The city of Trois-Rivieres isn't on three rivers at all; it is simply situated where 3 branches of the same river, the St. Maurice, enter the St. Lawrence. Founded in 1634, the town gained prominence through fur trading with the Indians, as a sentinel protecting Quebec City and as a cross-road halfway between Montreal and Quebec City. It is also a major pulp and paper producing area. The PR folks call the paper mill, located downwind from the marina, a newsprint factory. Luckily, the wind was favorable most of our stay. The old section of the city is quite beautiful and features a Roman Catholic cathedral, the oldest Anglican church in Quebec province and an Ursulines monastery. The Ursulines nuns have been educating girls in Trois-Rivieres for more than 300 years. For many years, the nuns were cloistered. When the nuns die, they are buried in the courtyard inside the monastery so their bodies are cloistered for eternity.
On Friday & Saturday nights, the main street in the old city is closed off to vehicular traffic and the street fills with pedestrians and street performers. Great people watching!
After touring the town, we rented a car and spent a couple of days driving the countryside on both the north side and the south side of the St. Lawrence River. On the north side, we drove through the mountains to the St. Maurice National Park, filled with lakes and walking paths. The south side is predominently agricultural, with small villages and large corn fields. We lunched at a quaint creperie, where we all had pesto topped buckwheat crepes filled with ham, goat cheese and tomatoes. Delicious!
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