Quebec 5 A Day Trip

Another sunny day to see the sights.   We had pre-booked a day trip to travel to the Montmorency Falls situated about 20 minutes from the town centre.

Firstly it was the usual bus ride into the old city. We had decided to have coffee/cake before we joined the tour at 12.30.  A small search before we forwent the very crowded modern café to find a quiet establishment with plenty of booth-type seats and serving hot coffee and housemade goodies.

Back to the Visitors Centre opposite the Frontenac to find our bus. "Find" being the operative word. Chaos comes to mind to describe the 5 to 6 buses parking in the small square with people criss-crossing the road amongst the slow traffic to find which bus was their's as there were NO SIGNS on any of them!!  
However, we were fortunate that our bus was 3/4 full and the three of us could have a window seat. The drive to the Falls was surprisingly short. You drove alongside the St Lawrence all of the way north.  The Falls were not frozen but still impressive. We caught the chairlift to the top of the cliff but our time was short here so we did not linger longer.
It was then a drive over the long bridge that connects L'ile D'Orléans with the mainland. What a surprise this island was!! Just beautiful. The large island has an established agriculture industry so there are expanses of fields. Of course they were covered in snow and the houses are all the New-England style so the scenery was picture-postcard material. We stopped here for the ubiquitous tourist chocolate-shop but we preferred to look at the small village.
It was then a further drive off the island and beside the river to a significant church...my words. That is all I knew about our next destination. Well!  I was looking on the river side when we arrived at our destination. Turning around, there was this giant edifice that looked as if it had been picked up from a significant city in Europe and plonked on the Canadian countryside. The basilica to St Anne de Beaupré attracts a million visitors a year due to its recognition as a miracle site and therefore a place of pilgrimage.  Phew! Accompanied by significant external infrastructure ( lodging, shops, cafés museum etc) it is certainly a major enterprise.  This is actually the 5th building on this site as the others were all damaged.    Not sure about the implications there!
It was then a pleasant 45 mins return journey in the semi-dark as the Christmas lights on the houses kept us entertained.
Being very cold, a warming meal was in order. We wanted to try the very Irish bar ( Quebec received many Irish immigrants during the Famine) that we had regularly passed and fortunately we could actually get in. Drinks and pub meals all round while I glanced at the ice-hockey game on the screen. Quebec is hosting the junior World Championships at the moment.

Warm bus ride home and another memorable day.

Another booted creature

Bridge to the island

Montmorency Falls

Some scenes of picturesque L'ile D'Orléans.

THE church.

Fun at the Irish bar accompanied by the local game and great live  music.