Au Revoir, Quebec

A final photo of the view out my hotel window. Tomorrow, I will fly back to the US. It was an extraordinary trip filled with meeting new friends, exploring new areas and lots of learning. 

Thank you, all, once again for traveling with me.  

The Lower Town of Quebec, MOBA and Poop

We had some free time today, so I explored the Lower Town, returned to the Museum of Bad Art and enjoyed the "Poop" (paraphrasing here...) exhibit at the Museum of Civilization.

 

One of the narrow streets in the Lower Town.

I finally returned to the Museum of Bad Art, a pop-up sort of museum (the installation in Quebec will close in October).  

 

It was founded by antique dealer Scott Wilson, who discovered what has become the museum's signature piece—Lucy in the Field with Flowers—protruding from between two trash cans on a Roslindale-area curb in Boston, among some garbage waiting to be collected.

 

The most interesting part of the exhibition was the commentary on the piece and also where the piece was "rescued." 

 

I've included a sampling of 4 pieces that I found interesting.

 

Lucy in the Field with Flowers 

 

 

 

Keys to the City

Look carefully! There are real keys.

 

Bozo the Poodle

 

 

 

Desert Still Life (The Therapist's Wife)

 

Earthworm

 

 

Later I spent several hours at the Museum of Civilization. There were several exhibits there. One was about the history of the people of Quebec. 

 

But on the second floor, I discovered an exhibit  entitled, "O, merde!" Essentially, it was an exhibit on "poop."

 It was fascinating. Here's a link: https://flushitblog.wordpress.com/2021/06/21/quebec-citys-museum-of-civilization-invites-the-world-to-o-merde/

 

Chamber pots

 

 

 

Monastery of the Ursulines of Québec

 Marie de l’Incarnation, the founder of the Community of the Ursulines of Québec, played a key role during New France’s first decades. The original monastery, whose construction she oversaw, also housed the colony’s first school for young girls.                  

The first Ursulines were quick to acquire a reputation in the art of embroidery, know-how they passed down for three centuries. Over time they produced a vast quantity of altar frontals and liturgical vestments in silk, wool, and gold thread. Much of this liturgical treasure has survived to the present day.

 

 

Beginnings of the Monastery

 

How the Monastery grew over the years

 

Map of the Monastery

 

Nighttime at the boarding school

 

The bedroom

 

Mealtimes

 

The table where the girls ate. Each girl had a drawer where her place setting was kept.

 

Sample place setting

 

 

The first day of school

The grid which closed after the girls said goodbye to their parents and entered the school.

 

Items used for calisthenics 

 

 

 Ursuline Chapel

View of the altar

Altar information

Marie de l'Incarnation's tomb

View of the back of the chapel

 

Papeterie Saint-Gilles and Musee Maritime de Charlevoix

 The Papeterie Saint-Gilles features a workshop where artisans produce paper using 17th-century techniques.

 

Here is the pulp mixer and plastic container where the pulp is placed.

 

The pulp is scooped out and spread onto screens.

 

Excess water is drained off.

 

It is then placed on a board to dry.

The board with the paper is inserted into this press from the left side and then reinserted so it goes back out on the left.

 

The paper that emerges is smooth and very flat without any imperfections.

  

This diorama shows the shipyard at the Maritime Museum.

 

The museum told the story of the shipyard. 

 

The schooner, Marie Clarisse, is a sailboat that was intended for high sea navigation. The ship was easily maneuverable and was well suited for coastal navigation and deep-sea fishing. She has two masts and cream colored sails. The Marie Clarisse is unique for its deck, rudder and the three ways you can enter the hold.

The schooner was built in Shelburne, Nova Scotia in 1923, and was originally named Archie F. Mackenzie. At first, it was used for fishing in the seas of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Later, it was used for coastal navigation.

In 1974, the Marie Clarisse arrived in the waters of the St. Lawrence. Unfortunately, she sank in 1976. Fortunately, for her, a naval officer, Alain Canuel, bought her to use as a training boat. Officer Canuel managed miraculously to raise her out of the muddy bottom of the Louise Basin and restore her to the Mailloux shipyard in Isle-aux-Coudres.

In spring 2005, the schooner Marie Clarisse became the property of the Musée Maritime de Charlevoix.  In 2010 and 2011, Marie Clarisse served as a training ship to encourage students to work in teams and excel in school.

 

Low tide at the Maritime Museum

 

Flour Mill in Les Eboulements

Les Emboulements is an area of small villages north of Quebec City.

We visited the flour mill, built in 1790, and still in operation today. Entirely restored, its original mechanism powered by a waterwheel still drives the millstones. 

This outside oven is very similar to the one at The Little Pig Boulangerie. 

An outside oven is needed because of the weight of the cement and the need for a chimney. Immense heat escapes once the oven door is opened. They will fire it up and then clean out the ashes before baking.

The water flows over a waterfall into a sluice which is then directed to the water wheel which turns the cogs of the flour mill.

Sluice

This grate offers views of the water flowing into the water wheel area.

This miniature model helped to understand the process. The mill operates 2 - 3 times a week. Less often in the winter because of the ice.

The belts are turned inside out so that they can be used twice as long. 

Some of the belts and cogs which power the mill:

 

 Ground flour flows into the funnel.

 

And then into this bin.

This sifter makes coarser flour.

 

This sifted is used for finer flour.

 

Eventually, the flour is packed into these 45 pound bags.

 

The bags are then hoisted with a chain through a trap door to the second floor.

Later, the flour is packaged into these smaller bags for sale.