The Three Rivers and the Royal Mount

Today's post focuses on our visit to Trois-Rivières, which in English would be Three Rivers, and Montréal which translates as the Royal Mount. In its early history Montreal was known as Ville-Marie (City of Mary) which seems appropriate for today's activity as between Trois-Rivières and Montreal we spent quite a bit of time honouring Our Lady.

Our Lady's Lake

But before telling that story a little about our early morning.

Breakfast

I got up at 3.30am, as has become usual. But was slightly frustrated that I was not able to load everything I wanted up onto Flickr. Still I cleared some emails and checked out Facebook until Drew woke at 5.00am and I made him coffee. 

At 6.00am we went down for breakfast and the fun continued. A young lady asked me in French if I had the breakfast vouchers. But as I was looking at the food not her I didn't realise she was speaking to me. Finally she tapped me on the shoulder and said something I couldn't understand, but as I had the vouchers in my hand I held them up and she said merci.

Sausage, Scrambled egg and toast - Comfort Inn, Levis

Drew being abstemious - only one danish today

The breakfast was really nice, as we have come to expect of a Comfort Inn. The sausages were a special treat, as they were Canadian sausages, with skin and similar innards to the UK version unlike the American ones, which we have had for the last few days, these are more like minced beef bound into the sausage shape. The egg was also fluffy and light, unlike the day before's.

After breakfast we went back to the room and then checked out. This time I had learnt my French and said: "Nous vérifions la chambre, un trois quatre." to which the man on the desk said: "Merci". He them said "Bonne Journee" to which I replied, in Spanish again, "Gracias" to which he replied (also in Spanish) "De Nada". We both laughed <<Co-pilot's note: See, didn't I tell you, a gift that keeps on giving 😀😁😃>> If he was laughing with me or at me I'm not sure, and I was still chortling when I got to the car. I've since read that this combination of French and Spanish is known as Frespañol, so it clearly is not just me. Anyway, we headed away from the hotel at 7.12am.

We didn't go far as there was a Petrol Station right across the road from the hotel, so we filled the car up. Another advantage of being in Canada is that everyone uses PINs for Credit Cards, thus I could buy petrol at the pump. In the US, where PIN use is still not common, you have to enter your ZIP code into the pump, and people who don't have them have to go into the Station guess how much they want to spend, have their Credit Card scanned and then go out and fill up. This process was so much easier, so by 7.24am we were on the road.

On the road to Montreal 

From Quebec to Montreal there are two options. Travel south of the River (the St. Lawrence) on Autoroute 20 or travel North of the River on Autoroute 40, we opted for Autoroute 40, as it would pass Trois-Rivières. As we began the journey Drew started to read from his Rough Guide to Canada which he bought for our first trip in 2011. <<Co-pilot's note: I wasn't allowed a new one!!>> This indicated that the A20 was banal and that the A40 was even more banal, which didn't give us much confidence. As it happens we were glad we stayed on the A40, as you shall see. Our route then was as follows:

Levis, QC to Montreal

Trois-Rivières

Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-du-Cap

Our route was influenced today by Fr Matthew Jones, Parish Priest of the neighbouring Parish from the one I attend. Chatting to him about Canada a month ago he mentioned his time studying in the country and recommended some 'must visit' places. One of those was the Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-du-Cap which is just outside Trois-Rivières. In English this is called: The Shrine of Our Lady of the Cape, the Cape in question being Le Cap-de-la-Madeleine which was an independent City until its merger with Trois-Rivières in 2002.

The Entrance to the Church

The Church here is immense and includes a downstairs and an upstairs chapel. The pictures will be on Flickr as soon as I get to a Coffee Shop tomorrow (there web access is more stable than some hotels, it seems), do have a look at them to get a sense of the place both inside or out.

It also had a Piety Shop which had a huge selection of items. This is the shop:

Piety Shop - Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-du-Cap

So of the items for sale would be described as gaudy by UK standards:

Statue of Our Lady of the Cape

However the whole complex was very prayerful, the upper church was hushed, the lower church was prepared for people to come for a presentation on aspects of the faith and the original Church was set aside for adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and had a good number of people inside simply praying.

The Stations of the Cross around the grounds, the Rosary Bridge and Our Lady's Lake all added to the solemnity of the area and made it a celebration of faith. Currently, in preparation for the Feast of the Assumption on the 15th the site is having a 8 day Festival of the Assumption with religious celebrations, preaching, candlelight processions and open-air concerts. The RV park, which is part of the site, was full of vehicles of those who are staying for the whole festival.

