May 16, 2018. Montreal to Trois Rivieres, Quebec.

We were told when we checked into our hotel on Sunday that we would have to move the car Wednesday morning by 9 AM. So we planned on leaving then--it's easier to drive out of town altogether than to try to find a parking place in Montreal!

We stopped at Maskinonge, where some of our ancestors were baptized, married and buried. There were some family names in the cemetery at Sacred Heart parish but none were our direct ancestors. We are finding that most of our early ancestors left excellent records, but no remaining headstones.

We took a little side trip to the Le Brun and Frere Marchands Generaux, an old time general store. The woman there was so nice that we each bought something (artisanal chocolates).

Our next stop was Louiseville, another small town rich in history and records of our people. We found St-Antoine-de-Padoue church and cemetery easily. We know who was married and buried here, but again they have no remaining headstones.

From Louiseville we continued north along the river, stopping next at Yamachiche. There were a lot of  our people here. Their graves were all washed away in a flood but we know that they were here. We have the written records. Ste. Anne church, like Sacred Heart church at Maskinonge, was rebuilt in 1907 after being destroyed by a tornado.

Then finally we arrived at Trois Rivieres! It's much larger than we expected. We went first to the tourist center, where the attendant gave us a 24-hour parking pass and a lot of information. We took the walking tour of old Trois Rivieres, beginning at the Monumental Staircase. Starting at the bottom, dates and events are engraved in the steps beginning with the Amerinds 6,000 years ago and ending in modern times. Of course there is a step engraved with the coming of the French to this area in 1634.

There were many monuments in this section of town, including the one commemorating the building of the first wooden fort here. The Iroquois were formidable enemies. There were monuments for the War of 1812 and both World Wars, as well as many recoognizing the early founders.

The Ursuline Sisters started a school and hospital here in the late 1600s. There are still about 60 nuns here, centuries after Ste. Ursula was canonized. The chapel was built in 1715 and is still in use. The boarding school is now a museum.

After the Ursulines Museum we walked past the oldest house in Trois Rivieres, built in 1668.

The Parish of the Assumption was our next stop. There was a Catholic Mission here since 1634. Many of our people were baptized, married and buried from here, long before the current church was built in 1854.

We walked back to the car and drove to our B and B, about 6 K out of town. It is a nice quiet place right on the St. Lawrence River. For dinner we went to the local Poutine place--one can't visit here without trying Poutine at least once!