Quebec « Life in Kentucky

Last Friday night, Rob was telling our friends at the Christian Deaf Fellowship about our trip to Quebec. There were a few things that I forgot to include in previous entries.

At the Montreal Museum of History and Archaeology, we saw crypts in the digs. I believe there were only about 5 or 7 crypts there, and there was one for a child. The others were for adults. Also in every other dig, there were displays of pottery shards that they were able to put together. That was neat. As a part of the dig, the museum staff were able to recreate the Old Montreal using models based upon on their research. There were models for 1600’s, 1700’s, 1800’s, and 1900’s, so you can see the evolution of Montreal over time. The museum has two buildings on two different streets, and the archeology dig connects the two by going underground.

If we ever go back to Montreal and Quebec, we would like to visit the Biodome and other museums. We would like to visit Ottawa to see the Mounties and Quebec City to see the oldest French settlement in North America.

I see everyone wants to see more pictures of the trip. I’m thinking about putting them up in Flicker or something like that. Any ideas?

Bonjour!

We are back from our trip to Lac-des-Seizes-Iles, Quebec, which means 16 Island Lake. There are really 17 islands, but only 16 are habitable. The lake is about 5 km long. To go anywhere on the lake, people use motorboats.

This is my first trip to Quebec. I’ve been to Canada, but it was only Niagara Falls. My experience in Niagara Falls was that it was too American for me. If I remember correctly, the only thing “Canadian” I had was Canadian bacon. I also visited Ripley’s Believe It or Not Museum, which is so NOT Canadian. It was a high school trip. However, I went on the Maid of the Mist, and that was the nicest thing about Niagara Falls.

I always wanted to visit other countries and to experience the world. When Rob and I was offered a chance to visit our friend in Quebec and Rob was asked to preach at the church, we grabbed the opportunity. It was neat to see two languages, French and English, everywhere on signs and in literature. In some places, there were only French. So I had to dust cobwebs in my brain to remember some Latin. It helped a little bit.

It was really generous of my dear friend and colleague, Debbie, to extend her kind and enthusiastic hospitality to us. We really enjoyed our vacation there. We relaxed, read books, canoed, kayaked, swam, napped, and walked. She also took us on a tour de lac, which means tour of the lake. The houses are beautiful, and the lake is peaceful. We also met her numerous relatives at the lake, and we weren’t expected to remember all of their names. Whew!

Rob preached at the church on the lake. They liked his sermon. The church is on a peninsula, not on an island. You don’t see the church from the lake. It’s hidden in the pine forest. After getting off the boat, you walk up the trail and see the white square building with red trim and a metal roof. The windows are made of plastic, opaque siding, and when you’re inside, light comes through these windows, which makes it light inside. In the front of the sanctuary, there are also glass windows where you would see pine trees. There is a cross on the front wall of the stage. On the stage, there is a pulpit and an organ. The church is full of pews. It’s a simple and charming building that is 102 years old. There is electricity coming to the church only for the organ. I missed the opportunity to take a picture of the church. Maybe next time.

We also made two trips. First was to St. Sauveur, a local ski resort town that was filled with boutiques and restaurants. The buildings looked like Swiss/French lodges that are painted in bright colors, which would look awesome in the snow. These boutiques are filled with latest fashions from Montreal, which would have gotten the fashion from Paris. The latest fashion colors are yellow and black with abstract, graphic designs, if you would like to know. Second was to Montreal. We did not make any specific plans to see any particular sites, but just to walk and visit the Old Montreal. First, we stumbled upon Chinatown with beautiful Chinese arches. Kite shop was also neat, too, with cool and unusual kites. I wanted to buy one, but in Kentucky mountains, where would I fly it? We saw Notre Dame. It’s a beautiful cathedral with ornate and delicate architectural details. Stained glass windows in the ceiling were gorgeous in color and detailed designs. I liked the painting of Jesus and the lamb in the small chapel. That’s my favorite part of Notre Dame. We also stumbled upon the the Montreal Museum of Archeology and History, or Pointe-a-Calliere. That is a very nice museum. We saw the remains of foundations of buildings back in the 1600’s and 1700’s. You actually walk through the archaeological dig underneath the city streets. There is a traveling exhibit on the history of Montreal and Quebec that dates back to the French fur traders all the way to today. On the third floor, there is a lookout. Montreal is gorgeous. Then we walked and walked on the streets of Old Montreal, seeing all the architecture, shops, and people. There was a street art fair with beautiful artwork. There was a really nice picture of a dog that I wanted to buy. Maybe one day. One of my favorite stores, thanks to Debbie’s influence, is the Christmas store. They have the most beautiful ornaments, nativity creches, and Christmas train sets that I have ever seen. I wanted to buy and buy, but I refrained myself to buying only two ornaments. One creche reminded me of my mother’s three wise men. She made them herself, and they look similar to the characters in that creche set. I have never seen it anywhere else. She starched the cloth and laid over the model to create the robes and the headpieces of these three wise men. Maybe one day, I’ll take on that task and finish the nativity creche.

We ate really good food. Brie cheese in Canada is much better than in the States, because they can get better quality Brie cheese. It spreads even at room temperature, where I would have had to warm it up in the microwave to get that consistency. We also ate some pate. Since it’s goose liver, I thought it would taste like liverwurst, and I hate liverwurst. It’s so much better than liverwurst. Montreal bagels are wonderful and different from New York bagels. They’re smaller and have different consistency than New York. It’s not as chewy, and tastes more like toast. Also, they’re baked with sesame seeds. We had good bread and croissants. No, we did not have Canadian bacon this time, instead we had really delicious meals at the cottage. Debbie’s mother made the ham, and it rocks. We had good sausages for the 4th of July dinner. Debbie’s cousin also made delicious chicken kebabs when we ate at her house.

We wish we could have stayed longer. We’ll let the pictures tell the story.