We arrived here at 9.00am and left at an hour and five minutes later.

Centreville 

Our next stop was the centre of Trois-Rivières where we parked on the street outside the Cathedral. Trois-Rivières is a slight misnomer as the Saint-Maurice River enters the Saint Lawrence River here, but because it is divided by two small islands at the river's opening it has three mouths into the Saint Lawrence.

The Cathedral in Trois-Rivières is another dedicated to Our Lady, it is called The Cathedral of the Assumption, it is a traditional Church of the, so called, Westminster style. So it looks very familier to British eyes. Inside there are a large number of stained glass windows by Guido Nincheri which, if you like stained glass, are spectacular. More can be seen on Flickr when I am able to upload them. 

Cathedral of the Assumption, Trois-Rivières

The Assumption in stained glass - The Cathedral of the Assumption, 

Trois-Rivières

From the Cathedral we walked through the City itself. The City is full of bars and restaurants and looks as if it has a very busy night life but at 11.00am it is pretty quiet and the huge bar spaces are empty but for cleaning staff. I went into the Post Office, a huge edifice near the centre of the City and I was alone in the place, apart from one staff member. I had again used Google Translate to say: "Deux timbres pour cartes postales pour le Royaume-Uni et un pour l'Australie, s'il vous plaît." He replied "Ils sont au même prix", so me looking puzzled and said "They are the same price".  

Post Office, Trois-Rivières

We went back to the car and drove for a coffee to the local branch of Tim Horton's which was a mile and a half from the City Centre. I joked with Drew that there was a church next to the coffee place and might he take more photos. This time while I went to buy the Coffee he visited another church, called Notre Dame Des Sept Allégresses. It is strange, when we first met churches were places he used to avoid at all cost, and now he is going into one on his own and taking photos (of more stained glass of course). Even commenting on his return that it was very Franciscan in style!! <<Co-pilot's note: I also, dear readers, noted that it reminded me of the Throne Room in the Game of Thrones - as the stained glass is like that in the Red Keep.>>

Franciscan Stained Glass - Trois-Rivières

We finished our coffee, which I managed to order in French, with some pointing, and left Trois-Rivières at 11:54 and headed towards Montrèal.

Montreal

Montreal is the second most populous City in Canada, after Toronto, and the largest in Quebec Province. While it is predominantly Francophone, there is more an air of bilingualism in the area than in Quebec City. However the Francophone population is the largest part of Montreal, indeed the Francophone population make Montreal the thirs largest French speaking City in the world after Paris and Kinshasa many English Speaking people migrating to Toronto in Ontario, when the Quebec Parliament passed the language laws, 99,000 people left between 1976 and 1986. So in the 1970s Toronto outgrew Montreal.

After an uneventful drive along the Autoroute 40 West we arrived at Montreal at 1.30pm. We found a parking space and began to walk around the City. We found ourselves on St Rue St Catherine, near Rue Beaudry, in the heart of Gay Montreal. In August Montreal celebrates its Pride with a lot of painted signs, rainbow flags and decorations. 

St Catherine Street, decorated

Fierte Montreal

From here we walked along Rue St Catherine to a lovely park which with the temperature of 85℉ (30℃) it was warm, but the park was cool and calm.

Parc Place Émilie-Gamelin

A little further on is a Church dedicated to OUr Lady of Lourdes with Perpetual Adoration. I spent some time to pray for family and friends before the Blessed Sacrament. 

Perpetual Adoration

From here we walked further into the old town to the Place De Arms, the centre of old Montreal. Here the City Hall and Palais de Justice stand side by side.

 

Place d'arms, Montreal

We next visited the Market of Bonsecours which is largely a art exhibition and market now, and beside it the delightful little church of Notre-Dame de Bon Secours with its distinctive Stained Glass.

The Church of Notre-Dame de Bon Secours

The Unusual Image of the Marriage of Mary and Jospeh

From here it is a short distance to the Basilica of Notre Dame, but having seen lots of churches today, and there being a queue and an entrance fee, we did not go inside.

Basilica of Notre Dame

We wandered quietly back to where we had parked the Car and spotted some other sites of interest, though missed out on the Cathedral and the Mount Royal itself. Three and a half hours after our arrival in Montreal, we were back to the car and ready to travel across to the hotel, but more about that in the next post.