Quebec has always been a romantic and adventure-filled city in my mind ever since my parents first took me to the Chateau Frontenac, the swanky turn-of-the-century hotel in Quebec City’s old town that overlooks the St. Lawrence waterway.
But for me, the true adventure story of Quebec City lies not on its battlefields, the fields of Abraham which few visitors can miss. The real heroes reside at Quebec’s Ursuline monastery and museum located on 12 Rue Donnacona.
If you turn back the clock to the 1600s, it’s easy to imagine, explorers like Cartier and Champlain crossing the Atlantic to search for an elusive trade route to the Orient, but what about two recently widowed Frenchwomen who decide to become nuns, and cash in their worldly nest egg for a one-way ticket to New France?
This is what Marie de l’Incarnation and Madame de la Peltrie did when they arrived in New France in 1639 after a rough three-month Atlantic crossing. The Ursulines’ goal in New France was to educate and evangelize young Native American girls as well as the daughters of colonists.
The Ursulines brought with them certain skills, Marie de l’Incarnation came from the silk-making region of France, Touraine, and Madame de la Peltrie came from Alencon, a lace-making capital of Normandy. Not only did the Ursulines teach reading and writing, but they created an atelier of handicrafts including exquisite embroidery, lace-making, gilding and molding of wax figurines. They added local weaving materials and skills to their strong base of European design and production.
These skills were employed not only to pass the time, but as part of the commerce that would keep the monastery thriving. Life in the drafty house built in the lower part of Old Town could not have been easy. Ursulines woke up before sunrise for prayer. They ate two meals per day.
By the time, Monsigneur (soon to be Archbishop) Laval arrived on the scene (he was appointed by King Louis XIV), the Ursulines had relocated to a less drafty house (they had built) in the upper part of Old Town. Laval decided to move in and subsequently appropriated the remains of Madame La Peltrie’s nest egg.
At the Museum of French Civilization, housed in the seminary which Archbishop Laval founded, you can learn more about all the wonderful things he did for New France (once he got his hands on Madame la Peltrie’s nest egg) or you can visit the sumptuous Cathedral where he is buried.
The guide at the Museum of French Civilization explains that after Laval died, the seminarians had to change many of the rules, so strict that few seminarians could withstand the institution’s rigorous demands.
Is this another example of the women doing all the work and the man getting the glory or sainthood? The Church in its infinite wisdom managed to beatify Marie de la Incarnation only in the 1980s. Judging by the light innuendos on the museum labels at the Ursuline Museum, I’d say that Marie de l’Incarnation and Monsigneur Laval must have had some bloody battles of the Will that would have made the physical battles on Abraham fields pale in comparison.
One thing is certain, a film director has all the elements of a great story here: two widows crossing the Atlantic, surviving in New France, creating a thriving atelier and leaving behind a legacy of French civilization in the New World.
If You Go…
Not all of us can afford the Frontenac (I don’t think my parents could afford it either) but it sure looks like a fairy tale castle at night, so if you’d like to be within walking distance at a reasonable room rate here are two suggestions:
Manoir de la Terrasse
4, rue de la Porte, Old Town, Quebec City
Telephone: (418) 694-1592.
E-mail: beausite@sympatico.ca
The Manoir has two separate buildings with separate prices. If you opt for the unrenovated, un-airconditioned, and original walls (thin), building you can snag a room with basin (shower and toilets down the hall) for $55 to $65 Canadian, Continental breakfast included. The newly renovated building offers rooms with private toilet and shower for $89 to $105 plus taxes. We enjoyed breakfast in the garden by exiting the breakfast nook’s window, taking the fire escape to the quiet backyard garden where we shared some bits with the resident dogs.
Hotel Terrasse-Dufferin
6 Place Terrasse Dufferin, Old Town, Quebec City
Telephone: (418) 694-9472
The Hotel Terrasse-Dufferin has an exceptional location overlooking the St. Lawrence River. It’s a stone’s throw from the Frontenac. We haven’t stayed there since it recently changed proprietorship, however, the rates still look good at $60 to $159 Canadian depending on season, river or garden view, regular room or suite.
Eating Out
If you’re going to splurge for one good meal, go to the
Cafe de la Paix
44, rue Desjardins, Old Town Quebec.
Telephone: (418) 692-1430.
Cafe de la Paix specializes (according to season) in buffalo, caribou, wild boar, pheasant and salmon. They also whip up some terrific sweetbreads (no longer available in most French restaurants on the Continent because of mad cow disease).
Aux Anciens Canadiens
34, rue Saint Louis, Old Town, Quebec.
Offers some traditional Canadian dishes like tourtiere meat pie and maple sugar tarts. The staff are particularly friendly.
The Quebecois are some of the friendliest people we’ve met anywhere in the world. Those who work in Old Town are completely bi-lingual. You’d have to be really obnoxious to rile these welcoming city residents. Sure it’s a tourist area, but nowhere have we felt welcomed more as guests than as tourists. Your biggest problem will be parking if you arrive by car. Almost all parking in Old Town is paid parking mostly in underground garages.
If you visit during the summer months, don’t miss the changing of the guard, 10 a.m at the Citadel, the largest fortification in North America garrisoned by regular troops. One hour guided tours are available year-round.
Chris Card Fuller blogs more about her travels in: Paris and Beyond
