Hello Everyone! Saint and Dusty here.
Anyone who knows Mummy at all knows that her daddy was a huge influence on her. She always says that anything that she has achieved she owes to him. We thought about him a lot on our trip. We know that he would have been so excited about our adventures.
When Mummy was a very little person, her daddy took her mummy, her sister, and Mummy on a trip to Quebec. One of the highlights was a visit to the basilica at Sainte Anne de Beaupre.
Mummy had always wanted to go back. Since we were traveling through Quebec on our way home to Maine and would be staying only a few hours from the shrine, this seemed like the perfect time to visit.
The weather was not good the day that we went: Thursday, August 18, 2022. It was raining really hard and foggy. We had to drive through Quebec City, which had lots of road construction. But Mummy was determined. And amazingly enough, when we got to Sainte Anne de Beaupre, the weather cleared! It didn’t get really sunny, but we were able to walk around the grounds and savor the beautiful views, as well as explore the inside of the basilica.
The basilica is old. They have made some real efforts to make it accessible to everyone. We were able to see quite a lot. We tagged along with a group that was getting a tour in English. It was wonderful to learn the history of the shrine and what so many of the artifacts mean.
The only thing that we took exception to was the mosaics of the seven deadly sins in the floor. We specifically objected to the illustration of Envy. They depicted a dog! Can you believe it? All the dogs we know are very kind and generous.
This excursion meant a lot to Mummy. She wanted to thank her dad for the good life that his faith and support of her has made possible. We bet that he was smiling down during our whole visit.
Driving back to our hotel, the weather was awful again. But we got back safely. And the weather didn’t matter. We had done what we set out to do. So we brought the sunshine with us.
We have a photo of the mosaic with the dogs symbolizing envy. But we would rather share a photo of us outside on the lovely grounds of the shrine.
Until next time. Take care. Be well. Hugs and wags.
Dusty and Saint