Night Images of La Belle Province - Pt. 3

All these photos were taken in the Town of Lanoraie, along the St. Lawrence Seaway at night. We had spent the day in Louiseville & Lavaltrie & had come back to rest in Lanoraie. We quickly went for a walk along the waterfront before the light faded entirely. It was lovely there except for the mosquitoes which were thick. I dislike mosquitoes immensely but wanted to see what I could before the light was completely gone.

My French relatives were very much involved in the planning of the tourist information and the art works that now exist along the waterfront. They also helped to plan for a small stage (I didn't get a good photo of it) so that productions could be presented on  the waterfront.

My 80 year old relative wrote and produced a historical play which was enacted on this small waterfront stage. She was a bit younger when she did this creative work.  All in all it was a real treat to see the work the relatives (all sisters) had been involved in and to hear their passion for the cultural work they seem to do so much of. Her and her two sisters have a passion for history, geneology and writing. She says she has about 4 more books (in her head) but is running out of time to put them on paper.

Church on main street near the water front.

It is said that when the French explorer, Jacques Cartier passed through Lanoraie in the 16th century, the Iroquois had already been established in the area. They called place Agochanda or Agouchonda, which means a place to stop and eat and rest.

The parish in this area was established in the late 1600s but development of the village didn't really occur for another few hundred years.  The small town is steadily growing with the current population at about 5000 people who predominantly speak French.

My next travel post will feature the historic house where we spent the night and then we will drive north to Quebec City and farther. Join me later.

Join in with others for Skywatch Friday here.

Images from La Belle Province Pt. 2

Thank you for all of your sweet comments on my last post. Your visits and your encouraging words mean so much to me.

Let use continue on our journey through Quebec. My last post and images on this trip can be found here.

It is only our first day in Quebec and we are very tired. But our first item of business is to visit with and pick up my elderly cousin, seen in the first photo.

 Then we travelled to Lanoraie and picked up her younger (80 year old)  sister. Seen in the next photo.

Then we travelled to a small town called Louisville.  It is a small town located near the mouth of the Wolf River (Rivière du Loup) on the north shore of Lac St. Pierre (Lake Saint Pierre).  The population of this town is just over 7000 with a predominantly French speaking population.

 Here were are driving on the main street of the town.

You will find this informational map on the main street of the town and near the Catholic Church.

This area was originally part of the Rivière-du-Loup Seignory. This seignory was formed in 1665 by Intendant Jean Talon and granted in 1672 to Charles Dugey Rozoy de Mannereuil, officer in the Carignan Regiment. The seignory was thereafter also known as Rivière-Mannereuil for some time.

This statue is a monument to Charles du Jay, founder of Louiseville & Lord of Manereuil

You might wonder why we bothered to go to this town. It is the place where our first ancestors to Canada settled centuries ago. At that time the place was called Rivière-du-Loup, but changed it's name in 1879 to Louisville to avoid confusion with another Rivière-du-Loup in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region.  The new name was a tribute to the daughter of Queen Victoria, Princess Caroline Alberta, who was expected to visit the area in the same year.

The next few photos are of the countryside near Louiseville and of the Town of Lavaltrie where we were treated to a lovely dinner before retiring for the evening to the Town of Lanoraie.

After a short time looking around the town center we took a drive in the local area and came to the river.  As you can see it was very high due to heavy amount of rains over the Spring of 2013.

We also came across these colourful fishing huts nearby.

Since I published my last blog post and photos I managed to finish reading 4 more books (A Week in Winter, Committed, Tapestry of Fortune and Don't Break Your Heart Cookbook) toward my reading goals and am working on the 5th one (Half Blood Blues). The books were not so difficult to read so I didn't spend all my time reading this week.  However the books put me past my modest reading goal for the year (24 books) so I've increased my goal to 28 books. If I pick up another book or two  before year's end, that will be a bonus.

The drive back to Lavaltrie for dinner.

On Friday I was invited to lunch to the home of some friends from Tanzania. I spent all afternoon at their home while the lunch was being prepared.  Afterwards I had lots of time to visit with the couple and their two children. They have an exceptionally large home so it was nice having all that space to enjoy. The husband is here completing his Ph.D. in Linguistics and his wife hopes to get into a Master's program soon.  One thing that touched me is that before lunch, the father asked his son to pray. His son is going into Grade 1 next month. His son asked for a blessing on the food and also asked our heavenly Father to help him as he wanted to be a good boy. I thought that was so special.

There was beautiful colour in the sky over Lavaltrie.

I didn't want to be rude and take photos of the food but it was an interesting and very large lunch.  She made some fried salmon fillets, brown rice, kale with avocado, some kind of soup with green beans and tomatoes and whole wheat chapati (bread).  For dessert she made a spelt and whole wheat banana bread and some fresh fruit (watermelon, apples, blueberries).  It was so kind of her to go to all that preparation. Her father is a diabetic and so she is extra sensitive to preparing appropriate foods.

I didn't get a photo of the Asian restaurant where we dined but I did snap a few shots of the area.

More restaurants with a European flair and another church in the background.

I love the blue coloured building and the pink sky above.

Local signage.

This week I will be joining in with a few memes

Blue Monday

Our World Tuesday

Images from La Belle Province - Pt. 1

When we arrived in Joliette on an early summer's day, the sky was partly cloudy and partly sunny. It had rained earlier in the day and it was very humid.  I was so tired from the overnight flight and had absolutely no sleep on the plane.

I took these sky photos in anticipation of Skywatch Friday but never got around to using them for that purpose.  I really didn't feel up to photo taking on my first day but felt I needed some photos for the record. Hopefully my photos improved as the trip went along. I will be posting more in coming days if you want to come back and take a peek. Thanks for visiting!

 

My cousin took us for lunch at this chain restaurant in Joliette. It was incredibly busy in there and it was non-stop line-ups right up until we left.

A relative we crossed the country to visit.  She is well into her 80s and can still run several blocks without getting very winded! I also got a chance to meet her younger sister who is 80.

The lobby where my cousin lives.  It is a good thing we didn't stay with her as she had originally planned.  The heating in her apartment was on full blast and the temperature outside was hot and humid.

It is always interesting seeing what you can see in the village streets. There had been a bit of a flood as we arrived in town and a diversion of traffic going on as they repaired the town streets.

In these next set of photos we are on the way to Lanoraie, another small town. I may have these photos mixed up as to where they are but the three small towns in close proximity are: Joliette, Lavaltrie and Lanoraie.  We first went to Lanoraie and backtracked for dinner to Lavaltrie.

 

The map below is interactive. You can click on it and find out exactly where we were.

This sign was very common throughout the province. It means "For Rent". It is a sign you will seldom see where I live.

You will see large, beautiful churches in every city, town and village in the Province of Quebec.

The Catholic Church is the predominant church in the Province of Quebec. It is common to see large grave markers in Catholic cemeteries.

I love seeing the signage in French.

The country side around these parts is very beautiful and also very near to the St. Lawrence Seaway (which you can see peeking out in the background).

There are many beautiful homes in the area too.

 

This beautiful driveway leads to the waterfront home of a very wealthy person in the area.

 

This home is lovingly kept by one of the family members for other relatives who currently live abroad. I got to stay here overnight and absolutely fell in love with it's quaint charms.

I'm joining up with Our World Tuesday this week.