Quebec Day 15

Start: Mont St. Anne
End: Saint Louis / Quebec City
Mileage/cumulative: 37.30 / 584.66
Elevation Ascended/cumulative: 699 / 23,222’  
Weather: Start – Sunny 50 degrees / Cloudy 57 degrees
Flat tires (entire group) day/cumulative: 0 / 4

This was a good day for Team Pea. First, we woke up to no wind. That would change quickly but it was still refreshing. Second, there were a lot of things to stop and see all along our route, as opposed to the past few days of grinding it out and just getting it done. Third, the route was short and flat with most of it on dedicated bike paths. We were able to take our time and be reminded of why we love to ride our bikes!

Once we left the Mont St. Anne ski resort, we found ourselves on the Route de la Nouvelle-France (New France Route) that links Old Québec to the Côte-de-Beaupré region and traces the path taken by inhabitants of the Côte-de-Beaupré when bringing their crops to Québec City. The Côte-de-Beaupré is considered the birthplace of New France and was populated beginning in 1623. The region was known for its rich, fertile soil and even today, we saw vegetable cellars along the roadside that dated back to the colonization of Côte-de-Beaupré. The architectural style of homes we passed clearly have a French influence from the colonization period. 

In America, our colonies came about as a form of rebellion from the British monarchy. However, in New France, colonization occurred under a royalty system. In simple terms, the King of France gave large pieces of land to nobility, religious institutions, military officers, and civil administrators. These were considered very important people. They, in principle, “granted” a piece of that land to a family, who would engage in subsistence farming to meet most of their food, heating, and shelter needs. In essence, they became tenants, required to work the land and pay dues. This system ended when the British conquered the French in the 1850s.

One of the most important sites in the region is the Shrine of Saint Anne de Beaupré. This basilica is a major pilgrimage site, dedicated to the grandmother of Jesus. The Shrine is so important to Catholics that Pope Francis visited there in July of this year to meet with Indigenous people and to celebrate the Eucharist. Even if very little is known about the life of Saint Anne (her story is not recorded in the Bible), the simple fact of being the mother of Mary and the grandmother of Jesus is sufficient for the Church to recognize and venerate her for centuries. The allure of the Shrine began in 1658 when Louis Guimont, suffering from excruciating back pain, came to help with the construction of the chapel and is said to have been healed as a result. Since then, people seeking miracles have made the pilgrimage to the Shrine, which attracts one million visitors annually.

We also continued to see what we’ve been calling “personal chapels”, scattered throughout this region. It turns out that these are “processional chapels” used by pilgrims, giving them a small sanctuary to say a prayer and light a candle as they continued their procession to the basilica.

One of the other highlights of the day was seeing the Montmorency Falls. They are at the mouth of the Montmorency River where it drops over the cliff shore into the Saint Lawrence River. The waterfalls are 272′ tall, a full 99′ higher than Niagara Falls.

This day on the bike was just good for our souls.