Canada: #TBT Maple Butter Isn't Butter
During our time in Quebec City, Jen scheduled a half day trip across the St. Lawrence River for us to see the Quebec countryside, including Montmorency Falls, which is not as massive as Niagara Falls, but apparently it is taller (and Jen was NOT a fan of the suspension bridge crossing the waterfall at the top). It wasn't our best tour, but it wasn't the worst either, and the countryside is lovely.
We visited the Île d'Orleans, where Quebec City gets most of its local agriculture. There, we stopped into a chocolatier, where I partook in some delicious chocolate-dipped ice cream while Jen lost her shit waiting in line to buy gifts and eventually ran out of time thanks to some of our rude tour-mates.
On our way to the stunning Basilica of Sainte-Anne-de-Beaupré, we stopped at Chez Marie, a bakery where we sampled bread with maple butter. I have to admit -- maple butter -- not our fav. I was expecting some delicious, fatty butter with a hint of maple syrup flavor, but maple butter is actually not butter at all. It's some kind of distilled maple syrup, and it was basically like eating a piece of bread with cupcake frosting on it. If that's your thing, you'll love it, but if you're expecting butter, you've been warned. We also stopped off at a copper artisan and then finally made it to Ste. Anne.
Although the architecture throughout Quebec City is magnificent, their Notre Dame Basilica was a bit underwhelming (and it's one of THREE churches named Notre Dame in the city...so many Notre Dames!). So I was surprised that a church not named Notre Dame in a tiny town outside of QC was so incredible. But Ste. Anne with its beautiful architecture and unique mosaics really impressed us. The astrological mosaics seemed a bit pagan, but what does this Jewish girl know? I really liked them and wondered what's in store for Aries this month. Apparently, the church also has a relic of Ste. Anne's hip bone (charming), and there are many legends about people coming to the church and being cured of their ailments. In fact, people with problems walking left their crutches and canes at the shrine. I considered leaving a tampon to cure my uterus, but I figured that might be frowned upon.
The church also features a circular Jesus exhibit called a "Christorama," which I personally cannot get enough of. Look for a future post including that in the title. And on our way out, there was another "-o-rama" building which we did not have time to visit with an exhibit on Jesus's time in Jerusalem.
So enjoy a little TBT-o-rama!
-Staci
