Day 164: Trois-Rivières, Québec … Canada

Monday, 19 June 2017
Berth 3 on the St Lawrence River @ Trois Rivières

Stats @ Ship’s Time 8:30p (EDT) … UTC 00:30a (20 June)
Temp: 73.4F (23C)
Position: 46.20.53N / 72.32.17W

There was nowhere to go but everywhere, so just keep on rolling under the stars.
~ Jack Kerouac ~

It’s 8:30p and Insignia is still docked at its berth in Trois Rivières [Three Rivers] … our second port of call in Canada.  The ship is not scheduled to sail until 11:00p — waiting for optimum tidal conditions — but we’re done with our shoreside plans.  Not quite ready to call it a night, however … so I will do some writing.

A day of sailing the fog-shrouded Gulf of St Lawrence — and later the St Lawrence River — made for an easy transition from one Canadian province to another … from Newfoundland to Québec.  After a good night’s rest, I was raring to go this morning.  The sky was overcast — but we could see the scenery as Insignia continued to travel upriver on the St Lawrence.  We were scheduled for a mid-morning arrival in Trois Rivières, so we were in no hurry to get ready for the day ahead.  At least that’s what we thought at the time.

At 7:00a we went up to the Terrace Café for breakfast.  The temperature had warmed up … so much so that we ate outdoors … nice to be able to do so again.  Shortly into our meal, we passed an interesting looking church overlooking the river.  I took a photo with my phone and returned to the table … nagged a little bit by the thought that it resembled the sanctuary we hoped to visit.  Hmmm … I didn’t think the church was that far from where we would be docking … which was still a couple hours away … wasn’t it?  Twenty minutes later we passed a structure identified as an amphitheater.  More importantly, though, the words Trois Rivières were emblazoned on the side in huge letters.  What the heck?  What happened to our 10:00a arrival?  Turns out the powers that be at Oceania had built in some “just in case” time, which we apparently did not need.  So we hustled through the rest of our breakfast and went down to the cabin to get ready.

Our Lady of the Cape Shrine … you can’t see it well here, but there is
an RV Park hidden amongst the trees in the foreground.

By 8:00a, Insignia was tied up at its berth … 20 minutes later we were off the ship, talking to the people at the visitor center about the best way to get to the church we had passed.  Even though the distance was considerable — Google estimated about 5 miles each way — we were thinking of walking there and taking public transport back.  But the guy at the VC said hopping on Bus #2 both ways would be better … apparently there was nothing of much interest along the way to make the walk worthwhile.  So off we went with the Gelmans and the Sweets to do as he suggested.  The bus terminal was just a few blocks away.  We hopped on the 9:30a bus with plenty of time to spare … CDN $3.30/person one way; exact change required.

Bus #2 is the most convenient way to get to the Sanctuary.

Thirty minutes later we were at the Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-du-Cap [Our Lady of the Cape Shrine] … standing outside the basilica, which is the focal point of what we later learned is Canada’s national shrine to the Virgin Mary.  This is apparently a popular place of pilgrimage that is visited by thousands every year … there’s even an RV park overlooking the waterfront (CDN $15/night donation suggested) for those pilgrims arriving in their homes on wheel.

Unique architecture and a beautiful interior … a great combination.

Construction of the basilica, which has an interesting and different architectural design, began in 1955 … it was inaugurated nine years later.  I can describe the stained glass windows, created by a Dutch master, using two words… exquisitely breathtaking.

Once we were able to pull ourselves away, we wandered outside to explore the expansive garden and the Stations of the Cross that meander through the grounds.  Modern-day parallels drawn to each station made our walk all the more interesting.  We stopped at the old shrine — inaugurated in 1720 and considered one of the oldest stone churches in Canada — but there was a service being conducted, so we didn't go inside.

The sign for the modern day correlation drawn at this Station reads: “Jesus is arrested and condemned to death, just as is this young man who opposed injustices in his country.”  The sign includes the picture of a young man being arrested during a riot in some unidentified country.

We were on the 11:23a bus back to downtown.  Time for lunch.  So we headed to Le Bureau de Poste [The Post Office].  The place was recommended by one of the locals we talked to on the bus ride out to the shrine.  Good food and wallet-friendly … all dishes priced at CDN $4.95, unless you take some of the suggested add-ons … drink prices vary.  She did not steer us wrong.  The place was hopping when we arrived shortly after noon.  Each plate is freshly made, so there was a considerable delay before we received our food.  Mui and I thought the wait was worth it.

Tasty yet inexpensive … a “Workers” burger for Mui; a chicken wrap for me.

After lunch, we took a meandering walk through the city that led us to the Cathedral of the Assumption.  The brochure describes it as a “treasure in the heart of the city.”  I have to agree.  Dating back to the 1850s, the church is Neo Gothic in style and has a gold-painted altarpiece.  The stained glass windows are … well, simply put … WOW … all 125 of them.

Our next stop was to have been the Old Prison where visitors are fingerprinted and photographed … and leave with a prison record!  Fear not … this is a museum.  Turns out, however, one can only visit on a tour — CDN $15/person — and the next tour was not until 4:15p.  So we decided to skip the visit … and the Gelmans decided to skip the rest of our meanderings.

Our stroll next took us to Rue des Ursulines.  It was quiet on the street … hardly anyone walking around and only the occasional vehicle … a reminder that the tourist season had not yet arrived.  Seeing the door open at the St James Church, we stopped in the doorway for a quick look-see … CDN $1/person if one wanted to hear the history of the church; otherwise free to go in and take photos.

Left: Le Flambeau [The Torch] commemorates the 300th anniversary of the foundation of the city.

Right: Looking down Rue Des Ursulines.
St James on the right; the dome of the church at the Ursulines Monastery in the background.

Anne Pelletier’s “Two by Two, Face to Face, Give Us the Hand and Play on the Square” stands on either side of the door of Saint James Church.  The article describes them as … “Made of stainless steel and bronze, these two life-size characters seem to be animated by a teasing spirit and add a touch of fantasy to the façade of the recently restored St James Church.

A short ways up the street from St James’s we came to the Ursuline Monastery and Museum.  Here admission was USD $2/person, to include the church and the adjacent museum.  We decided to pay and go inside.  There were docents at the ready to answer questions, otherwise the tour was self-guided … not that much to see really.  The cloister was off limits today, but we enjoyed seeing the beautiful frescoes in the church, and there were some beautiful handcrafted items on display in the museum.

From the Monastery we started to make our way back to the port.  Before going back to the ship, however, we stopped to get some coffee.  The guy at the VC had recommended Café Morgane on Rue des Forges.  Those who ordered coffee were happy with their selections; I liked the tropical fruit granita that I opted for.

It was 4:00p when we arrived at the gangway.  Just as we were about to board the ship, the Gelmans came down the gangway.  They were going into town for a stroll.  So we joined them for another meander with no specific destination in mind.  Most of the sites of interest were already closed or closing down so we decided to find a place for dinner.

We had a couple of recommendations from a local, but as luck would have it, our first choice — Vincenzo — turned out to be closed on Mondays.  Since we were in the mood for Italian, we crossed the street and went to Restaurant Angelique.  The place was OK.  Mui’s salad was good, but the pizza we ordered to share had way too much cheese.  We were so stuffed when we left the restaurant that we skipped the gelato we had planned to have as an after dinner treat.  Our timing returning to the ship was perfect to watch the sunset from the deck 5 promenade.

A colorful sunset draws the day to a close in Trois Rivières.

Tomorrow we end the current segment and start the last one.  Not that it really matters … for us the RTW voyage continues … but the end is approaching faster than we would like!

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