Today we will visit Montreal. But first a bit of history. Montreal was first visited by Samuel de Champlain in 1615. He recorded that he encountered a large Iroquois Indian village and established trading. The French set up a small settlement but was not prosperous. In 1642, the French government sent over Paul de Chomeday with a contingent of soldiers and a female hired to nurse the sick, Jeanne Manse. The soldiers built a fort of palisades, Fort Ville-Marie, to protect the settlement. In 1653, more soldiers arrived with four Catholic Lay women, whose roll was to support the new women settlers in their new land. The settlement played an important roll in bringing peace to the warring Indian tribes and establishing the French and Indian trading pact. After the English and French signed the agreement ending the French and Indian War in 1763 and the English began settling the area, the settlement began to grow into a flourishing hub of trade.
Our first stop was the Chapel de BonSecours. The chapel was built in 1678 with the strong leadership of Marguerite Bourgeoys. She was one of the first four Catholic lay women to join the settlement. This chapel was built next to the fort and became a central part of the settlement. It burned along with the fort in 1754, but the chapel was rebuilt as we see it today in 1772. Her strength also led to the establishment of a school for women and the development of an uncloistered order that still exists today providing service through out the world. Marguerite Bourgeoys was recognized by the Catholic Church for her service, and became Canada’s first female saint. The museum relayed Marguerite Bourgeoys work and allowed you to tour the chapel, walk into the crypt and up into the steeple.
Grabbed a bite to eat at a bakery/sandwich place for lunch had great paninis for lunch and three days worth of dessert! After lunch we ate the butter cookie sandwich with chocolate pecan filling- delicious!
Next we visited the gardens and home of one of Old Montreal’s first traders, Chateau Ramezay, who later became the first governor of Montreal in 1704. The home was built in 1705 and is surrounded by an orchard and beautiful gardens.
We then walked to the Basilica de Notre Dame and walked through this elegant cathedral which was completed in 1829. I will steal a picture from the internet as the facade of the church is covered with scaffolding as they are repairing one of the steeples.
Our next stop was the Pointe a Calliere museum of archeology and history. This museum relayed the history of the city via an archeological site. The museum is actually underground and reveals the walls of the uncovered buildings, with descriptions of arches, chimneys, window sills, burial grounds, fence posts, and wells and more. The part of the museum I liked best was walking over the plexiglass panels that protect the site of the old Fort Ville-Marie. Really gave you a great perspective on what the fort looked like. Unfortunately the plexiglass made it impossible to get photos of that part of the museum.
We also walked through the museums Viking display. Bill wanted to get back to his roots!
Since we walked our feet sore, we came back to the boat and put our feet up.
Later we walked to the grocery store to stock up on fruit and veggies.
Other cool buildings.
