side of the altar. It is a replica of the Pieta, made in the same marble that Michelangelo used. The Pieta came to New York for the 1964-64 World’s Fair at the Vatican Pavilion. There was concern it would be lost or damaged, so a replica was made and then later given to St. Anne’s. Some of the people on the trip saw the real thing at the World’s Fair.

Remember those copper doors at the entrance to the basilica? They were embossed by an amazing artisan named Albert Gilles. Born in 1895 in France, his aunt interested him in copper work. He emigrated to Canada and lived in the U.S. for some time before settling near Quebec City. He died in 1979, but his wife and daughters carry on his work. They have a studio near the basilica, and we were given a tour and shown how they do their work. It was very fascinating. They are the only people in the world still embossing copper by hand.

In the back they have a “Christorama”. It is a series of 50 panels of embossed copper that Gilles completed over 15 years’ time that depict the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. They are all behind glass with lighting above that gave weird light flares on camera, but they are breathtaking in person.

Back on the bus, we headed to the Manoir de Montmorency. This manor was built in 1781 and was inhabited by the Duke of Kent from 1791-94. He was the father of Queen Victoria. It is situated on the cliff above the famous Chute (waterfall) Montmorency, named by Champlain in 1608 for a duc of Montmorency in France (who was later the viceroy of New France). We ate a delicious lunch at the Manoir and had the opportunity to look at the falls from above.

After we were finished at the Manoir we drove down to the bottom of the falls. We took a group picture (I don’t have a copy at this point) and wandered on a boardwalk near the base. There is a staircase to a ziplining opportunity as well as a gondola that you can ride from the bottom to the top.

To end the day, we were driven across the St. Lawrence to the Ile d’Orleans, an island in the river about 5 km east of downtown Quebec City. It’s 21 miles long and 5 miles at it’s widest point. It was where James Wolfe and his British troops observed the French defenses of the city before attacking at the Plains of Abraham. It has very fertile soil and has long been utilized for agriculture. We went to a farm market there and had the opportunity to buy some delicious fresh veggies and fruits (strawberries are grown all over here) as well as canned and bottled treats.

My final pics are of the city in the distance as we crossed back to the mainland. It was quite a long but wonderful day!