DAY9- Travel day

Today we traveled from Quebec to Montreal.  Our hotel was the luxurious Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Montreal conveniently located in the heart of Montreal above the central train station. Below the hotel is the Underground City, with two floors of restaurants and the Place Ville-Marie shopping center. The hotel was completely renovated in 2017.  The colorful rooms were updated with the most modern conveniences.

Famous dignitaries and movie stars often stay there.  In 1976, it was the Headquarters for the International Olympic Committee.  

In 1969, it was the site of the second Bed-In for Peace where John Lennon and Yoko Ono composed and recorded the song Give Peace a chance.  Originally, Lennon wanted New York for the second Peace In, but he was not allowed into the US because of a marijuana conviction.   They then went to the Bahamas but, but after one day decided to go to Montreal because it was closer to the US. 

           They occupied four hotel rooms and were visited there by severalhundred people.  The song was recorded in their hotel room on June 1st, 2019.

Purple is my favorite color, so I loved the purple velvet walls in the elevators. That’s my friend and our tour Tour Director Ruth Smith. 

In the afternoon, we took a guided bus tour of Montreal.

A private home in the ‘Hollywood of Montreal’ homes section 

Saint Joseph’s Oratory of Mount Royalist a national monument, Canada’s largest church and the largest shrine in the world dedicated to St. Joseph. 

The Olympic Stadium was built in the mid-70s as the main event venue for the upcoming Summer Olympics held in Montreal in 1976.  It’s nicknamed “the Big O” because of its shape.

A stunning sculpture in the courtyard of the Sisters of St. Joseph’s Convent.

I went to Catholic grade school and was taught by the Sisters of St. Joseph.

Later in the day we visited the Jacques-Cartier restaurant and shopping area on Old Montreal then dined at the Restaurant du Vieux-Port Steakhouse.  With the quaint shops and cobblestone streets, the area reminded me of many small towns in France.

(Backup) DAY 8 - Continued

DAY 8 - Montmorency Falls

After an uplifting visit to the Basilica, we went to the Montmorency Falls.   

Open year-round, the spectacular falls at 272 feet high are 99 feet higher than Niagara Falls.  After arriving at the lower level cable car area,  we immediately heard the roar of the rushing water which I found so energizing.  The cable car ride to the top cliff provided us with breathtaking views of the falls.  

From the top, I took the panoramic path to the first suspension bridge overlooking the Falls.   It was quite a hike for me, but I was determined to make it especially when one of the other group members, a lady who was 82, passed me on the path.    

We enjoyed a delicious late lunch at the Manoir Restaurant located a short walk from the Cable Car.

I loved Quebec and our hotel as it was located right in the heart town, within walking distance of many fine hotels and lower Quebec.   If you didn’t feel like walking, you could take the Old Quebec Funiclar railway, located less than a block from our hotel, down to the Petit Champlain shopping district. 

That evening we strolled the Governor’s Promenade behind our hotel, the Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac, shown below.    The Promenade runs along the St. Lawrence River from behind the  Frontenac Hotel past the Citadel ending at the Plains of Abraham, a famous battlefield.   

The Promenade had many interesting attractions including the luge and canons.

Views from the Promenade 

DAY 8-Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupre Basilica

After breakfast at L’Omelette, we traveled to The Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré set along the Saint Lawrence River in Quebec, Canada.  

Legend has it that the church was originally founded by fishermen who were lost for days in a storm and prayed to St.Anne to save them.  They promised to build a church in her honor wherever they landed.  I was raised Catholic and did not know the. history of Sainte Anne who was the mother of the Blessed Virgin Mary.  The present-day basilica was built in 1926 on the site of the prior church.

                The details in the ornate copper front doors were extraordinary. 

The intricate tile work prominently displayed in many areas of the church takes years to complete. Once I met a tile master in the Palermo Cathedral who explained that her entire life’s work would be to retile the foyer floor.  I found it incredible that this young girl was so devoted to the Church.

          

                           

The foyer below  was bookended with a baptismal font on one side representing the beginning of life and the other end with a crucifixion scene representing the end of life.    The altar on the crucifixion side was designed to look like a coffin.

The Catholic Church credited many miracles of curing the sick and disabled have occurred within the Basilica.  Two pillars near the entrance are filled with racks of crutches, canes, braces, and other signs of disabilities. Each item has been left by a pilgrim who reports being healed at the Basilica.

        

Below are several picturing depicting the overwhelmingly beautiful Basilica.

In all Catholic Churches there are devotional candle areas where you can make a donation and offer up prayers for your loved ones or special desires. 

Beautifully decorated ceiling work below.

This is a small altar devotional area dedicated to Sainte Anne as many parishioners and visitors expressed a desire to pray directly to her.